A Silly But Profoundly Meaningful Insight

For those desperate to lose weight with little or no effort, I offer 2 viable options. Why not cut off a limb or two? You only said you wanted to lose weight. You didn't say you wanted to look better! I know, I know. When you said you wanted to lose weight, what you really meant is that you wanted to look better naked. Or perhaps merely fit into a favorite wardrobe from your leaner years? Point taken. O.K. I haven't given up. I'll try one last time. How about moving to the moon? The gravity is only 1/6 that of earth's in which case you could lose over 80% of your weight instantaneously, with absolutely no effort! Except that you must find a way to get to the moon! However, I can't help but wonder about a very detrimental trade-off. Though you would likely be ecstatic about your weight loss, I would guess you would look even bigger because the air pressure on the moon is non-existent and therefore your body would bulge out much like a hot-air balloon does as it gets higher into the atmosphere where the air pressure lessens. Once again, my point is that it is not really weight loss per se that you seek. It is looking better! Of course for obese people, looking better will necessarily involve weight loss. But this is incidental to taking steps to look better. Many people out there, especially women, would do themselves good if they engaged in strength training which would likely increase their weight. However, what must be kept in mind is that muscle is much denser than fat and other bodily tissues. Additionally, it is "shapelier" and hence more attractive. Therefore, though weight may increase, the increased density of a leaner, tighter body is actually smaller. As such, if you were to imagine placing yourself in a tub of water, though your weight may have increased, you would actually displace less water than before because you are smaller. The key to looking better includes a combination of diet and intense exercise of relatively short duration. Notice I did not say exercise of frequent and long duration. This is very deliberate. More does not necessarily mean better. In fact, oftentimes it is detrimental.