HELP YOUR ANGINA/EXERCISE: DON’T OVERDO IT!
Don’t overdo the exercise. If you have started off at the normal weight for your height, and you find you are losing a pound or two, you are either doing too much or not eating enough to replace the lost energy. Don’t replace the heart attack risk with the problems of fad dieting. James Fixx wrote that the best runners looked too thin.
They may, but your objective is not to be one of the best runners. Your aim is to enjoy your exercise while getting your heart as fit as possible. Being a beanpole has disadvantages, and is not necessarily as good for you as being in the normal BMI range—that is, an average build. Of course, if you start by being overweight, losing the extra pounds through exercise is a bonus, provided that when you reach your ideal weight, you stay at it.
Another “don’t” is to get too obsessive about your weight. I don’t recommend regular weighing, as it tends to focus on that one aspect of health, to the exclusion of others. It can cause disappointment, sometimes even despair, if the pounds do not roll off quickly and steadily. That is a mistake, because the exercise will alter your body shape, making you leaner and trimmer, without necessarily causing your weight to change much. Your fat is being replaced by more muscle tissue, and that is more important than losing weight in itself.
So instead of focusing on your weight, follow your progress by looking in a long mirror once in a while. You will know better from your shape and your muscle tone that you are improving, and that will boost your confidence rather than undermine it.
*61\86\8*
