When you read the FA-blogs you notice that there's a lot of talk about exercising according to the principles of HAES (Health at Every Size). One of the leading HAES-gurus and fitness-instructors is Kelly Bliss (www.kellybliss.com).

The basic idea is that the primary goal of exercise should be health and not weight-loss, and that you can enjoy exercise regardless of your size. This all sounds wonderful to me, good health and not appearance should be the ultimate goal for any exercise-regime, and your size should never prevent you from working out. I'm all for this philosophy - but after checking out Kelly Bliss' homepage I still have a huge problem with HAES.

For exercise to improve your health you need to challenge your body. It goes without saying that the intensity that is needed depends on how fit you are. For someone who weighs 250 pounds and is new to exercise a 10 min walk or similar can be more than enough of a challenge, but for someone who has some 30-40 pounds extra and is used to walking, a gym-session with some jogging or other cardio, plus some resistance-training, that works up a good sweat is a good beginner-level challenge.

IMO a good rough thumb-rule is that at beginner-level you should sweat and feel some discomfort for some 20-30 mins for a work-out to be beneficial.

The idea is that when you get into an exercise regime your fitness improves, and you gradually have to do more to keep challenging your body and get continued health-benefits.

It's up to the individual what level of fitness you think is enough for you, ie when you think that you are in so good a shape that you don't concentrate on continuous improvement, but just on maintaining the level that you have achieved.

Kelly Bliss' HAES-videos are, IMO, just not challenging enough for significant health-improvement, unless you are so severely overweight that you are disabled by your weight. And even in that case the goal ought to be to use exercise as a tool to lose the weight (ie remove the disabling factor), and gradually move on to more challenging work-outs.

At best HAES could serve as an introduction to exercise, but at worst it will have you stuck at a very basic level and give you a false belief that you exercise regularily and are in good health.

HAES sounds like a good idea but i think the problem with it is that most of the Fa people just use it as a catch all excuse and way to combat health talk without actually doing anything. It goes hand in hand with Intuitive eating, which I think they consider part of HAES.
Intuitive eating is my favorite FA idea. Basically they have decided that science and nutritional research is totally flawed and the only real way to eat healthfully is to listen to the expert, your body. They decided that the healthiest thing to eat is not decided by nutritional value but by what you want. If you want to eat pie or donuts then they will nourish you like no vegetable could. Basically it is just an excuse to continue eating what ever they want to under the guise of health. It is amazing the comments I have read regarding this. People are FLOORED by the idea that mayonnaise might not qualify as a health food.
While there may be a few FAers who actually exercise and eat well the vast majority of them just use it as an excuse and claim that ANYTHING they do is a part of HAES thus rendering it worthless. Others seem to just combay health questions by stating that it exists, stating that fat people can be fit to but never do anything to conform to the low low bar it sets for them.

I agree with you, Furio. It seems to me that "fitness-gurus" like Kelly Bliss are in the same business as Curves, ie cashing in on people's ignorance about the intensity and duration that is needed to get any results at all from exercise.

I'm not sure that you can be a bona fide fitness-expert if you call a workout "High intensity sit down aerobics" (she has "Lo intensity sit down-" and "stand up" aerobics too).

Before you buy a Bliss-workout DVD you can fill in a questionnaire online about your fitness, weight and preferences. One of the questions asked is "do you prefer doing your workouts sitting down or standing up?" Personally I have to admit that I for my part would certainly prefer doing my workouts sittning down (at least on those days when the weather is bad and I feel sluggish). It's the knowledge that I have to work out at a certain intensity, and experience some discomfort to get the benefits that I want from it, that has me out of the door and do the stuff I do.

I don't blame people if they chose a "sit down high intensity aerobics" session if they (falsly) think that it will do them good.

"They decided that the healthiest thing to eat is not decided by nutritional value but by what you want. If you want to eat pie or donuts then they will nourish you like no vegetable could"

Very true. Also it makes no sense when they talk about 'getting to your bodies natural setpoint', but at the same time eating entirely unnatural foods.

Like those people who on a page on another post said 'I know what my bodies needs, i had a whole carton of ice cream for dinner because my body needed it'.

Although the setpoint idea is rubbish (amazing how they keep going up), it would still be alot more credible if people were eating natural foods. How can you reach a 'natural setpoint' when you are eating the most unnatural foods going?

Most of the food people eat nowadays aren't natural in any shape or form. They are man made creations. They are the chemically enhanced freaks of the food world.

There's no way an anorexic person could be healthy, so why would they think that someone on the other end of the spectrum would be healthy.

Someone 100 lbs over weight may not have diabetes, but you can bet they're going to have joint problems at the very least.

Hell...I'm only 30 lbs overweight, I work out a lot, and I'm most certainly not healthy at this size. I eat to damn much (well...I should say I *used* to eat to damn much, since I am losing weight now and eating healthy food.)

QUOTE:
High intensity sit down aerobics

I saw this one too



I think sit down aerobics, my be the way to go if you are really big and are just starting, but you have to progress beyond that. If someone is so big that the only really option for them to exercise, is to do them sitting down, then I can't imagine that they are fit.

haha, curves! curves was one of the greatest business ideas ever. In principle I actually love the idea because it gets more people up and active, but in practice it is just a mess. Their fancy little machines could actually work and have a real benefit if used correctly but I doubt more than 10% actually use them like they should be used. They function in such a way that a person could exert hardly any energy and still get a perceived result. In the end it is detrimental because it leads the person to believe that they have done a great amount of exercise when in reality they have done almost none.

I never thought about it but HAES and curves are PERFECT for one another. It would allow the fatties to demonstrate their resolve and determination without any of the work they would actually need to do. It would be a boon for FA because it would serve to reinforce the idea that fat is not a choice. Someone already in denial would see proof in that they experience no weight loss despite their extreme dedication to working out.

Honestly If I was a big player in the FA movement I would encourage all members to go to curves since it would serve to improve the brainwashing process.

My wife has been going to Curves for over a year. She is still about the same size but her endurance has improved. She admidts that it is now too easy and she does more than the recommended circut. We talked about another gym and she was reluctant. Curves is convenient and she has friends there. She says she would be intimidated and self-conscious at another gym by the level of fitness of the patrons. I guess it is better than nothing. Any ideas on how to help her get the most out of Curves?

Another though: From looking at the women who go in and out of Curves they should change their name to "Lumps and Bulges".

Rick,

Are you willing to go with your wife and familiarize her with the equipment in a regular gym?

Perhaps you going with her would make her feel more comfortable.

the nonthreatening enviroment is one of curves greatest assets. I would recomend looking for a women centered gym like fitness together or lady works as they would laso be less intimidating.