The Benefits of Exercise

CC gives her monkey a push

Roly-poly at 51/2 months

A friend of mine recently decided to go on a diet.  Until now, she had been extolling the benefits of exercise.  That way "I can eat anything," so long as I work it off.  With time, she came to realize the inaccuracy of her claims.  She had read a few interesting articles, and a book, and explained that although conventional wisdom had it that exercise was an essential component of a weight loss program, this was, in fact, not the case. While certainly an increase in a person's level of activity would burn more calories, the net impact over a relatively short weight-loss period (typically 12 to 24 weeks) was small. To lose just one pound of fat, she explained, a 160-pound person would have to walk briskly (4miles/hour) for 42 miles!  While my friend wasn't going to give up her exercise regimen, she decided that if she was to lose some weight, she would have to additionally watch what she ate.

CC after her self-imposed exercise regime

I agreed with her, but told her that I knew of at least one exceptional case.  At 51/2 months, our baby was roly-poly, or fat as my husband would describe it.  By 61/2 months, she was expertly crawling.  Not only was she drinking more milk compared to her pre-crawling phase, but she had also started eating semi-solids.  She did not grow significantly in height during this one-month period, but as you can see from the before and after photos, the bulge was gone!  That's just one case though, I explained to my friend, and encouraged her to embark on her diet.