“Running damages your body”

I was sitting at dinner with a friend this summer and we were talking about exercise. The last time I saw him was about four years before this conversation. In that time he has added 20 to 30 pounds to his already overstretched skin. In contrast, I have dropped 80+ pounds since then.

He was telling me that I should not run “because it damages your body.” He went through the normal set of excuses as to why he could not run. It is too hard on his knees, etc. He actually counseled me to stop running because of the damage I was causing to myself.

I wonder how much damage he is causing his body by not exercising? Grant it, he does not have to run, but instead he does nothing. This is a man who talks about his “glory days” when he was young, trim and very physically capable. He was in the military and joined the police force when he got out. But those days are gone, he assumes, forever. The sad thing is that he is only about 45 years old. There is plenty of time for him to get back in shape and save his body from the early grave that he is headed to.

Right along with this conversation he also took it upon himself to inform me how toxic and bad for me the Diet Coke was that I was drinking. I admit that Diet Coke is certainly not the best thing that I could be putting in my body, but it has to be better than the 2 X 32 ounces of regular Coke he was guzzling down. He drank almost 800 calories at that one meal!

I don’t want to go around criticizing all my friends for living like I used to, but I also can’t ignore how foolish his words sound to me now. Many of the same things I used to say.

One thought on ““Running damages your body””

  1. Yeah, my step dad is in the “you’ll ruin your knees” thing.

    I’m with you on the Diet Coke thing… It’s not good for you and I’m trying to switch to Green Tea at home instead of 2 liters. But I go with the basics of Thermodynamics on drinking Diet Cokes… Energy In=Energy Out. If you are consuming those calories and you’re not exercising, then they stay in you!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.