A question I get All. The. Time. from people new to Code Red is, “Should I keep exercising?”
I get why they’re asking.
Code Red is about losing weight with real food, water, and sleep – no shakes, no diet pills, no diet foods, no exercise.
So if someone finds Code Red and they’re already exercising, they’re naturally gonna wonder whether they should stop.
Before I address that, let me make one thing clear.
The fact you do not need to exercise on Code Red has nothing to do with how I personally feel about exercise. I LOVE exercise, and when you reach your goal weight, heck yeah, get to exercising!
I emphasize no exercise on Code Red for two reasons:
- You cannot out-train your fork. If you eat like crap, it does not matter how many hours you spend killing yourself in the gym. If you could “eat what you want” and lose weight, we would not have fat athletes.
- Some people are too obese to safely exercise, and/or physically incapable of exercising (as in, confined to a wheelchair, or in such pain from psoriatic arthritis that they cannot even pick up a hair brush, much less “exercise”). Because society insists you “have” to exercise to lose weight, people in these situations are under the 100% false impression that without exercise, there’s no hope for them to lose weight. It’s complete BULLCRAP.
Now that we’re clear on that, let me address whether you “should” keep exercising when you start Code Red.
The answer is: There is no simple, cookie cutter way to answer that.
It depends on what you’re doing (chasing your four-year-old doesn’t count as exercise).
Exercise WILL make you hungrier when you’re eating for weight loss.
You do not get extra calories just because you’re exercising.
And there’s a possibility–again, depending on what you’re doing–that it could slow down, and even stall, your weight loss.
I also want you to ask yourself, “Why am I exercising?”
If the answer has anything whatsoever to do with the idea it’ll speed up your weight loss, that’s a mindset that needs kicked to the curb.
Whether you continue exercising during your Code Red weight loss journey isn’t a decision I’ll make for you.
(When you get to goal weight, DEFINITELY exercise.)
But in this post, I’ve given you the facts that’ll help you make the best decision for yourself.
It’s like I’m always saying: Find what works for you.