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Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin (Page 3)
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 2009-08-12 2:22 PM in reply to: #2344326 |
Extreme Veteran  475   Watertown, MA |  Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thinmoondawg14 - 2009-08-12 1:47 PM Sorry, just a glimpse into the mind of one of those "maddening" people. Hopefully someday your good physical example will inspire someone in your life... you'll have a better understanding of the transformation (emotional, mental, physical) they're going through. Cheers, Ryan Fair enough, and trust me I know where you're coming from--in 6 months after graduating from college I added 30 lbs. to my already overweight frame and it took me a number of years to go from a 200 lb weakling to reasonably trim and strong at 210. It helps, in my case, that I only shop for myself...I don't see Snickers bars staring me down because I know I'll eat a whole bag of them if I buy them, so they're just not on the shopping list. Same with chips, same with ice cream, cakes, any kind of desert really, etc, etc. My only temptation, then, is at the grocery store and sometimes on the weekends when ordering some takeout. So all that said, it gets me back to the point I was trying to make in my first post: the easy part is figuring out that calories burned minus calories consumed = ??? (positive and you'll lose weight, negative and you'll gain weight). The hard part is putting it in to practice. Which is why this article is ridiculous to me, because it's not creating the big picture that people need to see. Sure, you're hungrier after exercising, and therefore there's a good chance you consume more calories. However, if you maintain a balance where the calories going in are less than the calories going out then you'll lose weight. So this article, without pointing out this simple little formula, is creating more excuses for people, and excuses are the last thing most people need when trying to motivate themselves to exercise and eat healthy. Good luck with your weight loss, Ryan, hopefully you're seeing positive results and keeping with it. I don't want to offend people who are trying and struggling with the balance, my gripe is with the author who isn't providing all the facts to people who desperately want to lose the weight but can't seem to get it right. |
| 2009-08-12 2:57 PM in reply to: #2343628 |
Regular 186 SW VA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Pector... that is such a beautifully written comment. I found it funny that this the author says "or at least why even my wretched four hours of exercise a week aren't eliminating all my fat. It's likely that I am more sedentary during my nonexercise hours than I would be if I didn't exercise with such Puritan fury." Four hours huh? Fury? Really!?! So I wonder what the author does with other 43% of the week? |
 2009-08-12 3:40 PM in reply to: #2344500 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. Edited by bachorb 2009-08-12 3:49 PM |
| 2009-08-12 4:10 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Member 198 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin I didn't think the article was complete useless drivel as someone above said. I got into triathlon because I had gained weight and I stuck like glue to a pretty intense training plan. I lost nothing. I didn't lose the 30 pounds I wanted to until I joined Weight Watchers and stuck to that like glue. I think when you are exercising hard, you could be fooled into thinking you can eat like you always have, or even that you deserve more food. I fell into that trap. I finally learned the hard way that you absolutely must change your diet. Maybe the article had certain questionable points, but overall, I totally agree that diet is the thing that must be changed in order to lose weight. That is not to say I am against exercise or think it is a waste of time! |
| 2009-08-12 4:14 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
Pro 6767   the Alabama part of Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Why is it so hard to believe that diet is a more important aspect than exercise? Think about how many calories it takes to maintain a base weight of an obese person weighing 225-250 pounds. Now imagine trying to make up the deficit in calories through exercise to reach a goal weight of 150-175 pounds, while eating the same way. There is no way it can be done. Now imagine not changing your sedentary lifestyle one bit, but cutting out all the extra calories, to eat enough to maintain the goal weight. The pounds will come off, and if you maintain the eating pattern, stay off. |
| 2009-08-12 4:15 PM in reply to: #2344684 |
| Extreme Veteran 475 Watertown, MA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin bachorb - 2009-08-12 3:40 PM What I will say is I can't stand is when people grossly oversimplify weight loss down to the "calories in, calories out" formula. No poopie - that's like saying the key to being a better triathlete is to swim, bike and run faster. Learning what foods are both healthy and satiating, figuring out how much of and what you need to adequately recover from a 1-hour day vs. a 5-hour day, pacing yourself throughout the day with your eating to make sure you don't eat too much too soon but not too little so that you stay within that very small 200-300 calorie margin of error are all difficult things to learn while also tackling a 15+ hour a week training schedule. It's a simple goal but a complicated process that has to take both quality and quantity into account. A person who eats 3,000 calories a day of spinach is not going to end up weighing the same as someone who eats 3,000 calories a day of Big Macs. I see what you're saying, but I think you're overcomplicating matters. Sure, for someone who's putting in 15+ hour training weeks across three sports the diet needs to be dialed in or you run the risk of your body basically shutting down on you. But we're talking about a Time audience. The basic exercise regimen of most of those folks is a half hour of cardio 2-3 times a week, and maybe 1-2 days of weight training, all done at a moderate effort. Their nutritional needs aren't nearly as demanding and don't need to be as precisely calculated as someone training for an IM. In addition, the spinach/Big Mac point is valid, but I think you're taking my point (and others') and using an extreme that would never happen to disprove it. I've said on multiple occasions that it's a balanced diet that does the trick; a few decent sources of protein, some fruits and vegetables, good, complex carbs...nothing special, no great limitations, just make sure you're burning as much as you're taking in and you'll drop weight. |
| 2009-08-12 4:30 PM in reply to: #2344776 |
| Extreme Veteran 475 Watertown, MA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin gearboy - 2009-08-12 4:14 PM So many of us repeat the mantra of calories in + calories burned. But most people don't exercise 15-20 hours per week. And even those who do would not maintain a healthy weight if they ate big macs and large fries as a warm-up to the fried chicken and chocolate cake with ice cream every day. But do they need to? In the end it's still the same mantra, just different numbers applied. If you don't exercise, ever, or even move from the couch for that matter, then your body, just from existing, burns a certain number of daily calories. If you take in that many calories on a daily basis you'll maintain your current weight; more and you'll gain weight; less and you'll lose weight. And again, as I just posted it has to be stated that this is based on the calories going in being 'relatively' healthy. You can sneak in a candy bar here and there but in general when I talk about calories in I'm talking about a decent diet that includes all the food groups and no crazy stuff like the all-McDonald's diet. Maybe that's the hardest part, I don't know...for some I'm sure it is. But to me, if you're sedentary and you want to consume as much as you burn, you'd be done for the day after something like 2 Big Mac's and a dozen fries...those people who do that aren't taking in 2,000 calories daily, they're talking that in during one sitting. And THAT'S the problem. |
| 2009-08-12 4:35 PM in reply to: #2344764 |
| Extreme Veteran 475 Watertown, MA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin cpfint - 2009-08-12 4:10 PM I didn't think the article was complete useless drivel as someone above said. I got into triathlon because I had gained weight and I stuck like glue to a pretty intense training plan. I lost nothing. I didn't lose the 30 pounds I wanted to until I joined Weight Watchers and stuck to that like glue. I think when you are exercising hard, you could be fooled into thinking you can eat like you always have, or even that you deserve more food. I fell into that trap. I finally learned the hard way that you absolutely must change your diet. Maybe the article had certain questionable points, but overall, I totally agree that diet is the thing that must be changed in order to lose weight. That is not to say I am against exercise or think it is a waste of time! Yeah, that's probably directed at me and as I said in another post I probably overdramatized my point a bit. It's not useless drivel but it only tells one side of the story and without the other side people just don't see the big picture, all they get is an excuse to not exercise. It's exercise and diet TOGETHER, and that's what the article is missing. Diet alone can get you to a healthy weight but not necessarily healthy (weak heart, weak bones, loss of flexibility, etc); exercise alone might give you a strong heart but you can easily GAIN weight when just focusing on exercising; it's the combination of the two that make you a healthy person. |
| 2009-08-12 4:47 PM in reply to: #2343717 |
| Expert 1116 Thornton, CO | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin kmanus - 2009-08-12 9:17 AM It is quite possible you will gain weight as you exercise because muscle is more dense then fat. This is exactly right. I weighed 170lbs in October when, when I was reasonably active when compared to the average American. I didn't train regularly, but I enjoyed being outside, snow skiing once or a month, taking the first parking spot I see instead of trying to find the closest one, taking the steps instead of the escalator next to them, etc. Basic "small things". Then I quit smoking and decided to start training for a HIM as my ultimate goal as a way to stay away from smoking. During my first 6 months of training I slowly watched my weight increase... 172, 175, 178, 182, 184lbs... then around May I must have finally passed over that invisible muscle building to fat burning line, and I've been watching it now start to go down... back to 182, 180, 178, now around 175 again, and slowly continuing to decrease. My goal was never to "lose weight" but instead to get into better shape, even when I was up at 185lbs, I was in much better shape than I was in October. I could swim, bike, and run more...Citius, Altius, Fortius! Did I gain weight? yes. Did I then begin to lose it once my body built the muscles it was missing? yes. Had my goal been to simply 'lose weight' without knowing that I was going to build 1lb of muscle faster than I was going to burn 1lb. of fat at first, I could have been mentally destroyed watching my weight increase as I was doing what was "supposed" to make me lose weight. But I knew better, continued on... never consciencely changed my diet from what it was a year ago. My body fat percentage was at 21.5% and is now ~16% even though I weight 5lbs more than I did. So yes, I "gained weight" by exercising, but I started with 36.55lbs of fat and now only have 28lbs of fat, I'm thinner, look better, and my heart and lungs are healthier. 5lbs heavier? how cares?! it's your body fat percentage that matters more in my mind. |
| 2009-08-12 4:51 PM in reply to: #2344779 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2009-08-12 4:53 PM in reply to: #2344846 |
| Pro 6767 the Alabama part of Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Brownie28 - 2009-08-12 5:35 PM cpfint - 2009-08-12 4:10 PM I didn't think the article was complete useless drivel as someone above said. I got into triathlon because I had gained weight and I stuck like glue to a pretty intense training plan. I lost nothing. I didn't lose the 30 pounds I wanted to until I joined Weight Watchers and stuck to that like glue. I think when you are exercising hard, you could be fooled into thinking you can eat like you always have, or even that you deserve more food. I fell into that trap. I finally learned the hard way that you absolutely must change your diet. Maybe the article had certain questionable points, but overall, I totally agree that diet is the thing that must be changed in order to lose weight. That is not to say I am against exercise or think it is a waste of time! Yeah, that's probably directed at me and as I said in another post I probably overdramatized my point a bit. It's not useless drivel but it only tells one side of the story and without the other side people just don't see the big picture, all they get is an excuse to not exercise. It's exercise and diet TOGETHER, and that's what the article is missing. Diet alone can get you to a healthy weight but not necessarily healthy (weak heart, weak bones, loss of flexibility, etc); exercise alone might give you a strong heart but you can easily GAIN weight when just focusing on exercising; it's the combination of the two that make you a healthy person. I think you missed the whole point of the article. It's not as simple as a mechanical application of caloric management. The article points to the psychological underpinnings of WHY exercise ends up undercutting people's efforts. After motivating themselves to work out, many people don't feel motivated to eat better. They feel hungry, and naturally want to relieve that. The will power at that point is at a low. Failure to recognize the human element in things leads to all kinds of errors of application. I would liken it to managers who claim if you can work with 100% accuracy on a task for 1 minutes, then you can do it for 10 minutes. And for an hour. And for the whole work day. No human (or machine) is 100% accurate 100% of the time. And most humans are not going to be able to engage in the self control to go exercise (when it is not a prefered activity) and then have self control to manage foods and portions. I think a lot of athletic people LIKE to exercise. I personally HATE to exercise. I do tri's to keep myself motivated with an end-goal. Otherwise, I am sitting on the couch watching movies. But I know people who HATE to sit still, and find watching a movie a slow death. So those of us who tend to the heavy side have to overcome the dislike of exercise as well as the pleasure of eating. I beleive the article also gave at least passing mention to the benefits of exercise for cardiovasular health. But most people exercising are not saying "My heart will be healthier". They are saying "How come I'm still fat?" |
| 2009-08-12 6:19 PM in reply to: #2344901 |
| Member 381 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin gearboy - 2009-08-12 3:53 PM Brownie28 - 2009-08-12 5:35 PM cpfint - 2009-08-12 4:10 PM I didn't think the article was complete useless drivel as someone above said. I got into triathlon because I had gained weight and I stuck like glue to a pretty intense training plan. I lost nothing. I didn't lose the 30 pounds I wanted to until I joined Weight Watchers and stuck to that like glue. I think when you are exercising hard, you could be fooled into thinking you can eat like you always have, or even that you deserve more food. I fell into that trap. I finally learned the hard way that you absolutely must change your diet. Maybe the article had certain questionable points, but overall, I totally agree that diet is the thing that must be changed in order to lose weight. That is not to say I am against exercise or think it is a waste of time! Yeah, that's probably directed at me and as I said in another post I probably overdramatized my point a bit. It's not useless drivel but it only tells one side of the story and without the other side people just don't see the big picture, all they get is an excuse to not exercise. It's exercise and diet TOGETHER, and that's what the article is missing. Diet alone can get you to a healthy weight but not necessarily healthy (weak heart, weak bones, loss of flexibility, etc); exercise alone might give you a strong heart but you can easily GAIN weight when just focusing on exercising; it's the combination of the two that make you a healthy person. I think you missed the whole point of the article. It's not as simple as a mechanical application of caloric management. The article points to the psychological underpinnings of WHY exercise ends up undercutting people's efforts. After motivating themselves to work out, many people don't feel motivated to eat better. They feel hungry, and naturally want to relieve that. The will power at that point is at a low. ... ...But most people exercising are not saying "My heart will be healthier". They are saying "How come I'm still fat?" seems like the answer to that question is based on the simple mechanical application of caloric management, as you said. i still think it is that simple. it is just hard for people to do it. a different question is "why do i lack motivation"; which appears to be what the article wants to address, but is sorta blaming the problem on exercise rather than a lack of willpower and determination. fine, if you want to say i lack determination and willpower because i am tired from exercising. but to me that implies these were lacking beforehand also. as another poster has mentioned, for a non-negligible number of people, determination can be trained and increased with physical training. as an aside, what about the converse: if you cut back on exercise will you lose weight? this never works for me. |
| 2009-08-12 7:06 PM in reply to: #2343866 |
| Master 1322 Chicago | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin DrPete - 2009-08-12 11:09 AM That's why articles like this are so harmful--it's just another thing someone can use as an excuse to not exercise. I agree. That's what bugs me about this article is that people who are looking for the validation that they don't need exercise or that it won't help are handed the excuse in article form. Those of us who know better read between the lines and see that the article basically says diet can overrule exercise if you don't be careful. The article does a POOR job of pointing out the numerous positives and why it's still a good idea... which I won't re-hash... others have pointed them out DrPete - 2009-08-12 11:09 AM Yes, it's possible to just set your mind to it and lose a bunch of weight and start doing triathlons. That's not the way it works for most people though. It doesn't mean that they're mentally weaker or anything, just that their motivation/reasons for being overweight/out of shape are different. But if someone really is determined enough and makes it important enough in their lives. It CAN be that simple. Even for someone who's struggled with obesity their entire adult lives and thought that was always going to be their reality. I wish I knew how to bottle this mental change that happened to me but I've lost nearly 100 pounds. Taking up something like training for Tris have been KEY in my motivation to be consistent with exercise. If I didn't exercise sure I could lose weight... slowly... maybe a pound a week, but I do lose twice as fast with exercise and training (and diet!). Why? Because I can eat a "normal" calorie level and feel that it' more sustainable for the long term. If I didn't exercise I'd most likely gain it all back... like every other attempt I've had at weight loss. The difference is I'm not over-eating as a "reward" for exercise... Just minor calorie increase to keep energy levels up. I know I'm not the same as every overweight person, but I think we are capable of WAY more then we know... but your right the reason for being overweight is different for everyone. Edited by IdealMuse 2009-08-12 7:12 PM |
| 2009-08-12 8:31 PM in reply to: #2343796 |
| Veteran 281 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin yosly - 2009-08-12 10:46 AM thndrcloud - 2009-08-12 8:39 AM From February to July I was exercising without changing my diet (nursing a baby) and I didn't lose any weight but I dropped 3" at my waist and a dress size. In July I adjusted my diet for weight loss and in the last month have lost 7lbs. In my experience exercise will change your body shape, diet will change your body weight. I have a question. I've heard from a few women who have had babies that nursing burns a lot of calories (I don't know, that's just what I've heard). Do you think that's true? (Not at all trying to undercut your weight loss while nursing, it just made me think of what I had heard women saying about breastfeeding.) I nursed all three of my girls exclusively for a long time-nursed for over six years non-stop. All women are different. Nursing alone will not really make you lose weight. I think what most people forget is that you body craves more calories-especially in early months of nursing. I started hitting a pretty high level of exercise with a couple months of each of my daughters. Most women would notice a decrease in milk supply if they were not eating enough. |
| 2009-08-12 9:09 PM in reply to: #2345235 |
| Expert 697 Northern CA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin jmholmes02 - 2009-08-12 6:31 PM I think what most people forget is that you body craves more calories-especially in early months of nursing. And it's the same thing with exercise. When you exercise, your body sends you signals that you are hungrier. If you have a healthy relationship with food, your body doesn't lie to you about how much fuel you need, and you are reasonably educated about nutrition, but you aren't tracking calories or taking some other conscious step to limit your calories, the end result is that you eat enough more to balance out the exercise. (Or nursing in the breastfeeding example.) I thought the article was poorly written and made a number of leaps of logic, but there are several well-constructed studies that support the basic premise that exercise alone does not lead to sustained weight loss for most people. There is also plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this. Including all the people on BT who report training for Ironman races and not losing weight, even sometimes gaining it. |
| 2009-08-12 11:02 PM in reply to: #2345235 |
| Extreme Veteran 612 Chicago-ish | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin jmholmes02 - 2009-08-12 8:31 PM yosly - 2009-08-12 10:46 AM thndrcloud - 2009-08-12 8:39 AM From February to July I was exercising without changing my diet (nursing a baby) and I didn't lose any weight but I dropped 3" at my waist and a dress size. In July I adjusted my diet for weight loss and in the last month have lost 7lbs. In my experience exercise will change your body shape, diet will change your body weight. I have a question. I've heard from a few women who have had babies that nursing burns a lot of calories (I don't know, that's just what I've heard). Do you think that's true? (Not at all trying to undercut your weight loss while nursing, it just made me think of what I had heard women saying about breastfeeding.) I nursed all three of my girls exclusively for a long time-nursed for over six years non-stop. All women are different. Nursing alone will not really make you lose weight. I think what most people forget is that you body craves more calories-especially in early months of nursing. I started hitting a pretty high level of exercise with a couple months of each of my daughters. Most women would notice a decrease in milk supply if they were not eating enough. Totally agree. Nursing a newborn burns an extra ~200 calories per day and the bigger the baby gets the more they eat and the more momma burns. However, in order for me to maintain that milk supply I had to eat more. My body also clung to my fat stores as if I were in starvation mode despite the exercise I was doing. My son just turned 1 in July and I decided that maintaining my milk supply could become secondary to my weight loss goals and I began cutting calories. I still nurse him 3x a day but he's not getting much more than comfort and mommy time so he is supplemented with whole milk. |
| 2009-08-13 10:24 AM in reply to: #2343984 |
| Extreme Veteran 417 Buford GA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin skarl - 2009-08-12 12:40 PM thndrcloud - 2009-08-12 9:39 AM In my experience exercise will change your body shape, diet will change your body weight. Exactly! I thought the article was a good reminder that we still need to watch what we eat, no matter how hard we feel we train, and that maybe we are less active during the day since we already put in our time training. I know I feel entitled to laze on the couch after a long ride -- this weekend I'll do yardwork instead. I agree with the intial quote and the second comment that it is a remind that we need to watch what we eat. I disagree with the article in the sense of how they discredited exercise. As I lost weight my GF was complaining that she didn't like me skinnier and that I shouldn't lose another 15-20lbs which would put me where I should be. But then once I started training and my body shape changed but I didn't lose anymore weight she said to me the other day ok this whole weight loss thing isn't so bad you look great, referring to my body being more toned now than it was before even though I hadn't lose any weight. I think while exercise may not cause the weight loss that people want to see what it does for you mentally and also physically in regards to shape should not be discounted and this wasn't even considered in this article. |
| 2009-08-17 7:39 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Master 1322 Chicago | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin |
| 2009-08-18 8:32 AM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Member 198 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Oh, I wasn't trying to pick on you, Brownie28. Many people have expressed the same frustrations with the article, which I understand. Your spirited wording just stuck out in my mind.  The article also talked about how walking at a leisurely pace might have just as many health benefits as sweating it out through grueling workouts. That info could actually be helpful and encouraging to people who don't naturally LOVE to exercise (I don't, but I make myself). Maybe if people didn't think they had to suffer, they would get out and move a bit more. Of course, this will only happen if people bother to read the whole article, rather than just looking at the title and using that as a reason to sit around and do nothing. |
| 2009-08-18 9:04 AM in reply to: #2343446 |
Buttercup 14334 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin scottyr7 - 2009-08-12 9:44 AM From the article:"Church calls it compensation, but you and I might know it as the lip-licking anticipation of perfectly salted, golden-brown French fries after a hard trip to the gym." OMG, I am so craving fries now! Going to swing through McD's later. |
| 2009-08-18 10:29 AM in reply to: #2344684 |
| Expert 1123 Falls Church, VA | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin bachorb - 2009-08-12 4:40 PM mrmcmasty - 2009-08-12 2:57 PM Pector... that is such a beautifully written comment. I found it funny that this the author says "or at least why even my wretched four hours of exercise a week aren't eliminating all my fat. It's likely that I am more sedentary during my nonexercise hours than I would be if I didn't exercise with such Puritan fury." Four hours huh? Fury? Really!?! So I wonder what the author does with other 43% of the week? x2 haha - wow, a whole four hours?! How does she do it?!?!?!?! I think I am going to take up power-walking instead. Thanks, TIME. I'll add that the dietary side of being healthy is just as complicated as the training side. I have been steadily but slowly losing weight over the past year. I never, ever, ever eat junk. No booze, no snickers, no sugary cereal, no dairy, no red meat, no french fries, nada. There is no willpower involved - I just don't like the stuff anymore. I have lost about 15lbs but it's been a complicated and difficult process, easily as difficult as my training. What I will say is I can't stand is when people grossly oversimplify weight loss down to the "calories in, calories out" formula. No poopie - that's like saying the key to being a better triathlete is to swim, bike and run faster. Learning what foods are both healthy and satiating, figuring out how much of and what you need to adequately recover from a 1-hour day vs. a 5-hour day, pacing yourself throughout the day with your eating to make sure you don't eat too much too soon but not too little so that you stay within that very small 200-300 calorie margin of error are all difficult things to learn while also tackling a 15+ hour a week training schedule. It's a simple goal but a complicated process that has to take both quality and quantity into account. A person who eats 3,000 calories a day of spinach is not going to end up weighing the same as someone who eats 3,000 calories a day of Big Macs. to someone who is in horrible shape, 4 hours of activity does seem like a daunting task and someone who eats 3000 calories a day of spinach (will probably be suffering from malnutrition), but will weigh the same as someone who eats 3,000 calories a day of big macs. Food quality alters satiation, which ends up causing someone to eat less.. Also, if you aren't lactose intolerant, why would dairy be considered not healthy? Dairy protein are some of the best for an athlete.. same with red meat since you can get lean red meat (it's the higher fat content usually associated with steak which makes in less healthy) Orthorexia is an eating disorder too.. not saying you've got it, but you don't need to fixate on super healthy eating to lose weight. Food quality does not have an impact on body composition, but can have an impact on total calories. |
| 2009-08-18 5:00 PM in reply to: #2343871 |
| Expert 828 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin A few things: -I had a patient's husband comment on the article. They know I train. His comment to me was, to paraphrase, "the reason you stay thin is genetic." "I just read that Time article that said exercise won't help you lose weight"...I hadn't seen the article at the time and REALLY wanted to debate his info, but had too many patients to see. So to hope that the avg. person reading this will be able to break it into the real truth, is like hoping to get the next 6 numbers in tonights Mega Millions lottery. - DrPete pointed out correctly that weight loss being all about diet is totally wrong. People say they "diet all the time" and only lose a couple of pounds... I don't have the "Time" (meant to be a bad pun) to dig up the studies, but bottom line is this: Diet alone and exercise alone are pretty much equally successful at helping lose weight. i.e a person may lose 6 lb with changing diet OR exercising. But, the same amount of exercise that lost 6 lb along with the diet that lost 6 pounds won't equal 12lb weight loss. It will be more like 17lb in the same time period. - If people kept a 100% accurate food diary, they would be shocked. I have patients do that. They can't believe the number of calories they take in. Even trying to be healthy, they get it wrong. I had a lady who was drinking cranberry juice b/c it is "healthy for my kidneys". Problem was, she was drinking 2200 calories (that's not a typo) a day in juice plus her regular meals. -The article sucks. |
| 2009-08-18 5:53 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Carrollton, TX | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin This article does suck. There are multitudes of other benefits even other than weight management associated with exercising. Show me someone that is grossly obese that exercises PROPERLY and REGULARLY and has for an extended period of time. If you put in the work, you will lose weight, simple as that, unless you just plain eat everything in sight all the time. If you aren't, you probably aren't working out right/enough. I'm doing anywhere between 7 and 10 hours of exercise a week, thats approximately 6000-8000 extra calories burned than someone sitting on their butt. That's an additional 1000 calories a day. Even if I did go to McDonalds everyday, I won't be eating 1000 more calories than what I usually eat. Working out this much forces me to eat more than I am even hungry for most of the time, so I actually watch my weight so that it doesn't get too low. Edited by zomvito 2009-08-18 5:53 PM |
| 2009-08-18 6:53 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Master 2158 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin Funny, I read the article when it was posted, but just saw it as the COVER of Time. Re-reading this thread made me think about it again. My concern is that the article discounts the effect of exercise on weight loss. More worrisome is the information that willpower gets reduced. I have to see THAT study. Someone said that most people are willing to be 20 to 30 lbs overweight without having to worry about the effects. Not sure I think this is reasonable. You do feel the effects, but they will be different for a 110 pounder, 160 pounder and 220 pounder. In addition, the article give VERY little advice on what a healthy diet would look like. Anyway, as a group, BT'ers self-select. I would wager that most of the people posting "get" serving sizes vs. container sizes and the effect of empty calories. However, most of us spend a fair bit of time thinking about nutrition as a tool, rather than as an enemy. Most of the population of the US doesn't care and don't investigate the quality and/or quantity of what they put in their bodies. |
| 2009-08-18 7:53 PM in reply to: #2343375 |
| Master 2460 | Subject: RE: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin That's definitely one of my bottom all-time worst serving articles of all time, and I'm in the health profession. I don't have a problem with the quality of writing or even the cited studies, but the overwhelming intent of the article is clearly to discredit exercise AND to single-mindedly promote weight-loss alone as a health goal. While I don't expect people to start stopping their workouts immediately because of this article, rest assured that thousands of people will have a subconscious recollection of this article a year or more down the road when they NEED to start exercising, and that subconscious message will be "don't worry - you don't need it." This article does a huge disservice to public health - just as it needs it most. |
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