My sister subscribes to Time magazine and called me this morning to let me know that the cover story for the August 17. 2009 issue is on Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.
My immediate reaction was ‘duh’. You simply cannot out-train a bad diet. If you need proof of that, check out some of these videos:
Craig vs. Pizza
Craig vs. Hamburger and Fries
Craig vs. a Protein Bar
Craig vs. Starbucks
My agreement with the author, John Cloud, stops there. Unfortunately, my take-away after reading his article is that he has just provided the general population with a host of convoluted excuses for not exercising. Most notably:
Research published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE concluded that in their study of previously sedentary, overweight or obese, postmenopausal women that when following most exercise guidelines of 200 – 300 minutes of exercise per week, that this amount of exercise induces compensation that results in significantly less weight loss than predicted.
As Mr. Cloud’s article points out,
The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger.
The article goes on to clarify,
Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.
It’s not just exercise however that is the problem according to the article. Mr. Cloud points to research that describes the human behavior of self-control as being similar to “a muscle”. The research the author is drawing his conclusions from states that muscles weaken each day after you use it. Thus, the more you draw on your self-control, the more likely you are to weaken your ability to refrain from eating that slice of pizza or Frappucino. (Funny, I always found that my muscles actually strengthen from exercise).
According to Mr. Cloud, we can actually point to exercise as a contributor to the obesity problem in the United States. He states,
Could pushing people to exercise more actually be contributing to our obesity problem? In some respects, yes. Because exercise depletes not just the body’s muscles but the brain’s self-control “muscle” as well, many of use will feel greater entitlement to eat a bag of chips during that lazy time after we get back from the gym.
That’s not to say all exercise is bad. As the article points out, many obesity researchers believe that very frequent, low-level activity, “the kind hmans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented” may work better at controlling weight than high intensity exercise.
I can visualize 3.4 million Time magazine readers canceling their gym memberships and heading out to Mickey D’s for a burger and fries. They may even bother to take a walk around the block afterwards.
I mean, wow. If I wasn’t confident in my ability to think for myself, I may just crawl under a rock after reading this article. Talk about dis-empowering the human species.
Yes Mr. Cloud, prehistoric man certain did his fair share of walking, but he also had to hunt for his food and I’m certain got in a few intervals out-running a dinosaur or two. He may have even strengthened his muscles by moving a few boulders.
Perhaps most importantly, prehistoric man wasn’t faced with the modern day supermarket and a Starbucks on every corner. He lived primarily on roots, berries fruit, legumes, nuts and eventually unprocessed meats.
Rather than write about excuses for not exercising, perhaps there needs to be a future Time magazine cover story that addresses the importance of moving away from processed foods and adding nutrition as part of our required school curriculum? Perhaps if we start educating our children now, they’ll have the tools to make educated decisions and curb obesity for our future generations.
If you’ve read this article, I’m certain you must have your own opinions! I’d love to hear them so please post your comments once you get back from the gym!
Train hard; stay strong.
Peace.
Susan
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
Someone should write a letter to Time asking them to publish a cover title "Why no exercise WILL make you fat".
But can we assume that the part about out-running a dinosaur was sarcasm? Dinosaurs and prehistoric man missed each other by about 100 million years.
That was exactly what I was thinking throughout the article ^^
(both points, I mostly laughed about the dinosaur part)
Actually, much evidence points to the notion that man and the so called dinosaur were on earth at the same time.
And clearly some evidence points to exercise making people fat, but how many people are actually going to believe that? Come on now.
Ummm, please tell me this was a sarcastic note, that you don’t actually believe man and dinosaur lived at the same time?!?!
LOL
Sounds like he’s a creationist – that’s their standard line. Note that he called them “so-called dinosaurs”. Since creationists believe that god created man a day after creating all the animals, the idea of dinosaurs + man not existing at the same time blows their minds a bit.
There aren’t that many young earth creationists out there, but they’re still around. Unlike the dinosaurs.
Perhaps there is something to Mr. Cloud's piece; but who in their right mind would think that NOT exercising is going to help? If I burn 500 calories while working out, how is that a bad thing? I think a little willpower can go a long way to NOT eating that bag of chips and eating something else instead.
And JKR, I'm assuming Susan is alluding to the Flintstones!
The problem here is that nobody’s going to buy a magazine that say “Stop Whining and Get Off Your Fat Ass”.
Unfortunately, that’s the ground truth here – this article is a cover story specifically because there is a tiny ’something’ to it that lets people put the above headline out of their minds for another day. And that’s the sad thing.
It's a bad thing – according to the article – because when you burn 500 calories in an intense work out you are more likely to do the following:
-Eat MORE than 500 calories above your normal daily intake to compensate (I biked 15 miles, how about a muffin!)
-Sit on your ass for the rest of the day, so that your overall calorie burn is closer to normal.
The general idea of the article is that good nutrition combined with increasing your low-intensity activity (walking to work, etc.) is better for weight loss than intense work outs.
The article never suggests that people shouldn't exercise, rather it's another shot in the ongoing low-intensity/high-intensity debate.
I think the most interesting part of the PLoS study is that, even though the high-intensity group didn't lose the most weight they DID lose the most inches off their waistlines. Strength/looks is more important than weight for a lot of people.
But the article does raise some good questions about what the best course of action is for people who *do* care about weight more than anything else (morbidly obese, the cast of 300, etc.).
Finally, I'm not sure why the author thinks the article is disempowering.
I've personally found a very strong correlation between weight loss and increasing my low-intensity exercise (for example, when I started biking to work), and a weak correlation between weight loss and high-intensity exercise (though there is a strong correlation with strength, stamina, and muscle tone – all awesome things!).
If my goal is weight loss, and this article is correctly helping me choose how to change my behavior to achieve that, how is this anything other than empowering?
I have a relative who is afraid to exercise due to weak shoulders. Another is afraid to exercise because it makes him tired & irritable. The first eats fairly well but does nothing to burn calories. The second should be on a restricted calorie diabetic diet (doctor's orders) and is extremely slow to change. However, I decided to make my own changes. Running four days/week and weights 2-3 days/week.. Eliminated soda & alcohol, reduces sugar and processed foods. The Time seems to say that if you don't want to do anything it ok, because exercise is tiring and you might get be unhappy. Pills, fads and denial (of reality) do nothing but excelerate the progress to a slow unhealthy demise.
I think it was more the title that was disempowering. Someone who is overweight and looking for the easy way out of it (like fad diets or who knows what) will see the title of the article in a well respected magazine while checking out in the super market and basically give up their already losing battle because they don't do the proper research, set reachable goals etc.
I agree, wangston. And Ami, you're right about the title — Time like most entertainment-owned media today uses "shock" headlines to make you read, and they almost always overstate the case of an article. That's called bad journalism and it's the way of the world right now, unfortunately. Can you tell I'm a journalist?
Susan, sorry, but I think you're overreacting, maybe to that headline. At 56, I can tell you that even high-intensity isn't working like it once did for me. I'm seriously having to re-address a lot of things that I thought I had nailed for good in my late 20s and 30s with the help of a series of truly excellent trainers. (John Frazier, then in Dallas, and Jason Varley, now running BodyCore in Decatur, GA. — if you're near one of these guys, look them up.) God, did I look good then. And everything I did in high-intensity worked so well, I scoffed at "low impact" and claimed stretching was for fools. You know how it is when you're at that point. Invincible as long as RICE can get you past the soreness, right?
But the fact is that over the span of a lifetime, your body's abilities to handle WORKOUTS (not just to handle overeating and/or a sedentary lifestyle) really do change. In a few ways and areas, you might even get more capable, not less. But could I now contemplate sustaining the sort of multi-hour daily high-intensity effort in my life today that I made then? Absolutely not. Neither lifestyle nor physical condition supports it over the long haul, not even for athletes (whose careers end relatively early, let's not forget).
If I can learn from the PLoS study and Cloud's coverage of it that getting back to "foraging for nuts and berries," as a co-worker used to rib me about my lunches — and to moving around a lot more but steadily, not straight up the the StairMaster for 50 minutes at a heart-pounding rate — it's a lot more realistic. Probably it's not quite as galvanizing as the drop-dead knock-yourself-out-then-log-it-on-DailyBurn pattern as this site would like. It's definitely not as dramatic, sexy or fun, either, I'll give you that. But it's realistic.
When I read what Cloud is saying, when I reflect on the studies he's citing, it resonates, in my muscle and in my fat. Not that I have any fat, of course.
It sounds right. Unless you only want to live until 35 and then go out with 2% body fat looking like the god you always knew you were, it sounds closer to a way to live. Have you ever heard of the Unlimited Futures program? ( unlimitedfutures.org ) It's largely a self-actualization program but it's based in a yoga-type series of challenging stretches and those alone seem to move more hormonal and muscle-tone patterns into the right direction than anything else I'm finding, at least as a kind of bedrock for the moving-and-foraging lifestyle I'm trying to pull together for the longer distance.
Give it another thought or two, Susan. As wangston says, Cloud didn't tell you to quit going to the gym and he didn't call on Time subscribers to ask for their spinning classes money back. Hell, maybe we're about to evolve past step classes, in which nobody has ever looked good.
We all just need to lose fat. Chill and read it again. Instead of eating after your next workout.
I personally believe that the article is a complete joke. However, I firmly believe that excercise combined with a good diet will help you temendously to lose weight. While working out can lead to stimulation of hunger you as an individual should take it upon yourself to have self control. That is what it all boils down to.
Evan,
I agree that it is all about will power and one must decide what is most important. If a person really wants to lose weight he or she can make it happen. There are no excuses that a person can give except perhaps a disability that makes one immobile. A normal healthy person can do what they need to do physically to accomplish his or her fitness goals. It’s all about how badly that person actually wants it.
@JKR, I wouldn't call it sarcasm per se, but I was trying to make a point that there were likely many opportunities for prehistoric or early-man to exert themselves more than "very frequent, low-level physical activity", as Mr. Cloud suggests in his article.
@wangston, what I find disempowering about the Time piece is that based on Mr. Cloud's argument, people don't have the self-control to refrain from making poor food choices long-term. Even if we succeed early on, eventually our will-power "muscle" will weaken and we'll eventually cave in.
The Time article points out that Individuals who experience a lower than predicted weight loss following a pro-longed period of exercise are compensating for the increase in energy expenditure. Well, that's because dietary restraint is a necessary component to weight loss. I tell my clients over and over again that they CAN make changes in their dietary habits and that will-power CAN prevail. The mind is a powerful instrument and how we think can absolutely change the way we feel about what we can and cannot achieve.
Susan
TIME was obviously just trying to trigger a response from the populus in order to sell magazines. People know exercise and good diet is the formula for gaining overall health of body and mind; some people just live for an excuse to get out of it. Not me! I love my exercise time!
For one thing, Cloud seems to just *hate* exercising, at least that's how he painted his various sufferings through different kinds of workouts. That seemed to color the tone of the piece, and make it seem very anti-exercise. Also, I'd challenge the automatic idea that everyone automatically scarfs down tons of food after exercising due to an increased appetite- I generally am not ravenous after working out, and I also usually feel like eating healthy foods anyway (fruit, especially) although bread is a particular downfall of mine.
I'd agree that overall it seems like something that people can point to and say "see? I really shouldn't exercise after all."
While I agree that nutrition is valuable to teach in schools, that's not where nutritional education should start. It should start at lunch. School meals are quite literally equivalent or worse than prison meals. The nutrition given to children is so bad, the food cannot be sold to anyone except schools and prisons.
Should our prisoners be eating as well as or better than our children? No. Should our children be eating so poorly that the obesity epidemic will expand in any part because of what they have in school? Absolutely not.
1st – The fact that Time magazine is printing an article such as that, with a tag line such as that is incredible. I don't know whether to feel disgusted or angered or something else.
2nd – When I am following a strict exercise and a balanced meal plan* I feel MORE inclined to not eat a muffin or order out a pizza. This is a negative side effect of the society and environment we have built for ourselves. There are definitely some people out there that feel that exercising allows them to dive into a pizza buffet or a pint of ice cream, and the problem with this is that they are soothing their conscience by doing what is "right" to correct their behavior. I've known people who do this and then justify their binging with an, "it's okay, I ran 3 miles this morning." Despite the fact that I personally know people like this, the majority of people I know that work out do NOT do this. They have taught themselves that those processed foods and fat-crammed snacks are off limits because of the damage they can cause.
3 (@wangston) – When I go to run, bike, or lift weights in the morning (or evening), I certainly don't sit on my rump all day, and I would assume most of the workout crowd doesn't either. I work 5 days a week, so I don't get the choice to sit around the house after a workout. How in the world can getting an intense workout cause someone to be sedentary in excess of their previous sedentary levels before joining a workout program. Simply, I can't understand this argument. Example: a lazy person drives to work, walks around work, eats fast food (etc), comes home, watches TV until going to bed, and repeats every day of the week versus the same person who runs intervals for 20 minutes in the morning and has the same day schedule. In addition to this, you argue that you are likely to eat an additional 500 calories to offset the amount you burned. So? If you are following a proper meal plan, you are likely going to be burning some amount of stored fats in your exercise routine and replacing it with calories from healthy (less fattening) sources. Conventional wisdom tells us that athletes NEED to take in more calories than a sedentary person. The difference? The average sedentary person probably takes in an amount of calories in excess of what they need. The athletes are taking in an amount that sustains their fitness, physique, and mind.
4 – I agree with all of you that nutrition should be taught in schools across the board. I also believe wholeheartedly that parents should be doing it first. The fact that we even need to think about an educational program to correct these problems is sick. Schools should not promote unhealthy meals by serving pizza, fried chicken, barbecue, and the likes. However, even though many of the people posting here and I feel this way, I also believe that the government shouldn't be the one that teaches our children and dictates what we can or can't do. We, as parents and concerned citizens, need to guide the government to how we want our systems, schools, and children handled. I genuinely grieve at the sight of my overweight, younger brother because he has not been taught by his parents or his school, and this has directly contributed to a obesity level that interferes with his entire life (social, mental, physical). He has to live with the depression that accompanies children of his age and size because he is aware of the social stigma and mortal danger.
This article is extremely disheartening because I can see how this will reaffirm to some people that exercise is not a necessity in their lives.
*(I loathe the word "diet" because of the connotation it has been given in modern times. Diets, by themselves of course, are not a solution, and most people jump to a diet that promises "instant weight/fat loss" by cutting a necessary food group or some similar gimmick).
Our subscription to Time was canceled the day we received this issue. This is the same old snake oil that has been confusing the minds of the populace at large for as long as there have been dishonest people wanting to take advantage of them for personal gains. Time might as well have told everyone to cut all of the fat from their diet in order to become healthier. It just gets my blood boiling that they would stoop so low and do that kind of damage for sensationalist headlines. I need a to go have an intensive session with my darn-it doll now. :p
thats bullshit
I read the article. I think it's riddled with excuses. I bet the author doesn't even know the true joy of pushing your body to its limits.
Self aware rational individuals who have made a choice to live a more healthy lifestyle will see this type of media for what it is, a bit of a sideshow and not really a serious attempt at improving quality of life in our society. People who don't have a capacity to control themselves and exercise some self-discipline will find excuses for their own poor choices whether furnished to them or not.
Anyone who professes that they can't quit smoking, or drinking too much, or over-eating has issues around their self discipline and self awareness. They may have problems making good choices for themselves in a whole variety of areas of their life.
Media output of this type could only be "harmful" to those pre-disposed to take an easy way out and blame something or someone else for their problems. In my experience personalities of this type will invent their excuses if they can't find an external one. I don't think these reports are leading anyone down a path they don't already want to go down.
Actually there is significant research (see "Willpower and the Optimal Control of Visceral Urges" http://www-personal.umich.edu/~emreo/willpower.pd...) suggesting that willpower is limited. If you choose to spend some of your willpower on exercise then you will have less left over for resisting tempting foods.
For a good overview see Philip on Fitness – Willpower.
The basic argument is:
- Willpower is a mind-body response, not merely a mindset.
- Using willpower depletes resources in the body.
- Willpower is limited.
- Willpower is trainable.
Use up your willpower reserves (say running treadmill, which you happen to loath) and you are less able to resist something yummy (say that ginormous cinnabon, which you happen to love).
What I find funny is all the "this guy is a hack" talk when the current wisdom as I understand it is that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. That's the whole point of doing them together, you get stronger (exercise) and lighter (diet).
Great… stupid link got munged.
Here's one that should work:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~emreo/willpower.pd...
6tRsCI wopqtawcluoo, [url=http://nehkgazkafqz.com/]nehkgazkafqz[/url], [link=http://adegzfoyzocs.com/]adegzfoyzocs[/link], http://quziwhpbxzyf.com/
Bruce, while the ratios are arguable, I agree that nutrition is the primary factor in regards to weightloss and overall health, and I feel that I addressed that in the blog posting.
With that said, if one is going to make the argument that willpower is a muscle and thus becomes depleted the more it is used, then the obvious counter-argument is that the more we use a muscle, the stronger that muscle becomes.
As addressed in the 2008 IDEA Fitness Journal:
If all acts of willpower reflect a single strength, then training any individual act of self-control should strengthen all acts of self-control. Indeed, this is what research shows. Committing to small, consistent acts of willpower in any domain—from improving our posture to watching our finances—can increase overall willpower (Muraven et al. 1999; Oaten & Cheng 2007).
For example, Megan Oaten, PhD, and Ken Cheng, PhD, researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, investigated the benefits of an 8-week willpower training program that required participants to create and meet artificial deadlines (Oaten & Cheng 2006a). Participants not only improved at time management; they also ate a healthier diet, increased their physical activity levels and reduced tobacco, alcohol and caffeine use. Importantly, these health behaviors were not addressed in the intervention. The primary training effect appears to have been improved willpower endurance.
The Time Magazine story is based on a few pieces of research that the author found to support his side of the argument. My bigger issue with the article is that if it was Mr. Cloud's intention to promote the importance of nutrition versus exercise he fails to clearly address the importance of a good nutrition plan, or a true solution for avoiding a Starbuck's binge (the solution is NOT to not exercise).
WOW! I Don't believe that Time magazine is printing an article such as that!
On think I want to say to the author – GO to the GYM and training…
Humans didn't live at the same time as dinosaurs. Other than that, great article.
moqM5j ddtkkcochrju, [url=http://cxyfxjbhcahe.com/]cxyfxjbhcahe[/url], [link=http://ynvxyqepeswi.com/]ynvxyqepeswi[/link], http://kxocgjybaoky.com/
I'm a little disappointed in the close-mindedness of everyone to the article – it's against the common grain, but it's not claiming anything terribly incorrect, and the main take-home point is to exercise your restraint when it comes to diet, and use exercise as a supplement – something you should already be doing if all you're concerned with is weight loss.
The article could be vastly improved by focusing on body fat percentage as opposed to raw weight, but that's the common thought in the public today: "I need to lose 5~10kg", not "I want to cut 3% body fat"
The reality is that most of the people who are the most in shape use the gym as it was meant to be used, as supplemental training to an already active lifestyle. Without changes to the average diet, going to the gym for a few hours a week won't result in weight loss, and cardio won't do any benefit unless you run miles at a time regularly.
With regards to willpower, the comparison to a muscle is accurate. If you do 100 pushups right now, you'll be less able to do 100 more – until you rest. Your willpower weakens as you challenge it throughout the day, and won't recover until you're not placing it under stress. In reality, willpower could just be seen as the ability to cope with stressors, and anybody will hit a breaking point if the stress never relents.
For particular responses:
@Daniel: The point of the article wasn't to not exercise, it's to focus on improving your diet, then use exercise as a supplement. It could have presented the willpower argument first, but that's not as strong a hook.
@Susan: Willpower doesn't diminish over time unless you constantly place strain on it. Your comments on diet being a focal point mirror the Time article.
@CBM: You made a good point that the Time article is misconstrued, and that's the key problem to it. Otherwise, your method of living mirrors what the Time piece implies.
@Paul: You bring up a good point – food for many people is an addiction, like smoking or drinking can be. It's ignorant to say that willpower along can surmount those things, as addictions are actual physiological changes that have occurred in the brain. For some people, whose brain chemistry is not as receptive as others, quitting can be easier – but for others, who have a chemistry particularly susceptible to their addiction, it can be next-to-impossible without intervention. This is similar to your next thought, that media-hype of this type affects the predisposed, as do such things as true food addictions.
For many exercisers, our workout is what gives us our boost of energy and happiness, and some people don't have a predisposition towards experiencing this (which is why some must train for months before they experience enough changes to get a "high" from working out). Meanwhile, that Cinnabon they're looking at brings them complete fulfillment, whereas, for them, eating salads and tuna and running during the day can cause varying degrees of depression. It's a matter of how we're programmed.
It is hard enough to make people commit to exercise! The author should have chosen a better heading to get his point across. To blame exercise for weight gain is just stupid. How about all the people that have controlled their diabetes or got off high blood pressure medicine cause of exercise!
Thats why I dont read magazines like this. Its all about propaganda. Yup just keep shoveling it in America and sit on your ass cause exercise wont make you thin you know…bull!! It does have positive effects on the heart and the rest of the body. And everyone at everytime needs self control, but its hard for self control when most foods that are processed have chemically-addictive qualities to them. And bear in mind that Time also gets quite a lot of money from drug companies in advertisements to sell you pills that "treat" ailments caused by over eating of processed foods. Ill keep jogging and swiming thank you very much!
So I'm not sure if someone all ready said this, but…aren't you supposed to eat after excising? I mean healthy foods of course. I'm sure I read something about eating right after exercise is good for your muscles because they need fuel to repair themselves.
And of course low intensity is ideal, but what if you sit in an office all day, have to cook dinner, take the kids to practice ect. and all you get is that 30 minutes to do as much as you can?
"The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger." – John Cloud
If there's a will, there is a way…if there's none, there are many excuses.
One way of combating excess fat is by taking a href="http://www.body-detox-and-you.com/GarciniaCambogia.html">garcinia cambogia. It contains hydroxycitric acid which inhibits the storage of fat and also suppresses a person's cravings for carbohydrates.
Bottom line? Combine exercise with proper diet and garcinia cambogia (to suppress hunger.)
Dinosaurs were not on the earth when we were, so I don't think prehistoric man would be outrunning them- maybe a large cat??
Intense excercise does make you more hungry..(much experience here) but if you know that, you can keep from falling into that hole. End of story. Many of us who have struggled with weight have known this forever.
I think what is great about Daily Burn is that you measure how much you're eating, so if you're trying to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, just keep the workout and extra nutrition in equilibrium and all is good.
… another cringe for the dinosaur reference…
Look – this sort of rubbish is typical of what gets published at this time of year don't worry about it. We all know its nonsense – so don't sweat it (no pun intended).
I am more concerned the author of this blog believes humans may have been chased by dinosaurs, perhaps there are other aspects of your curriculum which need attention. :p
I'm a bit late, but what gives…
@Bruce: people might have limited willpower, but I don't think you need much of that anyway. In my experience, you can't "force" yourself into new behaviors. It's more a process of making little incremental changes that then become habits. And every step makes it easier to do the next.
And regarding the Time magazine article. If someone did make a huge long-term study about whether it's possible to consciously change at all, I think the likely result would be that it isn't – at least not statistically speaking. But that doesn't mean that it has to stop you personally.
This is an interesting article but I find it very hard to believe that people who are severely obese are that way because they get to much exercise and are therefore hungry all the time. Yes, when you exercise your body gets hungry. I usually start feeling the pangs about the time I hit the steam room. At that point it comes down to choice. Yes, you can eat, but if you want to lose weight you have to eat responsibly. Great article! It's stimulated some interesting conversation.
I know I personally do feel hungry after a good workout and it does tend to be a craving for those unhealthy treats that would instantly give me a pick-me-up (chocolate, ice cream). However, I do agree that will power is the key to weight loss. You have to push to go workout in the first place, but then you make the conscious decision not to get a candy bar or slice of pizza and to instead get a protein bar or a chicken salad. I hear some of the craziest theories on fitness and nutrition everyday and it's mind boggling that people buy into it.
Thank you for writing this article. Too bad they won't publish it in Time magazine to explain the real deal on weight loss.
I actually had a nutritionist friend tell me the other day that she doesn't suggest going to the gym or exercising outside of your normal activity to lose weight but just watching what you're eating. I couldn't believe that she would be telling people that exercising wouldn't help make them weigh less. It's appalling because there are so many people out there that while they might not agree wholly with the article, if they had any doubts and questioned their nutritionist they would be confirmed in this quackery.
Mr Cloud is an absolute idiot! Thats what happens when fat people write articles on excercise and nutrition. Just guessing he is fat, because he certainly has never been to a gym where people are getting weeker on a daily basis.
Dinosaurs and humans weren't alive during the same time period. I don't think.
ok just to clarify some things, exercise is good.
cardio is completely useless for losing weight though.
high resistance exercise such as squats, bench press, press, deadlift and power cleans can increase muscle growth. Muscles burns energy just to survive, this in turn increases your metabolism and that stays constant as long as you work out, now instead of needing 3000 calories to stay normal you need 3500 and that means if you keep eating what you normally eat you lose weight.
Another by product is too put on muscle you need to eat more so generally eating alot after gym is no problem for weights people. these exercises also strengthen your body and the extra muscle makes you skin tighter which in turns makes you look leaner.
If you want to lose fat you dont do it at a gym, you do it at home with a good diet, aim for a modest deficit to your BMR, something like 200-500 calories a day is all it takes. A caloric defecit of 3500=1 pound so over a couple of weeks its easy to get rid of 10 pounds and thats with minimal change to your diet(and some careful planning), avoiding stuff like soda's, fast food and high sugar stuff is the right step).
Dont get the 99% fat free stuff unless they have minimal sugar(as a base line if there is more then 10 grams of sugar per 100grams stay away). Its better to eat full fat yoghurt than the high sugar stuff because the fatty yoghurt fills you up faster and provides a more balanced macronutrient intake.
A healthy calorie constricted diet is by far the most effective way of losing fat. Combine that with small amounts of cardio and weights and that will help you look and feel really good without killing yourself on the track or at the gym.
Exercising like crazy to burn calories that we shouldn’t be eating sounds very stressful on our own body and mind, and seems like a recipe for caving under that stress and then getting discouraged and giving up.
As practical advice; eat small and regularly to keep your cravings under control. This will help you to avoid bingeing at meal times. Eat slowly and quit when your just satisfied. Minimise the calories you drink and that includes alcohol. Exercise with friends, its way easier.
I've been dieting for year but when I started long dstance running with regular gym classes I lost a stone. All you have to do is look at Paula Radcliff to realise running at last makes you loose weight.
Wow lack of willpower will make you fat…
mind = blown
i think this article from this guy is a crock of shit, i was 350lbs, i didn't exercise since high school, so i got back on the horse and now i am at a nice lean 250, and wanting more to come off, at lost 100lbs in 1 year. without a good healthy diet (no slim fast or weight watcher) you cant expect to lose the weight.
Work out, burn calories, strengthen muscles.
Get home, shower, recovery drink.
NO POTATO CHIPS IDIOTS!
Why would anyone sit down and feel good about eating a horrible food source like the example given, potato chips, after having just worked so hard to burn up 500 calories?? I just dont get it.
How about eating some healthy protein to safisfy hunger either before or after a workout vs. fat laden carbs. Protein takes longer to process in the muscles that you are trying to build up by the exercise efforts. Yes, burning calories may increase appetite–a by product of the workout challenge. The real challenge comes with what you reach for to reward yourself after your effort to exercise. Your body wants the good stuff. It is your brain that wants the chips. The question really becomes, “have your really made a full committment to make a change in your health and wellness?” Improved nutrition and exercise are both a part of that effort. Reach for the good stuff after. Make sure to hydrate properly as well. Soon your body will start craving the good as a reward vs. the old nasty stuff.
I completely agree with Susan. The average professional/parent/shopper/human, does not need yet another excuse to not exercise. Those of us who already see a great value in exercise and healthy diet will obviously not stop the road we’re on. My concern is for the person thinking of their New Year’s resolution of walking a mile per day, or investing in a tread mill, or eating greens with every meal I truly hope this article did not knock the wind from someone’s newly-hoisted exercise sails.
I think you’re really overacting, and by assuming people are going to do exactly what you think the article implies, then you are admitting that people are already de-empowered, which is one of the arguments you threw against the article.
That being said, there is some truth to what he is saying.
If you’re diet consists primary of energy derived from carbohydrates – legumes, grains, pastas, fruits – then your body is going to be severely depleted after long gym workouts. That, combined with a emphasis on pure cardio and no strength training (most women at the gym I see don’t lift any weights they just do things like spinning class) are going to leave you hungry, and your body not in the process of building muscle, which furthers the metabolism.
I do not feel he is saying do not exercise, he is saying you need to workout smarter. Shorter amounts of high-intensity cardio, followed up by primary resistance training (weight lifting, full body exercises such as push-ups, squats, lunges) should be the focus of gym time. Get the rest of your solid state activity from low level cardio you will do throughout the day – walk up stairs, walk to lunch, do more yard work, etc.
That is is why I take most of my energy from proteins and healthy fats. I’ve cut out processed foods, grains, legums, etc, and get most of my carbs (about 80-100 a day) from large servings of vegetables (think a 5-8 cup salad or a big hoking serving of veggies with each meal). At that level your body is going to use fat as a primary energy source, so make sure you incorporate enough fats into your diet as well. This is what I’ve done – along with following an exercise plan like the one I outlined above – and I’ve lost 100 lbs in the last year.
So, in conclusion. I think the guy has the right idea he may have just phrased it less than perfectly. Also do not automatically assume the average person is a lemming – you are being arrogant and disingenuous to everyone you meet.
A healthy diet is the first key, and “lack of willpower” is just an excuse. That good diet will help you lose weight but will it help your atrophied muscles or make it easier to climb those stairs at work? No. You must at least do some exercising in conjunction with the proper diet. It does not need to be anything extreme, a walk at lunch, yard work, maybe join a gym and do low intensity exercises on their equipment.
I drink a ton of water to stave off false hunger and eat what I know my body needs when it needs it. If you pay attention you figure it out. Once I lost most of the weight I wanted to lose, THEN I began a high intensity workout with weights and isometrics to bulk up because I always had an interest in being in shape. I was an athlete in high school and was sick of being overweight and weak. Now I am getting stronger every day, mostly eating right, losing the last few pounds slowly, and gaining muscle like crazy. I am no young buck either; I am 47.
Willpower is simply saying no to bad food choices most of the time. Once you start going to the gym it feels wrong when you don’t get there. you feel guilty for not going so you work harder at getting there. I am hungry after a workout but I go home and slam down a nice lowfat protein shake and chase it with water unless it is near mealtime, in which case I try to have a healthy meal with the shake.
I still enjoy pizza but limit myself to 3 slices about every 2 weeks. I still drink beer with the guys about once a month. Moderation….no need to suffer. I used to be 250lbs. I am now (today anyway) 196.2 lbs. From a size 40 to a size 34(snug). Mostly diet and cardio for most of that weight loss. As I mentioned, I didnt start intense weights until about 6 months ago after I broke the 200lb mark. before that I would do low intensity workouts on the machines at the gym to help me stay in game shape while laid off or assigned to gravy jobs(I am in construction)
LOL, a lack of will power to some may look like an excuse… and maybe it is. But, I can tell you, the minute I go on a diet of any type or start working out really hard, my body craves sweets of the sugary starchy type. Apples and other fruits can fight the cravings, but only for about 15 minutes, then they come back. I would love to believe it’s an excuse so I could tell myself I can kick the cravings, but it’s something more than that… for some of us, food is our crack! Snoopy has his cookies that called to him; chocolate malts and bk double stackers call to me! LOL
XhUH1d gzqvzbjhyiuv, [url=http://phklyjsckesz.com/]phklyjsckesz[/url], [link=http://bakbpwyzuznj.com/]bakbpwyzuznj[/link], http://bulpniatzero.com/
This is the type of article that a magazine would publish just to sell copy. I know when I work out hard, my mind helps my body stop craving the grease and junk food. I still crave sweets, but i knows that raisins or apples will stop the cravings, whereas processed sugar will just make me want more. Saying that self-behavior is like a muscle is a valid argument, but saying that it weakens after exercise might only be true in the beginning (just like lifting weights). Over time, muscles and self-control become stronger with continued reinforcement.
I think the aptly named author “Cloud” should look at what the lack of exercise is doing to the public!
Cloud brings up some good points. One, you cannot just eat what you want and hope that exercise will compensate. Second, you cannot assume that simply doing fast paced exercises alone will get you results at the gym. Third, you need to obtain exercise not just at the gym but during your day to day tasks. Walk the dog, take the kids for a bike ride, sweep the garage, etc. I agree though, so many people cannot think for themselves and will look at something like this as “No need to exercise then.” Most of these items we have, through our own fitness maturity, heard of already and know all the angles. This may reach a few new ears here, but not many… carry on
i mean that’s probably the DUMBEST thing i have ever heard, people eat after exercising but they eat the junk food because they have it within reach! duh…… so i state here everybody continue to exercise but get rid of all junk food and stock up on healthy food
This has got to be the biggest crock of balogne I have ever read…
I’d give him one thing: you can loose weight without exercising, but you can’t loose weight without a reasonable diet. The only exercise I take is briskly walking the dog 1-2 hours a day, but I’m limiting what I eat and so far I’m loosing weight relatively quickly.
I came on this page totally by chance. And while reading the first two paragraphs, I felt something was wrong. Exercising makes you fat…Mr. Cloud, when you lack inspiration to write an article…don’t write one. I started getting active again recently, and let me tell you, I feel much more flexible, stronger and firmer.
Though its true, exercising makes you hungry, it is not exercising that should be blamed, but ourselves for our choice of food/snack. It is a shame….and DANGEROUS to let a journalist write something like that in a notorious magazine like TIME !