Wednesday, July 7, 2010

In general the diet is the problem.....

Link between inactivity and obesity queried

Of course others have said such heresy too, like Gary Taubes or Kurt

As Taubes said:

This is not to say that there aren’t excellent reasons to be physically active, as these reports invariably point out. We might just enjoy exercise. We may increase our overall fitness; we may live longer, perhaps by reducing our risk of heart disease or diabetes; we’ll probably feel better about ourselves. (Of course, this may be purely a cultural phenomenon. It’s hard to imagine that the French, for instance, would improve their self-esteem by spending more time at the gym.) But there’s no reason to think that we will lose any significant amount of weight, and little reason to think we will prevent ourselves from gaining it.

5 comments:

Alexandra said...

I'm not 100% sold that activity has nothing to do with weight. Perhaps it's a smaller factor than once thought, but I know that I lose weight and maintain my weight better when I am more active. Two things come to mind. 1) It could be that it's more individualized -- for some people activity does make a difference. And 2) Perhaps it's a result of building more metabolically active muscle? Thus, activity makes a difference but it's not just any activity; the type of activity (i.e., resistance training vs. "cardio") is important.

williebr said...

I know I grew up as "blubber thing" in summer camp, and I really did NOT like to move and do stuff. I did it, but I hated every second of it. My energy levels were always low.

I suspect Taubes is right. I think I hated moving because I was getting fat, not the other way around.

With all that said, now that I am quite lean, I LIKE moving - sprinting, lifting, sports...

AT22 brings up an important point - what kind of movement: aerobic stuff that seems to make it easier to be fat? or anaerobic stuff that seems to make it easier to lose fat?

As long as I did aerobics I could not get lean. Completely eliminating them freed up tons of time and got me better results.

Warren said...

Dr. Lustig adresses this issue in Jimmy Moore's podcast.

Steven Rice Fitness said...

My understanding is that as a general rule, to effectively lose weight additional exercise should not be undertaken, just improve diet, but after the desired weight is reached, exercise is effective at keeping it off(together with maintaining a healthful diet.)

Anonymous said...

well, usually when i sit on my rear end and do nothing for some extended time, i gain very minimal or no weight. I eat very well and I am a particular eater, though I eat with gusto.

After a while however, if I try to work out or do something, I notice my fitness is definitely nowhere near optimal. My heart rate jumps with less effort, I tire more quickly, and my circulation suffers.

I agree that diet is the main factor in weight gain, but not the whole factor, and more importantly, weight gain or a lack thereof is no real measure of health.

It seems obvious that both must coexist, healthy activity and a healthy appetite, in order that people remain youthful. Sure you can keep your scale numbers similar from year to year with a great diet, but that's not the whole picture.