Choose to Lose Through Exercise

I am disgusted with all of these “experts” who claim that exercise is not a key component of weight loss! Seriously, where do they come up with this ?

Okay, I understand theirthinking …It is easy to store calories and quite difficult to burn them off . Afterall, the normal 30 minute light jog only burns 200-300 calories and thus it would take 12-18 days to burn just one pound of fat. It is equally unsettling to note that the average lean individual has enough fat stored away to fuel a 1,000 mile run without stopping to eat . An overweight person would have sufficient energy accumulated to go much farther. These critics also are aware that it is very easy to consume 400 calories the equivalent of one tall latte at Starbucks. My younger brother used to joke , after running for half an hour at a stiff pace, “well, there goes that peanut that I ate back in 1986″.

The sad truth is, our body was not configured to release energy easily. I concede the point.

The waters get murkier when you take into account various studies that  have called into question the benefit of exercise as it pertains to the battle of the bulge . These studies indicate that weight loss is no greater when people incorporate a moderate exercise program to their diet plan . I will discuss these studies in a future blog, but I do concede the point that these studies did suggest that weight loss did not increase in the exercise group when compared to the diet only group.

Why is this? Why would any study suggest that exercise is useless?

Well, I can explain. First, we believe that moderation is a necessary part of any lifelong program. I disagree. Moderation is too often used to describe mediocrity, and mediocrity kills! Americans have been killing themselves slowly with standard, run-of-the-mill, American Dietetics Association approved…mediocrity. These studies were no different, they used “moderate” and “poor” exercise regimens on top of “moderate” and “mediocre” diet plans and concluded with mediocre results!

A recent study found that exercise resulted in:

1. Less hunger
2. Improved fat burning
3. Improved muscle mass and thus metabolism
4. Fewer new fat cells developing over time

These findings sound authoritative to me. Other studies have shown that even when “moderate” exercise does not result in increased weight loss, it helps to keep the fat from returning! Again…an impressive finding. There are a number of deficiencies in the negative studies on exercise and weight loss.

1. The exercise programs are typically aerobic only and quite wimpy
2. The time frame of the study is not sufficient to result in some of the long term benefits of exercise (such as increased numbers of mitochondria and fat burning enzymes)
3. The studies do not look past the immediate weight loss to the ability to keep the weight off after study’s end
4. The studies fail to measure the other benefits of exercise including increased muscle tone and improved quality of life

The take-home message is uncomplicated. Exercise is a magnifier of long term weight loss, not the sole strategy. A poor diet will always trump the benefit of exercise as it pertains to weight loss. Focus on diet first and then always add both resistance and aerobic exercise to the formula as a magnifier of benefit. If these findings sound impressive to you, I encourage you to visit your favorite weight loss blog or weight loss podcast and leave comments promoting exercise.

Walking may ease some burdens of menopause

Walking for 45 minutes a few times a week may help women in the “battle of the bulge” that often accompanies menopause, and at the same time improve overall well being, hints new research from Canada. Pointing out that the 45 minutes can be broken up into shorter jaunts, researcher Dr. Pascale Mauri�ge, of Quebec’s Laval University, told Reuters Health in an email it’s a program that could be …