Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

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

Note: I feel compelled to point out that I'm well aware that dinosaurs and humans did not roam the earth at the same time. I have received numerous communications in regards to this. I made a poor decision in making this flip comment in an effort to make a point. Unfortunately, my sarcasm does not translate well in to writing, and I will definitely be more cautious in regards to this in the future!