Time Magazine article

[Crankin]

Has anyone else seen the cover page of this week's Time Mag? The story is titled "The Myth About Exercise." While I don't necessarily disagree with what the article says (people think they can go to the gym for 30 minutes a day and then eat a blueberry muffin afterwards; then they wonder why they don't lose weight. ... basically that exercise prevents disease, but is not that useful in weight loss), I wish they had titled it differently. It made me feel like people will now say, "OK, I don't have to exercise at all," because they won't read the whole thing.
It also made me feel somewhat freakish because I was able to change my eating habits years ago and I have been able to continue. Yes, when I ride hard, I do get hungrier, but since I don't reward myself with donuts, like the article implied, I don't gain weight. Yes, I have had to limit myself more as the years go on, but I don't think anyone would consider my diet restrictive, unless you feel you have to have desserts, junk food, or soda all of the time.
I guess my fear of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity is enough to keep me going...

[jobob]

Eh, they need to sell magazines, hence the title.

I'll check it out though, thanks for the heads up.

[limewave]

I just skimmed the article and plan on reading the entire thing tonight after kids are in bed.

From the gist of it, I would say I have to agree. I was most successful losing weight when I did moderate exercise, maybe 30 minutes a day, and really watched what I ate.

When I trained for a marathon to try and lose baby-weight, I ended up gaining 3 pounds over the course of the year even though I was exercising a TON.

There are a lot of people out there who think they can lose weight by just increasing their exercise while they continue to eat a half a bag of potato chips followed by a pint of ice cream (DH . . .). And that just isn't the case.

[jobob]

There are a lot of people out there who think they can lose weight by just increasing their exercise while they continue to eat a half a bag of potato chips followed by a pint of ice cream

you left out the beer.

[bmccasland]

I've been amused/perplexed by the magazines that have some high calorie dessert on the cover and a banner article headline about loosing weight.

[Trek420]

I've been amused/perplexed by the magazines that have some high calorie dessert on the cover and a banner article headline about loosing weight.

That's because "moderate exercise, fit into your daily routine such as walking or biking to work, taking the stairs instead of the escalator, gardening instead of watching TV, walking or running with your dog instead of doing the treadmill at a gym or buying a Thighmaster for only 12 easy payments of $9.99, and eating food that's made from real food in moderation unless it's chocolate" ...... doesn't have an advertising agency, budget, lobby or infomercial.

It has us doing it and looking faaaaabulous.

[shootingstar]

It would be useful for mainstream magazines like Time, etc. to publish articles how a person's diet does need to change as they age when their normal metabolism slows down, etc. Not just women over 50 need xxxx calories. Doesn't help much since it's the composition of those calories and nutrients that are more important.

Or if one wants to "treat' themselves occasionally, when the best time period of the day to have such a treat. (ie. much earlier in the day).

Also to follow up on the arthritis topic thread elsewhere, the value of exercise for not just weight control, but reduction of other problems over time, is not even addressed at all in article.

Nor did article remind people, the general rule of thumb is to only eat feeling 80% full.

I am though, genuinely puzzled by some people who don't exercise much but do eat carefully and healthily. Like my 80 yr. old father. Methinks the only exercise he does is 25 min. round trip walk to the store several times a wk. to buy a paper or housework and light yardwork (raking, sweeping) with my mother. He is at the right weight, no cardiovascular/respiratory problems, etc. He rarely eats sweets/hardly any sugar in diet, no drinking nor smoking.

It also bums me out that he eats double the amount of white rice at his age with no negative effect, whereas I can't do eat that same amount without feeling like lousy because of blood sugar spike.

[Jiffer]

I lost 60 pounds without doing a lick of exercise and kept it off for 10 years. In fact, I STOPPED exercising and focused on controlling the amount of food I ate and pounds started falling off. I don't recommend no exercise and have the cellulite that grew during that time to prove that point. Obviously it's necessary for good health, which makes me so glad I discovered cycling. Also good for toning and losing inches. However, for the purpose of losing fat, I have found it absolutely true that exercise is not "necessary". The more you exert yourself, the more fuel you need. The less you exert yourself, the less fuel you need. So whether you exercise or not, you have to learn to listen to your body's hunger and fullness signals.

[witeowl]

I lost 60 pounds without doing a lick of exercise and kept it off for 10 years.

I think you'll find that the people objecting to the article aren't arguing with the idea that exercise is not necessary for weight loss... We're affronted by the article's more-than-implied message that exercise is counterproductive for weight loss.