An article that challenges weight loss theory:

[Mr. Bloom]

I saw this on Yahoo this morning:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/...et_exercise_dc

My first thought is that a 24 subject test seems awfully small. In addition, intuitively, it seems that "spot fat removal" is tough to do...but you can buildup the muscle in certain spots to make the fat seem 'less fat'.

Thoughts?

[bcipam]

I read the same article this morning.

I do agree with them. I have been able to lose weight merely by exercising. Look at the professionals - they can't eat enough to keep weight on. Dieting alone I think does not work at all. The body will shut down once calorie intake is restricted. The key is definitely exercising whether with or without diet.

[spokewench]

I think the key to this is:

Are you exercising only to lose weight or are you exercising to be fit and hopefully lose weight also.

I think the goal in life should be to be fit and healthy. My definition of fit and healthy is that you weight a reasonable weight for your height and that you have good cardiovascular and muscular fitness. If you just lose weight, you may still be more at risk for heart disease, etc.; but if you are fit and light you will be much more healthy! So, whatever the one study says, I still think that most TE'ers are on the right track.

[han-grrl]

this is actually not new...i have heard this in the past.

i would like to add

our bodies were meant to MOVE. who cares what calories you burn

its really about being healthy and being able to move one's body with out pain.

my two cents..

H

[Veronica]

Geez... I hope they didn't spend too money on this study.

Yeah a calorie is a calorie.

Me... I like food, I like exercise. It's a balance.

V.

[mimitabby]

I think the key to this is:

Are you exercising only to lose weight or are you exercising to be fit and hopefully lose weight also.

I think the goal in life should be to be fit and healthy. My definition of fit and healthy is that you weight a reasonable weight for your height and that you have good cardiovascular and muscular fitness. If you just lose weight, you may still be more at risk for heart disease, etc.; but if you are fit and light you will be much more healthy! So, whatever the one study says, I still think that most TE'ers are on the right track.

exactly! sure you can sit around all day and not eat and lose weight, but you will lose muscles too, and general health and endurance. So if really the only thing that is important to you is that NUMBER, don't exercise.

[HappyAnika]

So my question is: If restricting calorie intake slows metabolism, and, as the article proposes, building muscle does not increase metabolism, how does one increase their metabolism?

[han-grrl]

I had read a study that increasing muscle mass actually only increases metabolic rate by something like 75 extra calories a day.

anyway...that being said...to increase your metabolism...you have to move. moving bodies burns calories. which means...don't just thinkof exercise

think of active living! laundry, mowing the lawn, playing with the kids all uses up calories...and... kissing and "nudge nudge" also uses calories...

we exercise so that all those things i was talking about go easier...isn't it nice to bound up the stairs without complaining about knees, back, and breath? or playing with the kids? or "nudge nudge" without the "aww, not tonight honey, i have no energy?"

just some food for thought!

[matagi]

han-grrl raises some very good points.

I recently read a reference to a study which showed that the amount of incidental exercise you do (laundry, housework, etc, etc) is also important for weight loss. Apparently this study showed that people who did very little incidental exercise during the day had greater difficulty losing weight.

So don't think of the vacuuming as a chore, think of it as part of your weight loss program.

[Mr. Bloom]

This "a calorie is a calorie" approach seems awfully common sense. My struggle? There's so much 'professional' misinformation out there that I don't know what to believe anymore...This is sad

Healthy shouldn't be complicated...and it's been made that way by profit motivated charlatans.

Thanks for the thoughts on this...

[Pax]

When I was whining to my doc about my sloooooow metabolism he asked me a very simple question..."if you stopped putting food into your body, what would happen?". It's a very simple response to ALL the obstacles we toss up about weight loss...if we stopped eating we would waste away and die. The conclusion...eat sensibly and find a balance with movement.

[CycleChic06]

This "a calorie is a calorie" approach seems awfully common sense. My struggle? There's so much 'professional' misinformation out there that I don't know what to believe anymore...This is sad

Well it's not as much the information that's out there, but the interpretation of the information. Doctors and scientists generally agree on how to lose weight, but it is a journalist's interpretation that make the impact. They often summarize articles written by doctor's and scientists from scientific, peer-reviewed journals. While the original article may have both sides of the story, often the journalists writing these articles have no scientific background and inadverantly skew results by only reporting part of the story.

[han-grrl]

Cyclechic

i couldn't agree more. Often the media will pick up very very old news in terms of science and suddenly its this madness over this tiny piece of research evidence.

when i hear of something, i will go back to the source. i will try to find the scientific journal article on line, or at least read the abstract. you can get a lot of info...like who is funding the research (which can significanly affect what results are published), how many subjects in the study, how long they did the study for (you would be amazed how many papers get published from a single meal fed to a single group of volunteers).

all this will affect how meaningful those results are...

also keep in mind:

everyone is always looking for the KEY. the ONE THING that will solve all their problems. THERE IS NO ONE THING! here are my "rules":
Eat to live don't live to eat
Eat healthy and well balanced
listen to your bodies
Love and laugh every day...

Smile

Han

[Geonz]

Eya, 'tis true, we can spend more time looking for shortcuts than it would take to do it right the first time.

I was down to 142 this morning, yippee Here's to trying to be good on my conference trip - but it's an educational conference, so they *don't* have chocolates everywhere 'cause we don't have that many dollars for them to woo

[Mr. Bloom]

I was down to 142 this morning, yippee

Mr Silver HIGH FIVES Geonz

I have to travel to Tempe in a couple weeks and I'm already concerned about breaking my eating/exercising routine!!! I have to be consistent and not lose my stride