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.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

This reminds me of the other sensationalized article recently stating that organic produce is no more nutritious than non-organic produce. although that's 'debatable'- even if it were true and they were both equally 'nutritious' in terms of having the same nutrients- they are conveniently forgetting about the fact that organic produce is HEALTHIER to eat because it is not coated with pesticide residue.

I hate it when they do a little writer's 'twist' of the facts in order to get people to buy the publication.

[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.

[emily_in_nc]

This reminds me of the other sensationalized article recently stating that organic produce is no more nutritious than non-organic produce. although that's 'debatable'- even if it were true and they were both equally 'nutritious' in terms of having the same nutrients- they are conveniently forgetting about the fact that organic produce is HEALTHIER to eat because it is not coated with pesticide residue.

That bugged the h*ll out of me too, Lisa! I don't eat organic produce b/c it's more "nutritious". I eat it because it's not grown with possibly harmful pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or fungicides; and to support small, local farms and small-scale growers who are some of the best stewards of our environment around. Not to mention that organic produce often tastes better because it's often not picked as early to be processed and shipped cross-country and has more time to ripen naturally in the field or on the vine.

[Trek420]

..... I don't eat organic produce b/c it's more "nutritious". I eat it because it's not grown with possibly harmful pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or fungicides

Bingo. Traditional fertilizers are made from patrol based products. One way to reduce dependance on oil is to eat organic. More important it gets that &^% out of our air, water, water table .... and on and in the bodies of the men and women who grow and pick our food. Think how dangerous it is for them.

and to support small, local farms and small-scale growers who are some of the best stewards of our environment around.

There are "traditional farms" and even huge uber-mega agribusiness style farms that are excellent land stewards. There are small local farms that are not so good at that though most are better.

To make matters more complicated organic farmers are not necessarily small, though most are relatively smaller. And "traditional" non-organic farms not necessarily big or far away.

Whew. But the thing is small organic farms still don't have the kind of clout and money to fund studies like that article. Again, they do have us.

What's great about farmer's markets for those of us who have 'em is you may meet the farmer or at least someone who works for them.

If you've got questions about how they grow their stuff you can ask.

organic produce often tastes better because it's often not picked as early to be processed and shipped cross-country and has more time to ripen naturally in the field or on the vine.

The farmers in Chile, Italy and China are fine, they do a great job And if you're reading this in Italy, Chile or China you may feel the same about buying "local to me" Sonoma wine or goat cheeses.

But why use all that energy to fly or ship produce when we grow it here?

And .... by buying local wherever in the world you are you preserve rural agricultural regions that are GREAT to ride in

[Biciclista]

This reminds me of the other sensationalized article recently stating that organic produce is no more nutritious than non-organic produce. although that's 'debatable'- even if it were true and they were both equally 'nutritious' in terms of having the same nutrients- they are conveniently forgetting about the fact that organic produce is HEALTHIER to eat because it is not coated with pesticide residue.

I hate it when they do a little writer's 'twist' of the facts in order to get people to buy the publication.

a coworker of my husband who is seriously overweight and has sleep apnea (and falls asleep snoring loudly almost every day at work) made fun of my husband because we buy organic produce from a farmshare. "See, (because of the article) it's all BS about Organically grown produce"

[Trek420]

So the guy with sleep apnea and probably a slew of other health issues that may or may not be related to his being obese is teasing the fit and health conscious couple????

Coming to a theatre near you.

http://www.foodincmovie.com

[solveig]

I read the Time article last night, and it bothered me too. They are right that many people go overboard with their "compensation" for exercise with lots of heavy food. (Like my dad who rides his bike 7 miles to the tavern for a beer & a cheeseburger...)

But the article didn't really go into what kind of food people can eat when exercise amps up their metabolism, nor did it talk about eating frequently so that you never get ravenous enough to demolish 3 pieces of cake at night.

It was an article designed to provoke controversy, and I can't wait to see the letters next week, hopefully from some people with lots of letters behind their names.

I am completely confident that regular, varied, FUN exercise helped me drop and keep off the 65 lbs I lost, and more importantly, it helped me learn what my body needs and wants. And taught me I can do more than I think I can, and helped me stay sane, etc, etc.

[Crankin]

Exactly.
Thirty years ago, my dad told me that I was "getting a little piggish looking." Not nice, but true. Right then and there I stopped partying, going out to happy hour and eating fast food. I ate no red meat for 2 years and upped my fruit/veggie intake. I also started walking and doing calisthenics. I lost 25 pounds, even if it took me a year. I have never gained it back, except during pregnancy (each time it took me 4 months to lose the pregnancy weight) and the one time it started to come back is when I started cycling. My type of exercise may have changed, but even though I could not have done this without good nutrition, I most certainly could not have done it without exercise. I would have had to starve myself and I would have been one of those "skinny" girls with high body fat and no endurance.
I hope my friend who recently went to a trainer to "get rid of her bat wings" doesn't see this. She told me that she told the trainer she only wanted to work the one muscle that she thought was flabby (after the woman tried to explain about opposing muscle groups) and that she didn't "want to get muscles." I am tired of people telling me they can't do what I do. OK, but they can do something.

[witeowl]

It was an article designed to provoke controversy

Yup. Why give it a rational title like "Why Exercise Alone Won't Make You Thin"?

This article angered me on so many levels. The valid parts can be summed up as this: Be careful not to overeat as a reaction to hunger from exercise or because you think you "earned" it. Whether or not you exercise, you need to watch how much you eat. But that wouldn't have been much of an article, right?

I have a more complete reaction at my blog, if it's OK to say that.