TIME Article: Why exercise won't make you thin

[Nemo2]

In my early 30's I could eat anything, not exercise, and remain flesh-and-bone skinny.

The reason I started running in the first place was because, in my late 20s, my metabolism changed and I started putting on weight.....it was either diet or run so I opted for the latter.

I recall, at age 17, being on an ocean liner going from England to Australia......I was skinny, skinny and used to eat my way right through the menu at every meal......at one point, (I was sitting at a table with about a dozen other passengers, none of whom I knew), our Scottish steward said at the top of his voice "Och, I'd sooner carry you oot to the kitchen than carry your food oot here!"

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I agree that exercise alone is not enough. I have tracked my exercise and weight since 1984. My exercise for each year has almost no correlation to my weight changes. Here is an example from a particularly active phase of my life :

1992 : 12751 miles biking, 250 miles walking, 107 hours lifecycle = -32 pounds
1993 : 13814 miles biking, 503 miles walking, 171 hours lifecycle = +9 pounds
1994 : 14669 miles biking, 145 miles walking, 277 hours lifecycle = +3 pounds
1995 : 11775 miles biking, 132 miles walking, 123 hours lifecycle = +3 pounds
1996 : 14148 miles biking, 183 miles walking, 45 hours lifecycle = +13 pounds

My problem, of course, is my mouth. I have "95% willpower". This is great for exercising (I almost always feel like riding or walking), but not so good for dieting (a lot of damage can be done in those 1.2 hours per day).

 

[rgarling]

Recent information suggests that resting muscle burns 5 to 6 calories per pound per day, while fat burns about 2 calories per pound per day. So, if you lose 30 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle by working out, you end up at -60 calories per day for fat loss and at +60 calories per day for muscle gain. No extra twinkies for you!

 

[travelover]

So you believe metabolism can't be altered at all?

I believe you when you say you lost weight and that you exercised. Projecting your experience, a single data point, to 6 billion people is problematic.

 

[haha]

I agree that exercise alone is not enough. I have tracked my exercise and weight since 1984. My exercise for each year has almost no correlation to my weight changes. Here is an example from a particularly active phase of my life :

1992 : 12751 miles biking, 250 miles walking, 107 hours lifecycle = -32 pounds
1993 : 13814 miles biking, 503 miles walking, 171 hours lifecycle = +9 pounds
1994 : 14669 miles biking, 145 miles walking, 277 hours lifecycle = +3 pounds
1995 : 11775 miles biking, 132 miles walking, 123 hours lifecycle = +3 pounds
1996 : 14148 miles biking, 183 miles walking, 45 hours lifecycle = +13 pounds

My problem, of course, is my mouth. I have "95% willpower". This is great for exercising (I almost always feel like riding or walking), but not so good for dieting (a lot of damage can be done in those 1.2 hours per day).

WOW! Most of these years you biked more than the average motorist drives.

Very impressive.

Ha

 

[Midpack]

I believe you when you say you lost weight and that you exercised. Projecting your experience, a single data point, to 6 billion people is problematic.

And the millions of people who exercise are all misguided...

 

[haha]

60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong, right?

Ha

 

[Mulligan]

In extreme broad generalities, I cannot believe that exercise cannot contribute to weight loss. Waterboard me all you want and I will refuse to change from my belief! However, for people who are trying to lose weight, restricting calories obviously brings more weight loss at a quicker rate than exercising to burn calories. However, for people who restrict calories without exercise on a diet and return to normal eating habits run the risk of weighing more than their original weight. For some curious reason, I am less hungry when I am consistent with my workouts than when I am not. Of course even on our forum, the term "exercising" and its benefits from it, I am sure are wide and varied.

 

[unclemick]

Makes sense. One exercises to stay fit, maintain/add muscle mass, etc., though my reading suggests there are positive changes, relating to insulin regulation and other hormonal "stuff" that are the results of "exercise".

Yep. Do both. However from a mind over matter point of view many people seem to find exercise and 'sensible eating' NOT specifically dieting easier.

Me I'm a turd on both counts - don't like exercise or dieting and struggle to do both. However down 25 lbs, lower chloresterol, and BP.

heh heh heh - going to New Orleans for a week - so I will avoid any further discussion of this thread for a while.

 

[travelover]

And the millions of people who exercise are all misguided...

No, I think it is a good idea to exercise. But, I don't think it is the primary path to weight loss.

 

[haha]

For some curious reason, I am less hungry when I am consistent with my workouts than when I am not. Of course even on our forum, the term "exercising" and its benefits from it, I am sure are wide and varied.

I have noticed that my appetite it suppressed for maybe 2 hours after exercise other than swimming. Then I am hungry big time. However for whatever reason my satiety thing cuts in pretty quickly and I never eat a whole lot. Sometimes I am just too beat to eat much.

The wiriest young guys I ever knew were loggers. They were jsut too tired to eat by the time they got home. They ate, for sure, but often fell asleep before they were done.

I think there is no doubt that weight can be lost from exercise, it just rarely is in free living populations. Look at basic training, people may not lose pounds in all cases, but they sure will lose fat and gain muscle, and if they were fat going in they will not be fat going out. But someone other than their desire to get thin is limiting input to a proper amount.

Ha

 

[GregLee]

And the millions of people who exercise are all misguided...

Exercise is great. There are very significant benefits to exercise. I exercise an hour every morning, and I'm a lot healthier than when I exercised only a half hour a day, a few years ago. But I also diet. If you can stay healthy by exercise alone, paying no attention to diet, more power to you, but I think that's atypical.

 

[mountaintosea]

Many people would say I'm thin but since I've retired I've stepped up my exercise. I look for variations on the theme. I think the reason so many older people seem to totter along is that they don't move enough. I've added kick boxing and a Taekwondo class besides the gym rat activities like weight lifting and treadmill etc. Plus a walk around our local lake and pick up trash that the flatlanders leave up here. Taekwondo class is a hoot since I'm in a class with some very some kids and some teenagers. There I am at 59 trying to do my kicks and wrestling on the floor, too funny!

 

[eytonxav]

If your caloric intake exceeds the calories you burn each day, you are going to put on weight. While the calories you get from macronutrients are very important, how your body is able to metabolize what you consume is also important as well as whether you are insulin sensitive or resistant.
See this article that talks more about the insulin factor and how that can play a role in muscle growth and staying lean vs getting fat or not really making much progress in the gym:

T NATION | Harness the Power of Insulin

 

[cyclegirl]

As a personal trainer I can tell you if you exercise you will lose weight. The main reason you feel hungry after your cardio workouts is that you're probably thirsty. If you drink either water, chocolate milk (low fat) or a sports drink it should help. Also, working out with weights helps as the more muscle you have on your body the more calories you burn. As I tell my clients the only thing in a diet book should be "eat less calories then you burn". This will hold true if you eat 2000 calories a day or 4000 calories a day. At 53 I am in the best shape of my life and I cycle over 150 miles a week, so yes cardio will help you lose weight.

 

[Brat]

My SIL is a cancer survivor, now in his mid-30s. He had not been feeling well so went to a specialist of some kind. That physician determined that the chemo had damaged his liver and advised that he change his diet significantly. Based on what I saw on my recent visit he has eliminated/greatly reduced carbs and fats from his diet, although the physician told him to drink whole milk - not skim. Now he is consuming lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meat in modest quantities. He looked great and has lost about 30 pounds.

 

[HFWR]

As I tell my clients the only thing in a diet book should be "eat less calories then you burn".

I'd prefer "eat real food, not too much"...

 

[skyvue]

I obsessively enter/track everything I eat to try to hit weekly calorie, protein grams, carb grams and fat grams goals. I have been doing this for years even at times when I am gaining weight and not "dieting". I have found the basic premise of this article to be true for myself.

For instance, when I eat 2,000 calories per day and don't exercise at all I will lose more weight than if I eat 2,400 calories per day and burn 400 per day on the treadmill. In other words, the exercise calories I burn do not appear to be a one for one exchange for the additional calories I eat.

Having said that, if I limit by eating to 2,000 calories per day AND still do the 400 calories on the treadmill, I will lose slightly more than no exercise at all.

The type of exercise I do has different impacts on my appetite as suggested by the story. If I am doing incline walks on the treadmill or long speed walks outside, I really do not sense any increase in appetite. In fact, immediately after this type of exercise my appetite genearlly will cease for an hour or so.

However, if I am involved in a fairly vigorous weight training program, I found my appetite does spike upward in fairly dramatic fashion. I seem to always be hungry as if my muscles are craving additonal protein and carbs to repair themselves (recover). The popular wisdow out there is to do weight training to increase your metabolism but I find it really increases my appetite more than anything else.

It took me a few years of trying different things to spot this trend in my numbers but due to this I have stopped lifting weights all together and now do moderate aerobic activity such as long hikes, incline walks on the treadmill and some jogging. However the key, for me at least, to weight lost is simply how many calores I consume on a weekly basis. It doesn't even seem to matter what type of calories they are (carbs vs protein, etc...). I have found that a diet high in protein seems to keep me feeling fuller for a longer period of time.

 

[ziggy29]

It's not all about losing weight -- converting fat to muscle is generally a good thing even if your regimen doesn't result in dropping a single ounce. So people who "aren't getting thin" are still likely both converting fat to muscle and improving their cardiovascular performance, and in that case I think someone who felt cheated that they didn't lose weight are losing sight of the bigger and more important picture.

 

[FinanceDude]

As a personal trainer I can tell you if you exercise you will lose weight. The main reason you feel hungry after your cardio workouts is that you're probably thirsty. If you drink either water, chocolate milk (low fat) or a sports drink it should help. Also, working out with weights helps as the more muscle you have on your body the more calories you burn. As I tell my clients the only thing in a diet book should be "eat less calories then you burn". This will hold true if you eat 2000 calories a day or 4000 calories a day. At 53 I am in the best shape of my life and I cycle over 150 miles a week, so yes cardio will help you lose weight.

I heard low fat chocolate milk is the new "perfect drink" after exercise, would you agree with that?

 

[Bestwifeever]

And in related news, women who take vitamins do not live longer than women who don't: Vitamin and Mineral Diet Supplements Don't Help and May Harm Older Women, Study Says - ABC News

The study looked at more than 38,000 women age 55 and older who participated in the Iowa Women's Health Study since the mid-1980s. The researchers found that when it came to reducing the risk of death, most supplements had no effect on women's health.

In fact, women who took certain kinds of dietary supplements -- vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron and multivitamins -- faced a slightly higher risk of death than women who did not. Only women who took supplemental calcium showed any reduction in their risk of death.

 

[GregLee]

And in related news, women who take vitamins do not live longer than women who don't: Vitamin and Mineral Diet Supplements Don't Help and May Harm Older Women, Study Says - ABC News

Interesting. I wonder if Dr. Hensrud was trying to make a joke:

Dr. Donald Hensrud, chair of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said the conflicting evidence seems overwhelming, but the new study helps to clarify the overall message.

 

[Amethyst]

When I started seriously working out (weights and cardio) about 20 years ago, I promptly gained 6 pounds. But, I still wore the same size.

Amethyst

It's not all about losing weight -- converting fat to muscle is generally a good thing even if your regimen doesn't result in dropping a single ounce. So people who "aren't getting thin" are still likely both converting fat to muscle and improving their cardiovascular performance, and in that case I think someone who felt cheated that they didn't lose weight are losing sight of the bigger and more important picture.

 

[haha]

I've dropped a few pounds since I got my Concept2. I think in some cases for some people exercise is an efficient way to lose weight, or at least to lose fat. However, dieting (however you define that) is usually more to the point.

Nevertheless exercise is important for many reasons other than weight loss, so even if person is the weight s/he wants to be, it is still a very good idea to exercise.

Ha

 

[Mulligan]

Many people are sophisticated in their knowledge and expertise in efficiently losing weight and fitness. But for "Joe Pot Belly" trying to drop 20 unsuccessfully, I think the major problem lies in underestimating his actual calorie burning "workout by walking around the block", and keeping the hole under his nose closed when the portion size was met. I know my favorite delicacy of a serving of captain crunch berries says 140 calories with skim milk (who the hell can only eat 3/4 of a cup of this and stop?) But for me in reality my bowl is filled to the brim with about 400 calories, so 3 bowls later I'm still hungry, kicking myself in the rear for not eating the ham sandwich instead that would have filled me up hundreds of calories ago. Fortunately I can get away with this a couple times a week.