Cross posted at Antimattr
In this recent article by Time “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” they state, in part:
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. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.
But, like some others like the LA Times and ABC News, I disagree with the article and their findings.
While the study published in Time does provide evidence from a clinical point of view that exercise may not help to make you thin, I think they’re really missing the point. Among other things, the study, like so many scientific studies about weight loss, completely ignores the emotional component of weight loss in favor of simplifying the calories in/calories out equation. While there may be a factor of increased hunger from exercise, the point is that exercise does increase the calories a person burns during the day. The problem is not the exercise, but the distorted thinking people engage in when it comes to losing weight and the misinformation in our society. What I would have like to see in that study is an additional group who not only exercised, but received nutritional/dietary counseling and possibly even therapy to help them deal with the emotional issues so many of us who are overweight face.
In addition, the math just doesn’t add up. According to several online calculators, my 60 minutes on the elliptical each morning burns an average of about 700 calories. If I exercise an average of 5 times per week, that adds up to one pound per week, or approximately 50 lbs per year! Now, it’s true that if I feel that exercising justifies eating a muffin every day on top of what I’m already eating, I may cancel out the calories, but by understanding nutrition, staying on WeightWatchers and using cognitive therapy methods like The Beck Diet Solution, I can stay on track eating and learn to eat properly for the rest of my life.
In addition to creating a 50 lb deficit for each year, here are some other benefits that I think are crucial, at least for me:
Symbolic
The fact that I get up in the morning and exercise symbolizes my effort towards becoming healthier, and changes my mindset for the rest of the day.
Emotional
Exercising helps emotional eaters like me tremendously. By reducing stress and anxiety, I’m less likely to experience depression which I often self-medicate through food. Exercise boosts endorphins, making me feel better and feel better about myself.
Increase in Energy
Unlike the people referenced in the study, when I exercise, I actually feel an increase in energy for the rest of the day. Rather than moving less throughout the day, I’m more likely to be active and engage in those low-level activities that the study also found to be beneficial.
Clerical
I don’t know if “clerical” is quite the right word, but I respond well to being able to check things off or put something down as an accomplishment for the day. The fact that I get to add exercise to my WeightWatchers tracker means that I’m more likely to also track food for the day.
So, in a very narrow perspective, I think the study and article are technically correct, but I think they’re missing the point and need to study it more in depth. I did like the point that they made about “exercise” being less important than increasing total activity over the course of a day, but for those of us who are chair-bound during the day, I think exercise is a vital component to weight loss, weight maintenance and cardiovascular health. I was also a bit surprised that they didn’t talk about the benefits in terms of maintaining blood sugar levels.
