Exercise is not the key to weight loss

Most people’s favorite show is the Biggest Loser although some viewers don’t appreciate how it pushes people so hard to lose weight the show probably inspires some overweight people to regain control of their lives but one ofthe most frustrating parts of the show is its overwhelming emphasis on exercise because when it comes to reaching a healthy weight what you don’t eat is much more important.

think about it this way if an overweight man is consuming a thousand more calories than he’s burning and wants to be an energy balance he can do it by exercising but exercise consumes far fewer calories than many people think.

30 minutes of jogging or swimming laps might burn off 350 calories many people fat or fit can’t keep up a strenuous 30-minute exercise regimen day in and day out they might exercise a few time week if that or they could achieve the same calorie reduction by eliminating two 16-ounce sodas each day.

proclamations that people need to be more active are ubiquitous in the media the importance of exercise for proper weight management is reinforced when people balloon the loss of gym class and schools is the cause of the obesity epidemic even Michelle Obama’s let’s move program places the focus on exercise as a critical component in combating excess weight and obesity there are any number of things wrong with this approach.

the first is that it’s just not true that Americans in general aren’t listening to calls for more activity from 2001 to 2009 the percentage of people who were sufficiently physically active increased but so did the percentage of Americans who were obese the former did not prevent the latter. studies confirmed this finding

a 2011 meta-analysis looked at the relationship between physical activity and fat mass and children and found that being active is probably not the key to weight loss and whether a child is at an unhealthy weight. in the adult population interventional studies have difficulty showing that a physically active person is less likely to gain excess weight than a sedentary person

further studies of energy balance and there are many of them show the total energy expenditure and physical activity levels and developing and industrialized countries are similar making activity and exercise unlikely to be the cause of differing obesity rates. moreover exercise increases one’s appetite after all when you burn off calories being active your body will often signal to you to replace them research confirms this.

2012 systematic review of studies that looked at how people complied with exercise programs showed that over time people wound up burning less energy with exercise than predicted and also increasing their caloric intake other metabolic changes can negate the expected weight-loss benefits of exercise over the long term

when you lose weight metabolism often slows. many people believe that exercise can counter or even reverse that trend. research however shows that the resting metabolic rate in all dieters slowed significantly regardless of whether they exercise this is why weight loss which might seem easier when you start becomes more difficult over time this isn’t to say that exercise plays no role there are many studies that show that adding exercise to diets can be beneficial

A 1999 review identified three key meta analyses and other randomised controlled trials that found statistically significant but overall small increases in weight loss with exercise a meta-analysis published just last year found that in a long term behavioral weight management programs the combined exercise with diet can lead to more sustained weight loss three to four pounds over a year than diet alone over a six-month period though adding exercise made no difference another systematic review from last fall found similar results with diet plus exercise performing better than diet alone but without much of an absolute difference all of these interventions included dietary changes and the added weight loss benefit from activity was small

there are far too many people though who can manage to find an hour or more in their day to drive to the gym exercise and then clean up afterward but who complained that there’s just no time to cook or prepare a healthful meal at home if they would spend just half the time they do exercising trying to make a difference

in the kitchen they’d most likely see much better results many people think of dieting is a drastic and rigid change with a high risk of putting the pounds back on what’s more likely to succeed or gradual changes made in a much more sustainable way

I also don’t mean to make it sound as if weight loss with diet is easy and exercise is hard they’re both hard the challenge of a slowing metabolism and the desire to eat more occurs in both cases although dietary change still works better than exercise. data just don’t support it unfortunately exercise seems to excite us much more than eating right does.

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