Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 08-08-2009, 01:34 AM   #1  
unabashed
Thread Starter
 
lottie63's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Pittsburgh
Posts: 2,709

S/C/G: 344/321/220

Height: 5'5

Default WHy Exercise Won't Make You Thin: (A TIME article)

http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...4857-1,00.html

this make some good points, but, I find I don't have any of the bad habits expressed in this article that people who exercise tend to have. (eating more after exercising, being less active days you exercise, etc...might be because I PLAN everything and am ridiculously anal retentive about my meal structure, calories and movement.)

it's long, but a very interesting read, a few times I was like "MALARKY!" and wanted to stop reading, but I kept on, and it was very informative.

What about you guys?
lottie63 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 02:28 AM   #2  
Senior Member
 
HVEECK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 330

S/C/G: 305/172.6/135

Height: 5foot 4 inches

Default

Thats a funny article! Of course exercise isn't going to help you lose weight if you go eat a pizza or french fries or down a gallon of gatorade after word! Yes, exercise does seem to make me hungry, but thats why I up my protein during my work out days and count my calories to make sure I dont go over. Its scary to me that article's like this are being written. Can you imagine how many people are going to read this and take it as an excuse not to exercise! (not on this forum, im sure) but just in general. thats sad
HVEECK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 06:45 AM   #3  
Junior Member
 
jewelweed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 24

S/C/G: 113

Height: 5'2

Default

Yes, I can't believe articles like that are being written!! The amount of generalisation in there. Arrgh did they think their readers are stupidos?
jewelweed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 06:49 AM   #4  
Junior Member
 
jewelweed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 24

S/C/G: 113

Height: 5'2

Default

And from TIME no less!PFfffffft!!
jewelweed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 06:57 AM   #5  
Senior Member
 
TraceyElaine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 500

Height: 5ft6'

Default

The person writing that article obviously hasn't visited our lil site here. That article kind of made me angry. It was like one long excuse not to exercise. I am a little saddened that there WILL be people who will read that and decide not to exercise because of it. It just felt like it was one sided and that facts were twisted to fit a point.

Last edited by TraceyElaine; 08-08-2009 at 06:57 AM.
TraceyElaine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 07:20 AM   #6  
Just Yr Everyday Chick
 
JayEll's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 10,852

S/C/G: Lost 50 lbs, regained some

Height: 5'3"

Default

Some years ago, I remember reading something a woman wrote--she decided she was fat and not fit, so she embarked on a gym program. After a year, she was physically very fit by all the measures--only she was still fat.

I think the article is correct that exercise will do someone no good if they eat more as a result. The most I have ever burned in a single session at the gym is about 300 calories, and I wouldn't want to bet on that number because those machine estimates can be way off. As the article points out, you can eat back those calories with a treat from Starbucks.

OTOH, the author has clearly never had a serious weight problem, so no real experience. Also, when he does those punishing sessions he describes, I would say he's OVERexercising. It's not necessary.

I exercise to support my weight loss and weight maintenance efforts, and to increase my cardiovascular and muscular fitness. But the main thing is restricting food, IMO.

Jay

Last edited by JayEll; 08-08-2009 at 07:21 AM.
JayEll is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 07:26 AM   #7  
~jus' being me~
 
Madison's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 703

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TraceyElaine View Post
I am a little saddened that there WILL be people who will read that and decide not to exercise because of it.
Thats what bugged me about it too.
Madison is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 09:00 AM   #8  
Never surrender
 
dragonwoman64's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 2,751

S/C/G: 251 current/237 minigoal/180

Height: 5' 9"

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayEll View Post
I think the article is correct that exercise will do someone no good if they eat more as a result. The most I have ever burned in a single session at the gym is about 300 calories, and I wouldn't want to bet on that number because those machine estimates can be way off. As the article points out, you can eat back those calories with a treat from Starbucks.

OTOH, the author has clearly never had a serious weight problem, so no real experience. Also, when he does those punishing sessions he describes, I would say he's OVERexercising. It's not necessary.

I exercise to support my weight loss and weight maintenance efforts, and to increase my cardiovascular and muscular fitness. But the main thing is restricting food, IMO.

Jay
I had these same thoughts.

I don't run on the treadmill, I do a fast walk at a slight incline. I do other exercises and resistance machines. I'm tired when I come home, but not wiped out. I also don't do it occasionally, I do it regularly three times a week (I try to make it 4, but haven't gotten to that point yet).

I have felt hungrier after a workout but I don't crave junky stuff, sometimes I'll eat more dinner, that's true. I don't have that feeling after every work out at all.

as for it allowing me to feel I can have more treats, for me when I see a goodie I think how much work at the gym it would take to eliminate those calories, and so it has the effect of helping me keep that treat out of my mouth.

you'll never convince me that exercise doesn't have many more benefits than otherwise (flexibility, muscle tone, cardiovascular, skeletal structure, mental, psychological, energy levels, stamina; the general overall functioning of your body, it's shape and look). I don't think you need to be a gym goer, any regular exercise at a good intensity, and free weights are fantastic. it has an added benefit, imho, of giving me a better sense of self discipline.

exercise can play a social function too; I see people at my gym I'm friendly with.

that said, if I don't keep track of my calories, I don't lose weight even if I exercise more. can you lose weight and not exercise? of course, I've done it (100 lbs once). I do think developing my exercise program and sticking to it has been key for me in losing weight that I have so far and in keeping it off. I feel healthier now than maybe ever before in my life. I'm excited thinking about getting more of this fat tissue gone!

these articles can twist around what scientific studies show, sometimes it really is better to go with what your common sense, gut and experience tells you.
dragonwoman64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 10:03 AM   #9  
Live with Intention
 
Pita09's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,100

S/C/G: 260.6/see ticker/160

Height: 5'7"

Default

I do agree with the article that exercise is not a magical weight-loss key. We on 3FC know that it's about calories in vs. calories out that get the pounds off.

For the last two months I've been going to the gym and exercising 6 days a week for 90 minutes. I do cardio at the gym and I go first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. You bet I'm hungry when I get back home! However, I don't think because I've just worked my butt off that I can now make myself some pancakes and bacon. NO! I get my bowl of carefully measured Kashi Go Lean, soy milk, and fresh berries and sit and savor every wonderful bite.

I do cardio and free-weights at home not to lose weight but because of all the overwhelming evidence to the health benefits that exercise gives us. It also makes us strong and fit. In these last two months I've seen a 90% reduction in my lower back pain. I can walk up two flights of stairs without the need to huff and puff about it. My body is changing, toning, strengthening, and I love it!!

The article said we should get back to the way people used to move. Well that isn't really practical in today's world. We are a convenience culture and most of us do spend a great amount of our working and leisure time sitting on our butts. We need the exercise to balance our lives in a way our ancestors didn't have to. I think the article was full of holes, impractical, and even a little irresponsible in its reporting. My mother doesn't need another excuse not to get up and exercise. Just saying!
Pita09 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 10:08 AM   #10  
Just Me
 
nelie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Maryland
Posts: 14,707

S/C/G: 364/--/182

Height: 5'6"

Default

In my experience and many others here, I have found that if you exercise without watching what you eat that you won't lose weight and you may even gain weight. I think we've seen it said before that weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise or something like that.

The article may be generalizing but I think the overall point should be that if you want to lose weight, you should exercise AND watch what you eat.
nelie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 10:15 AM   #11  
3 + years maintaining
 
rockinrobin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,070

S/C/G: 287/120's

Height: 5 foot nuthin'

Default Well exercise WON"T make you thin...

I get it all the time. So often the first thing people say to me, when commenting on my weight loss, is something to the affect of, "I bet you exercise a lot". In other words they believe that the MAIN reason that I've lost the weight is due to exercise. And therefore the reason that they HAVEN'T is due to lack of it. They don't want to face the reality that their food consumption is where the problem lies. They'd much rather believe it's their failure to exercise.

Nelie summed up my feelings on the article.

Last edited by rockinrobin; 08-08-2009 at 10:16 AM.
rockinrobin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 10:57 AM   #12  
Senior Member
 
TraceyElaine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 500

Height: 5ft6'

Default

I don't so much think that the facts in the article were wrong. i just think they were presented in a biased light. We ALL konw you need extra calories to workout. But where is it written you have to have a doughnut instead of a handfull of almonds after that workout. Also I am a person that works out alot and I genuinely have to say that for ME it is the exercise that is keeping me going. I wish I could stay on plan and eat well and i do eat better than I have in the past but if i skimp on my workouts i don't loose. The main reason that I (personally) have lost weight is due exercise.

I think there needs to be a balance and that balance is different for everyone. I know of people who have lost tremendous #'s and kept it off without exercising realy at all. And the other way around. Wether it's 50%-50% 80%-20% or whatever everyone is different.

I think the article is one sided.
TraceyElaine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 11:19 AM   #13  
Bingo
 
dcapulet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,848

S/C/G: 270/202.8/165

Height: 5'8

Default

After all, doesn't exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?

Yes, although the muscle-fat relationship is often misunderstood. According to calculations published in the journal Obesity Research by a Columbia University team in 2001, a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns. Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that.


I can't believe i just read this in TIME.

Fat does not turn into muscle. Muscles get bigger, and helps burn fat. I have heard so many people say the same thing over and over... it's simple anatomy. There is fat tissue and muscle tissue.

Sorry to rant a little, it's just things like this that keep perpetuating the same misinformation.

I agree with you, lottie. MALARKY.
dcapulet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 11:20 AM   #14  
Back in Action
 
Lori Bell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: A Nebraska Farm
Posts: 3,107

S/C/G: 213/197/140

Height: 5'6"

Default

I agree with many points in the article.

I don't exercise at a gym, or DVD's or anything structured, and I've lost around 180 pounds. I however became much more active naturally as the pounds melted off. I now get tons of physical activities in that I had abandoned in my obesity and enjoy push mowing, hoeing the garden, pulling weeks, landscaping projects, cleaning the house etc..because it is SO much easier. I also tend to stay on plan better when I get in lots of activities because I don't have time to be bored or lazy. I also have a sence of accomplishment and pride in how things look when I'm done...so I feel good. I haven't noticed an increase in weight loss despite eating the same calories when I'm more active, actually it seems weight loss slows down the more I move, but there are all kinds of theories behind that I won't touch! The times I tend to "blow it" are days when I get lazy and spend to much time on the computer...which reminds me, I better get going do do SOMETHING....like clean the gutters.
Lori Bell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2009, 11:26 AM   #15  
this time it's for real
 
macky's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Cincinnati
Posts: 104

S/C/G: 201/159/135

Height: 5'2"

Default

I know I can easily get in the mindset of "I worked out today, I can eat this!" and I think that's the main gist of the article.

I had a personal trainer for a year and a half, 3-4 times per week, and during that time GAINED 20lbs to hit my all time high and also lost that same 20lbs to end up right back where I started. I was doing cardio too. For me, my calories have, have, have to be in line regardless of if I'm exercising. If I'm exercising, I will feel better and will lose faster, but if my calories aren't being watched, it doesn't matter if I'm exercising. I think that would have been important to mention in the article!

What really bothered me was to mention the bit about kids. Do they suggest that kids who play video games all day will eat less and subsequently childhood obesity rates will decline? Hmmm. 50 years ago, when there were no video games, this was not true. My 11 year old sister, who is the most active child I know, has 0% body fat and eats as much as she needs.

Frustrating article. I can see the point, but not written well at ALL.
macky is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:50 PM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.