We have two primary systems. The behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system. In the BAS we seek rewards and will take steps to obtain them. In the BIS we seek to avoid adverse situations and take steps to avoid them. So, myself for example, I hate to overhead and I hate to increase my heart rate too much due to heart palps. Therefore, I am more motivated by the BIS than the BAS. Most exercise psychologically feels more dangerous than it really it. The palps are due to a murmur and my heart has been scanned and verified good - yet it still scares me! Those of you that enjoy exercise are more motivated by the BAS system. The one that says you will obtain good things from exercise. So no, we are not lady, just motivated differently
I don't know why. Perhaps (as some have suggested) it causes me to retain water. Perhaps (more likely) because it stimulates my appetite and I eat more. Healthy food or not, calories are calories and I eat more when I am exercising.
After my 2nd kid, I got down to my low (post-becoming a mom) weight of 104 lbs. I did not exercise at all. It was all calorie restriction, mostly in the form of paleo dieting and IFing.
This time (after 3rd kid) I am exercising. Partly because I enjoy the way I feel after I do it, partly because stength is a goal of mine, and partly because of the health benefits outside of weight loss. I am cutting my calories, though not as drastically as I did after my 2nd kid. Net result? Zero pounds lost after 6 weeks.
I know very well that cutting out the exercise and restricting my diet further would lead to weight loss. I don't do it for reasons unrelated to my weight.
So yeah. I don't "hate" on exercise. But I will be the first to say that it doesn't always assist weight loss, and it can actually stall weight loss progress. YMMV, of course.
We have two primary systems. The behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system. In the BAS we seek rewards and will take steps to obtain them. In the BIS we seek to avoid adverse situations and take steps to avoid them. So, myself for example, I hate to overhead and I hate to increase my heart rate too much due to heart palps. Therefore, I am more motivated by the BIS than the BAS. Most exercise psychologically feels more dangerous than it really it. The palps are due to a murmur and my heart has been scanned and verified good - yet it still scares me! Those of you that enjoy exercise are more motivated by the BAS system. The one that says you will obtain good things from exercise. So no, we are not lady, just motivated differently
This is really interesting! I've never heard of BAS or BIS, or if I have, I forgot it. Does this apply to the person in general? I am one of the people that said I like how it makes me feel, so that would be BAS. And I can say, I am very motivated to go towards "rewards" in my life in all areas. And I'd say I rarely practice avoidance of anything. If something is that bothersome for me, I eventually meet it head on.
Would this mean that those that practice BIS are like that in many areas of their life? They systematically avoid things that make them uncomfortable or unhappy rather than addressing them?
I imagine knowing this about a child could be helpful in setting up a way to motivate them to behavior better or complete school work. Are BAS people better motivated through positive reinforcement while BIS people are better motivated through (avoiding) punishment? I'm not a psych major, but fascinating none the less.
*I edited it to say, getting palpitations is scary. I get them as well, especially after longer distances (run). I can understand why this might deter someone from exercising. Even someone who typically is BAS
Last edited by GlamourGirl827; 05-08-2014 at 03:21 PM.
I have heart palps/skips too (I know it's not an actual skip, it's a double beat in the lower chamber) and they scare the crap out of me. It took me a very long time to run and not be afraid, or throw myself into a full blown panic attack. After a while I stopped having as many palps and panic attacks completely which is huge. I believe doing cardio helped my mental issues immensely but it took a lot of self-talk.
I used to roll my eyes at doc when they told me regular exercise will help anxiety and depression. Truth be told it works better than any medication I have tried.
Yes thanks, I think that's my point too. People are very sedentary in our culture. Ever see the people in the airports like at Heathrow that are going on the moveable platforms?? (they're like escalators but move across the floor lol). I'm thinking, I've just been sitting still on a plane for 6hrs and this is my chance to move lol! I think these conveniences need to be used by the elderly and the disabled but too often you see able-bodied folks doing nothing but plopping around.
Include us country bumpkins who LOVE(!!!) the moveable platforms....Those are awesome!! I think there's only one in the state at the Anchorage Airport and every time I go through the airport (which isn't often) I ALWAYS go on it...Sometimes I'll walk back around and ride it a few times over...It's so FUN!! (I also think escalators are entertainment too)
But there are ways, do you need to find the closest parking spot possible at the mall? When you go grocery shopping don't go down aisle by aisle. Go from aisle 1 to aisle 12, then back to aisle 2 then to aisle 11 etc. Lunch hour? Drive to the park and walk. At the mall? Shop in one store then take your shoppings bags out to the car and go back to the mall to continue shopping, do that for everything you purchase. Need to drive to a friend's house? Park a couple of blocks over. This would actually be a good topic for a thread of its own. How to increase our daily activity in a city where walking is impossible?
There are definitely ways to increase daily activity independent of deliberate exercise, and you've listed some good ones! I always do the parking space far from the door...but that's because I get impatient and just want to find the quickest spot and shut off my car! I also am fortunate to live in a town that takes biking seriously and we have a lot of good bike trails. I only drive if the biking distance is too long or I have too many things to carry (like my weekly grocery shop). Farmer's market and the brewery are always for biking.
I unfortunately also do the grocery shopping thing. Not deliberately. It's because I usually forget an aisle I needed to go down, and have to trek across the entire store to get it.
Exercise is good for your health for soo soo many reasons.
But the literature is pretty clear, exercise makes very little contribution to weight loss, but makes a contribution to weight maintenance (not regaining).
Exercise is good for your health for soo soo many reasons.
But the literature is pretty clear, exercise makes very little contribution to weight loss, but makes a contribution to weight maintenance (not regaining).
Earthling nailed it.
Where do you get that? If I am eating at maintenance (at any weight) and not exercising, adding exercise without increasing my eating will result in weight loss. Having more muscle versus fat will help you burn more calories.
Sure... exercise WITHOUT moderate eating won't make you lose weight, but it will keep you from gaining as fast as you would without exercise.
I doubt I will ever go to a gym again. I'm trying to be rid of my compulsive/ binge eating/diet mentality and in the past it was always treadmill,elliptical to see how many calories I burn.
I used to swim a long time ago, I plan to try that again when I lose a bit more and find a really good bathing suit not for weight loss, but to gain physical endurance and hope it has a mental calming effect.
I agree with the posters who said it's also likely too many changes to make at once for some when you have a lot of weight to lose.
Where do you get that? If I am eating at maintenance (at any weight) and not exercising, adding exercise without increasing my eating will result in weight loss. Having more muscle versus fat will help you burn more calories.
Sure... exercise WITHOUT moderate eating won't make you lose weight, but it will keep you from gaining as fast as you would without exercise.
I should have clarified, the research looking at interventions for weight suggest this. However, research is about groups - not everyone is going to do the same thing or have things affect the same way). In general, the literature (again overall for groups of people - does not mean same pattern applies to all) exercise + diet changes doesn't consistently cause more weight loss than diet change alone. There are a lot of hypothesese regarding this - and potentially a lot of causes. One is simply that some people get more hungry when exercising so do eat more and can't stick to a given diet as well or eat a little more. For certain people, exercise is a very stressful situation and the release of cortisol can be detrimental to weight loss.
To be clear, exercise is really good for you in terms of so many health and wellbeing outcomes - but the literature overall suggests that (in terms of groups of people! not individuals) exercise has negligible impact on weight loss.
However, for normal weight people, having them add exercise is a very good intervention for not gaining weight or minimizing the amount of weight gained. But again, conclusions from groups of people are tough - in terms of weight people are just so freakin' variable!
Last edited by mandypandy2246; 05-08-2014 at 07:39 PM.
Reason: Clarify!
I think it is important for people to understand that if they automatically assume they will always have the time, availability and ABILITY to exercise, there is a danger of gaining weight back when they become more sedentary and don't adjust their diet accordingly.
I used to be super active. I LOVE exercise. Due to health issues, I can't even do a fourth what I used to, so I need to be more calorie-conscious.
Only if a person is not able to sustain eating at a deficit.
To claim that exercise doesn't help weight loss is like claiming that exercise doesn't burn calories.
Sure. Very true.
But my point was more that exercise is not required or a necessary component for weight loss (although a good component for health). Also, it may not be the best approach for all people - for example, if it causes a person to become ravenous and eat more than they burned. Or if exercise (particularly extreme exercise) is done - the amount of cortisol it raises in some people may actually partially negate the calories burned by the exercise because your body will be burning less calories overall.
Exercise has some seriously awesome effects that can help with weight loss for sure - increased muscle --> increased metabolism, exercise will also increase insulin sensitivity which can help significantly with weight loss. But I do think that exercise's impact on weight loss (particularly for massive weight loss) is minimal compared to diet and may not really be the answer (or even all that helpful) for some people.
I'm going to be blunt, because why not?! I often "hate on" exercise because I'd rather be doing anything else. I'd rather be sleeping, or reading in a comfy spot, or playing video games; instead I'm busting my *** for an hour because I want to be healthier toned, and thin. Is that hyperbole? Sure, maybe a little. I love boxing but there are days I'd rather eat a Big Mac and play Call of Duty on the couch all day. And I feel that way often, haha.
But I'd never hate on someone else and their relationship with physical activity. To each their own, I don't know their story. I'm just a cynic when it comes to my own gym routine. I love being active outside of the "must go to the gym" mentality, it's just hard sometimes because I'd rather be doing other things.
Last edited by Thousandsunny; 05-08-2014 at 10:02 PM.
But my point was more that exercise is not required or a necessary component for weight loss (although a good component for health)
I agree that it's not required but it depends on what your ultimate goal is. For me exercise is required to obtain the weight/tone that I want to achieve. So yes, it's not required but it does contribute as long as a person isn't blowing the deficit.
I think there's only one in the state at the Anchorage Airport and every time I go through the airport (which isn't often) I ALWAYS go on it...Sometimes I'll walk back around and ride it a few times over...It's so FUN!! 
not for weight loss, but to gain physical endurance and hope it has a mental calming effect.
