This was a top story on Good Morning America this week:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/15-minu...ry?id=14307995

From the first line of the story: A little exercise goes a long way, a new study suggests. So little that 15 minutes of it per day reduces one's risk of cancer and adds an average of three years to a person's life.

I totally agree that all activity should be encouraged and praised and that it has an overall beneficial impact on your health and in the comfort of your body. But in terms of weight loss, it's still a pretty limited impact. You can exercise for an hour to burn 200 calories, but you can eat 200 calories worth of food in just a few bites. So in that sense, it's even MORE wrong to chastise someone and say that they HAVE to work out for an hour six days a week - that effort still won't result in weight loss if you don't keep your food in check.

I agree --- except that there have been some studies that suggest that exercise has a very limited impact on weight loss. April Snow gave one reason (i.e., it's all too easy to eat back the burned exercise calories), and another theory I've heard is that we compensate for the extra energy expended during formal exercise by inadvertently using less energy the rest of the day.

Also, I think that people frequently overestimate the # of calories they burn during exercise. They often do not account for the calories they would have burned anyway if they were just sitting. So, for example, today I rode my bike for 30 minutes, and according to a calculator online, I burned about 130 calories. However, had I just been sitting, I would have burned about 30 calories anyway. So, I burned a "net" of 100 calories. That's still 100 calories and nothing to sneeze at, but according to some theories I've seen, that bike ride may have made me hungrier so that I may want an apple as a snack; there's the 100 calories I burned.

Nevertheless, for health reasons, it has been proven time and time again that exercise benefits us all. That's why I do it. I often see people who are in their 60s, 70s, and above who are really overweight and have a hard time walking. I don't want that to be me, and I think staying fit will [I hope] help with that.

Agreed with you all 100% who say that it often has a minimal impact, for sure. And that many people overestimate their calorie burn in exercise while overestimating their calorie deficit when eating.

What irks me is people being told that what they do has NO contribution to weight loss. How sad is it, that girls come to 3FC and are excited to say that they are working out 2-4x a week, a major lifestyle change for the majority, and to be told "Sorry........... not good enough. It makes no difference". If that girl is burning say, 200 calories each workout (which is a reasonable calorie burn), 4x a week, that is an 800 calorie deficit for the week, and a 3200 calorie deficit for the month. Huge impact? Maybe not, but not worth shooting down at all and being told that it had no merit.

Aside from the health benefits of any exercise (which alone should be enough!) and the possible increase in rate of weight loss (assuming the calories aren't offset), there are still other reasons for exercising while losing weight (or even when not losing weight!).

One is appearance. Toned muscles look much better than flabby ones and you simply get a much better result appearance-wise for the same weight. I have personal experience with this... the last time I reached goal weight, I wasn't too happy with my appearance and it was quite demotivating to do the hard work of maintenance. This time, I have put a lot more time into exercise and I'm a lot more pleased with the result and more motivated to maintain.

Another is mental well being. Exercise releases dopamine and helps us feel good. We know that depression is associated with weight gain and that exercise is highly associated with successful long term maintenance.

I guess I might as well throw in the obvious fact that exercise raises your physical ability. Should you ever need to lift things around the house, get around without a car, or live independently as an elder, exercise is important!

People who assume that exercising less than an hour a day will not yield results are seriously nearsighted. No, the weight will not melt off the way it will if you push yourself to exhaustion after a long day of work/school, but I've lost 5-6 lbs a month by exercising ~4-5 times a week for 30 minutes, and when I don't do that 30 minutes, I stall out for months.

I don't understand why people feel it necessary to see all things related to weight loss in black and white terms when your body clearly does not function on those extremely specific parameters.

This is just my personal experience.

When I started my journey I ONLY started with exercise because I was losing a lot of stamina and mobility and it scared me. I lifted weights 2x a week for 45 minutes from 12/09-4/10 and lost 0 lbs.

Then I started calorie counting and working out 3x a week for 60 minutes (half weights/half cardio) and it has made a huge difference. Also, when I exercise I drink all my water. So it's one part of what is working for me. It also makes me feel a lot better.

Here is an interesting article that talks about how much/how often as well as other benefits of exercise: http://www.fitness.gov/exerciseweight.html

I got this from there:

Experts recommend that you do some form of aerobic exercise at least three times a week for a minimum of 20 continuous minutes. Of course, if that is too much, start with a shorter time span and gradually build up to the minimum. Then gradually progress until you are able to work aerobically for 20-40 minutes. If you need to lose a large amount of weight, you may want to do your aerobic workout five times a week.

We all start from different places in our lives with different issues so for someone to tell us what is best based on their own experience is ludicrous. Not only is it incredibly rude but also incredibly nearsighted. It's up to each and every one of us to find what works for us physically and mentally.

Nothing helps me release stress quite as well as the gym. It clears my head and puts me in a completely different mood.

I am sure that my own exercise routine has a compulsive edge to it -- I have the right psychological profile and the eating disorder background -- and I struggle with this at times. I would not wish this demon on anyone else, and perhaps as a consequence, I would never dream of advising anyone else on frequency or duration of exercise. I also feel it's not my place because I'm not a professional. The professionals whom I read (and take classes with at my gym) sometimes give conflicting advice. (Tracy Anderson Method vs. Lift Heavy School.) I figure one's exercise routine is like one's way of eating, and one must cobble out a routine according to one's needs, aspiration and of course, schedule and access to trainers, equipment, facilities -- or lack thereof. Recommendations about exercise given by authorities eerily echo the changing nutritional advice epitomized by the food pyramid (which isn't a pyramid anymore).

This is a long way of saying: Everyone should be free to make choices, and my choices may not be necessarily the right ones for someone else.

I try to do some form of exercise every day, whether it be HIIT training, running training for a race, hiking, a gentle walk, cycling to work or a quick swim. Most of the exercise I do isn't to lose weight, it is because I enjoy it and I enjoy the feeling of tired muscles afterwards. I find healthy eating so much easier if I have exercised that day, because I feel like I should keep up my good work. It doesn't matter how often / where / at what intensity you exercise, as long as you are proud of your achievements and are gaining fitness, you'll get that benefit.

I agree that we should all stop trying to tell people what they are doing is wrong. We all work with what we have and what we enjoy, and if it works for us then it is nobody else's business.

The people here are mostly lovely, but I do get very fed up with the repeated comments about how it's impossible to lose weight without exercise, and the disapproving attitutes towards people who don't exercise. I know those of us who can't exercise for medical reasons are rare, but we still exist.

First, do a search on "exercise bulimia." You may be surprised to find out that compulsive exercise is part of eating disorder behavior.

Second, consider that on some weight loss programs it is not necessary to begin weight loss by jumping into the gym. In fact, some programs caution people about overexercising, especially when they begin the program.

And finally, although I think it's really important to get physically active, I think it's also important to think about what you want your life to be like when you get to maintenance. Do you really want to be in the gym 5+ days a week just to maintain your weight? Do you really have to become a triathlete or marathoner or bodybuilder? What does the rest of your life look like, once you reach your goal? Is life really about increasing the load on your weightlifting? If that's what you want, OK--but don't think you're doing it because you "have" to.

Jay

http://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/ This site is pretty cool - it's run by actual obesity researchers and one of the bloggers is an exercise physiologist. It discusses a wide range of subjects and there are some articles about how exercise relates both to obesity and health.

For myself, I'm trying to incorporate a moderate amount of exercise (for fitness) with improving my diet - the result is a very slow but steady weight loss. I made the decision not to exercise to the point of discomfort or restrict my diet completely, so obviously I could lose weight much more quickly - but for *me*, this is more comfortable and sustainable.

They should have a button for this. I should use it all the time.

Sacha!