New study: Exercise won't cure obesity

[Gaelen]

A new study that compared African american women in Chicago with counterparts in Nigeria discovered that the Nigerian women (who were approximately 50 lbs. lighter than the American women) were not burning more calories through exercise than the American women.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090106/sc_livescience/studyexercisewontcureobesity

The study conclusion is that while exercise helps and has many fitness benefits of its own, exercise benefits to weight loss may be less than the impact of diet.

YMMV. ;)

[Shadow]

Thanks for the article, Gaelen :).

When I was in my 30s, it appeared to me that eating was 80% and exercise the other 20%. Now that I'm getting closer to 50, I find it's more of a 90/10 breakdown. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to quit exercising :lol:. As the article pointed out, exercise does a lot for us, even if it's not the solution to weight loss ;).

[maxlharris]

A new study that compared African american women in Chicago with counterparts in Nigeria discovered that the Nigerian women (who were approximately 50 lbs. lighter than the American women) were not burning more calories through exercise than the American women.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090106/sc_livescience/studyexercisewontcureobesity

The study conclusion is that while exercise helps and has many fitness benefits of its own, exercise benefits to weight loss may be less than the impact of diet.

YMMV. ;)
Let me count the methodological flaws.

On second thought, let me pass on that.

Diet is clearly the first piece. Lifestyle is the second piece. Exercise is a complementary piece. That is my belief. The study backs that up. I guess. But I don't know that this is the way to prove their theory. They'd have to have them on isocaloric diets using the same theory (and really, from their childhoods on up) to definitively state what the media is liable to pull from this.

[lisanurse81]

They'd have to have them on isocaloric diets using the same theory (and really, from their childhoods on up) to definitively state what the media is liable to pull from this.


Good point! How many of us are guilty of letting our kids eat junk, and chalking it up to "oh, they're just kids, they can handle the sugar at their age!" But don't we just set them up for failure by beginning the destructive process in their bodies. (never mind the bad habits).

[Gabriel Guzman]

If you remember the chapter on exercise in Protein Power LifePlan, the Eades discuss the advantages of carbohydrate restriction for weight loss compared to exercise only. Actually it's pretty easy to see that (at least I could see that) when I use to go to the gym with a group of guys (back when I was in Sweden), who would 'kill' themselves in the gym but their body wouldn't reshape. Jokingly, one day one of them said that he had a party to attend (he really liked to indulge himself with food...) so he would exercise more so he would burn those calories quicker... go figure.

There may be many reasons why exercise alone is not as effective as carbohydrate restriction to induce fat loss. However, exercise combined with proper nutrition (depending on the type of exercise that is), is synergistic. To me, diet IS part of lifestyle and I can't help to think that if exercise alone would be the solution, then people that are paralyzed for whatever reason would be doomed to be obese; wrong nutrition, of course may also lead to the same under those circumstances.

[alto]

This is very interesting! I was just told by my doctor that "the only way to lose weight is to exercise. Start walking briskly 45 minutes a day."

[LBJ]

I think you can maintain your weight with just excercise but for me i had to cut calories to lose weight. Then i still wouldnt get the health benefits without this woe. I could run on the treadmill every day for 45 minutes and eat just about anything i wanted and maintain my weight but as soon as i stopped running look out all of the weight came back and then some. This woe is by far the way to go for me for weight loss and health reasons.

[alto]

Thanks, LBJ. I think diet is important, too. I think my doctor probably meant that it will be difficult for me to lose weight WITHOUT exercise, as I'm quite overweight AND nearly 60. I take her point :)

[laughingW]

I think my doctor probably meant that it will be difficult for me to lose weight WITHOUT exercise, as I'm quite overweight AND nearly 60. I take her point :)
Man, I wouldn't take her point. I am 55 and "walking briskly every day" for 45 minutes, got me plantar fascitis, excess cortisol, and stalled weight loss. This is with 100+ extra pounds.

What makes it difficult at 60 is the very tiny muscle mass having to burn up the fat all by its eensy self, plus hormonal issues that might prevent release of stored fat (like cortisol).

Having gone to school for fitness and everything I now think an exercise prescription for me is much better like the Eades' "Slow Burn" and Mark Sissons' "Daily Apple":

strength training 20 mins 1-2 times a week
20 mins interval cardio once-twice a week
easy ambling and joint mobility otherwise

[alto]

Interesting -- walking for me usually does cause nearly instant lost inches around the waist, at least in the past. (5 years ago was the last time I really really WALKED.) I once lost 5 pounds in a weekend through walking, but that was a very long time ago. I do have hormonal issues -- excess estrogen -- and this was an ob/gyn who suggested walking as a way to increase muscle mass and decrease fat, which would decrease the estrogen. I'm going to try it, although I won't be able to do 45 miniutes of brisk, and I have read enough about interval walking to try that. If I develop any issues such as you mention in your post, though, I'll change.

[gitfiddle]

What I've noticed post-mens is that the leg muscles are much more temperamental, which I interpret as hormonal changes. Arthritis is also a factor now, so I only walk from ten to twenty minutes and that's not terribly brisk-barely up to 3mph. I've been through the plantar fasciitis as well.

When my only exercise was walking, I saw my rear end go down nicely. It was easy to step out the back door and do a quick mile. That ended when my knee went south. In an effort to build up the supporting muscles, I found a much better fitness condition, plus lost weight in the process. I think the weight loss was more about the way I eat, though.

After a year of regular exercise, I still get leg cramps at night sometimes, though. Several supplements don't have much effect and I'm considering it hormonal again. What do you think?

[kevindill]

Interesting, I suppose one of the questions I have is was there difference in fat free mass vs just weight. In my experience, exercise - particularly strength training, may alter body composition, with little or no change in weight. I was able to do this with rather easily in my late teens and twenties, in my 40's however , not so easy..

[alto]

Carol, I haven't noticed any change post-mens, but I haven't tried anything strenuous. If it starts to hurt, I stop!

[maxlharris]

Exercise doesn't really hurt (unless you over do and get plantar fascitis, excess cortisol, burn out your adrenals, etc, etc). But, it is the small end of the equation. The diet is the big end. Really. The exercise prescription is based on the very flawed thermodynamic argument (calories in - calories out = /\ weight). The proper diet will move you a lot better. The exercise can mostly help it. But exercise without better nutrition is a non-starter for most people, in terms of weight loss.

[keevin]

What I've noticed post-mens is that the leg muscles are much more temperamental, which I interpret as hormonal changes. Arthritis is also a factor now, so I only walk from ten to twenty minutes and that's not terribly brisk-barely up to 3mph. I've been through the plantar fasciitis as well.

When my only exercise was walking, I saw my rear end go down nicely. It was easy to step out the back door and do a quick mile. That ended when my knee went south. In an effort to build up the supporting muscles, I found a much better fitness condition, plus lost weight in the process. I think the weight loss was more about the way I eat, though.

After a year of regular exercise, I still get leg cramps at night sometimes, though. Several supplements don't have much effect and I'm considering it hormonal again. What do you think?

I think Gary Taubes addresses the effectiveness of exercise on weight loss very well in his book "Good Calories Bad Calories." He concludes that diet is much more important than exercise in controlling obesity. Nevertheless I would have liked him to discuss the effect of stress on weight gain. Stress has been shown to also cause weight gain through increases in cortisol secretion.

I assume that you are talking about leg cramps. I have found that taking potassium bicarbonate at night markedly reduces the likleyhood of experiencing leg cramps. It tends to restore the alkaline-acid balance in the body to a better value. One can monitor this balance through testing the PH of your urine with test strips. Information about this is available on the Internet.

[Roadstr]

I assume that you are talking about leg cramps. I have found that taking potassium bicarbonate at night markedly reduces the likleyhood of experiencing leg cramps. It tends to restore the alkaline-acid balance in the body to a better value. One can monitor this balance through testing the PH of your urine with test strips. Information about this is available on the Internet.

There are a few other things that you can do make the body more alkaline. Coffee, yes coffee is alkalizing to the body, magnesium sulfate is another cheep alkalizing mineral. Coffee is perfect to add alkalinity to those bacon and eggs. Surprisingly, the foods you think are acidic can be the most alkalizing when eaten. You might want to google why keevin thinks alkalizing the body is beneficial. I will leave it at this... fat is protective to organs, remove the reason fat is being protective and the fat goes away. BTW, sugar is very acidic when eaten.

[nova202]

Diet combined with exercise. How can you compare two different groups and make those kind of conclusions with out controlling there diet and what exercise they get or don't get.

[maxlharris]

The thread that refuses to die enters it's 5th month. Can we keep it going for a year, the slow way?

If you want a rule of thumb, here you go:
"You cannot out train a lousy diet. But you can, to some extent, out diet a lack of training."

It really is that simple at the baseline. The diet is the more important thing. The right training is additive.

Before anyone points me to Michael Phelps' training regime and his diet, I'd suggest that both are in line with his goals and that his high carb diet for a massive volume of training is not a bad diet for his goals.

[steflou]

I have been doing Jenny Craig for several months. I lost 19 lbs with phentermine (no longer take it) but have started intense exercise (total gym and rebounding) with no change in weight. Am I going to have to go low carb to get the pounds to come off? I am 45 and crashed dieted when 19-would like to lose 70 lbs. :tear:

[maxlharris]

Steflou: You are not going to get there with intense exercise alone. You might get there with Jenny Craig if you respond to that. You might get there with a low carb diet, like Protein Power, but you're going to have to apply it, and work the program fully, and that might be some intense exercise on top of the food program.