Eating after exercise can undo good
Reported September 15, 2009
Time Magazines intriguing cover piece Why exercise wont make you thin by John Cloud is still one of the top 10 most read stories on its Web site, in part because were desperate for a magic bullet.
For years, food manufacturers have been telling us not to blame cheap and processed food for the obesity crisis. Instead, we all just need to move more and to get recess back into the schools.
Now here comes Cloud, insisting that it might be better to sit in a chair and knit because exercise can make you hungry. Since most of us burn far fewer calories than we think during a workout, a postexercise treat could negate the whole workout. Another problem according to Cloud: Exercise is so boring and painful that we reward ourselves with fattening food when were done.
The basis for much of the article was this recent study published in Public Library of Science in which three groups of obese women exercised at three different intensity levels. The findings showed that the women who exercised did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects did.
But as Mark Grabiner, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, pointed out, the article failed to mention the study participants were postmenopausal women, not the 20-something pictured on the cover. As we age, changes in the body make it harder to lose weight.
The key message that exercise is not a pathway to weight loss? Ridiculous, said Grabiner, the director of the universitys Clinical Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Laboratory.
The article also overlooks that there are two main types of exercisers in the world: Those who have found the type of workouts they love and those who havent.
Surprise your body by changing things up. Redefine exercise as any movement you get during the daythen seek out new ways to get more of it.