Everyday Systems

Here is a link to a PDF with some pretty amazing advice & info about the role of exercise in weight loss.

It explains the physiological reasons why diet alone is a poor choice for losing weight ... and why those who only diet, without exercise, tend to regain the lost weight, while those who add exercise lose weight more slowly but keep the pounds off.

It's standard plain vanilla / non-fad advice ... dating to 1988 ... and seems reliable.

Doulachic, I think you just posted that your weight hadn't changed but your relative called you "skinny"? This brochure goes a long way to explain that, and the experience of others who have mostly stayed the same weight but lost inches.

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hlsaf2/MF895.PDF

Thanks Clickbeetle! That was really interesting. I haven't done much exercise in the last week or so and boy can i tell the difference! I just don't have as much energy and i just feel yucky. I plan to rememdy that starting today!

Good article CB, thanks! It all makes perfect sense to me.

I remember reading about some Dr.'s who were measuring burning fat as fuel assessed a marathon runner. Just the act of steping on the treadmill burned fat for this guy, while an overweight, underexercised person tended to burn glucose/glycogen until well into the workout.

The funny thing about old diet advice is the older it is, the more credibility it has. After all, people were skinnier then. Then again fewer people consciously followed any diet advice then, so who knows.

That sustainable, healthy weight loss takes effort on both the input and output ends seems like a no brainer to me. If nothing else, two moderate changes are easier than one extreme one.

I'm really cultivating an appreciation for simple, elegant approaches to health. After all, doing SOMETHING is better than reading a lot and doing nothing. And that something is more likely to get done if it's simple and easily adaptable into one's life.

As my doctor said, really it comes down to this: weight control is a simple equation of input vs. output. Everything else is just fine-tuning.

One of my favorite philosophers, Alfred North Whitehead, said that understanding comes in three phases: 1)The Romantic Phase where we are infatuated with a new idea; an "ah-HA" moment; 2) The Repetition Phase where we build precision and complexity; and 3) The Generalization Phase, where we incorporate all the complexities of what we've learned into a few general principles by which we can navigate life. This is the level of mastery, where one doesn't have to nitpick over details anymore.

It seems to me that the ES stuff is well into the 3rd category, which is why it is both charming and effective.

Bumping this up! Research says that most of the people who lose weight and keep it off successfully exercise on a regular basis!

Wow, this must have been an original post. The exercise argument goes both ways: exercise helps you lose weight/exercise makes you eat more, doesn't help you lose weight.

The one style of exercise that seems not to help is weightlifting, at least for weightloss.

Personally, I like it (exercise), and the feeling of well-being I get from it.

I hate the expression "Losing weight" especially in the context of exercising.

We tend to over complicating things regarding diet and exercise and it gets really bad when we are using "whoosy" terms.

You want to lose weight? - Chop of your arm!

Seems unhealthy? Well then specify what you want to achieve.

Most of us want to lose the excessive bodyfat we got. We can achieve that, without losing a lot weight, because we replace the lost mass with muscles via exercising and eating adequate (note: that does not mean, that fat can made into muscles...)

Why does that matter? Let's look at weightlifting: If you use it "to lose weight" it simply sucks. If you use it to lose fat it's one of the best exercises existing.

If you are dieting to lose weight, weightlifting keeps the heavy muscles and you lose mostly fat. Without weightlifting (or other exercise like shovelglove etc.) you lose muscles and fat and lose a larger amount of total weight (at least in the beginning) but the more muscles you lost, the smaller is the fatloss.

A little simplification: Muscles eating fat! Muscles thinking that fat is yummy!

To lose "fat" your primary goal should be to keep or gain as much musclemass as possible.

To lose "weight" fast your primary goal should be to consume less calories than you use.

They say that ~80% of weight loss is by diet. You can't overcome a bad diet using exercise.

That said, I know that when I exercise, I tend to eat better and feel better about myself. When I slack off on the exercising, my eating habits tend to slack off too and my self esteem takes a nose dive.

It took me much longer than it should have to figure this out about myself.

I must apologize, I meant to personalize my comment on weightlifting, amazing what "for me". Weightlifting just doesn't help me lose the weight. (Oops, there goes an arm.) Fortunately I come from a gentic line that doesn't need to focus on muscle building. It's blessing and a curse. our issue is the waist, at around 40 plus.

So, although I have lifted weights since 13, now it is an on and off affair. Obviously, if my food journal is an indication, I'll lift for a few months, then do something else. I just get to thick through the torso.

Who says exercise doesn't help weight loss.

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps worked out six daily hours of hard exercise which allowed him to eat 12,000 calories a day and maintain a svelte physique.

The key to losing weight is to create a calorie deficit. Any weapon you use (eat less, move more) will help.

Of course, for most of us with busy lives eat less will be most helpful.

Exercise to me makes me feel good and I know my heart loves me for it...as I'm getting older I'm trying to incorporate some upper strength training..not to lose weight BUT for some strength for when I get older..carrying groceries in the house, lifting things..our muscles tend to slowly go away as we age...

I have been exercising for years, I can say when I stop for a bit, my weight creeps up, especially if binge eating...

So for now, I do it because it is good for me

The link isn't working for me .

Personally, I've found that I don't lose weight with exercise. I've lost weight with deliberate dieting, stress and illness, but not with exercise! However, I feel strongly that some exercise is good for health, so I do it for that reason rather than weight loss.

Jethro wrote:Who says exercise doesn't help weight loss.

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps worked out six daily hours of hard exercise which allowed him to eat 12,000 calories a day and maintain a svelte physique.

Well as much as i agree with your post: The main portion of his 12 000 kcal.- need comes from the thermic-load from simply being for hours in cold water. The exercise alone "only" amass an allowance of around 4000-5000 kcal. Still more than enough.

Jethro wrote:Who says exercise doesn't help weight loss.

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps worked out six daily hours of hard exercise which allowed him to eat 12,000 calories a day and maintain a svelte physique.

I think he said that 12,000 was a myth:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... s_UYHlGUaU

I've seen several things claiming that exercise may be useful in maintaining your weight, but isn't very useful with losing. I know a few friends who can't lose that last 10 pounds, even though they're out "pounding their knees" (what I call jogging) most days.

I don't really know what the truth is, or even if there's a universal truth. If exercise works for some, cool! For me, controlling how much I eat is the best way to lose weight. I call it "run 5 miles, or just skip that last couple of doughnuts." Which isn't really fair, because obviously exercise makes so many people feel good!

Exercise does not help me lose weight. My father agrees, because he would always tell me, "The most important muscle to exercise is your mouth" (meaning control your eating.)

Here is a personal experience. There was a time where I was depressed and not eating much at all. It happened to coincide with me severely twisting my knee, and I could not exercise for 4 months. I lost 20 lbs in a month. NOT THAT I recommend this or think it's healthy, but it shows that eating is at the root of weight maintenance.

I exercise for other reasons, mainly to help me get stronger for my active hobbies. If I snack and eat sweets, I could exercise 3 hours a day and it won't keep my weight down. I use No S for weight control.

I remember reading an article (don't remember where) and a doctor said exercise was important just to "get you out of the house, away from the refrigerator." Basically, exercise is a distraction from eating. I think exercise is important for your mind, and can improve your mood, which will make you less likely to binge or eat out of depression.

earl7z wrote:

Jethro wrote:Who says exercise doesn't help weight loss.

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps worked out six daily hours of hard exercise which allowed him to eat 12,000 calories a day and maintain a svelte physique.

I think he said that 12,000 was a myth:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... s_UYHlGUaU

I've seen several things claiming that exercise may be useful in maintaining your weight, but isn't very useful with losing. I know a few friends who can't lose that last 10 pounds, even though they're out "pounding their knees" (what I call jogging) most days.

I don't really know what the truth is, or even if there's a universal truth. If exercise works for some, cool! For me, controlling how much I eat is the best way to lose weight. I call it "run 5 miles, or just skip that last couple of doughnuts." Which isn't really fair, because obviously exercise makes so many people feel good!

On a subsequent article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... -harm.html

he re-affirmed the 12,000 calories.

Jethro wrote:

earl7z wrote:

Jethro wrote:Who says exercise doesn't help weight loss.

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps worked out six daily hours of hard exercise which allowed him to eat 12,000 calories a day and maintain a svelte physique.

I think he said that 12,000 was a myth:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... s_UYHlGUaU

On a subsequent article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... -harm.html

he re-affirmed the 12,000 calories.

I stand corrected!