The True Role of Exercise in Weight Loss
Exercise in not a reliable part of any effective weight loss program.Don't get me wrong! It is not that I don't believe in exercising. Right now I am in the 26th year of a running streak that started back in the middle of December 1979. My minimum run is 4 miles or 30 minutes everyday and for the past two years I have extended the minimum time to 40 minutes. So far my streak is still intact having run through several illnesses and even a fracture of my right fifth metatarsal. I personally think that running is even more important when you are injured or sick since the run is always the best part of any day when you are sick. The only time I think that I would not recommend exercise would be if you had viral myocarditis.
Exercise is a very important part of staying healthy. For those lucky enough to have no biomechanical impediment to running -running is easily the best. Bad knees, backs and a host of other problems can keep you from running. Cycling and swimming are good alternatives, especially swimming since it is safe and not biomechanically injurious since the body is supported in water. Cycling is a really great form of exercise but I have yet to ride anywhere where I really felt safe being on a bicycle with a lot of much larger cars and trucks. Running works the best largely because it gets you the most exercise in the least amount of time and is also one of the cheapest forms of exercise -only occasionally requiring some new shoes and shorts. Thirty minutes or so of exercise three times a week is a good place to start and build from there. Exercise is very good for the immune system and daily core temperature elevation really helps to keep one from getting all the nasty flu's and colds that travel the country every year.
"Exercise is only icing on the cake of proper nutrition." I actually put on weight while training for the 1985 Hawaii Ironman doing three workouts a day. After the 1984 Ironnman I was weighing 135 pounds and by the time I was treading water under the flags at the start of the 1985 version, I was weighing 145 pounds -ten pounds heavier in one year. Nice to have the extra flotation on the swim but forget trying to carry the extra weight up and down 112 miles of continuous hills back and forth to Havi and then have to run 26. 2 miles in the heat with this extra weight, which also acted as an additional layer of insulation -the last thing you need in the heat of the Kona lava fields.
Like it or not, the human body is very good at adapting to increased work loads. It does this by becoming more efficient and utilizing your ingested fuels better. The typical story is that with an increased work load such as starting to run or bicycle, you lose weight rapidly during the first several months. Then after your body adapts to the new work load you soon find yourself putting the weight back on, much to your chagrin. If you continue to overeat you will then continue to put weight on despite continuing with the same exercise load.
I saw this every day sitting at the trailhead of the Monon path in Indianapolis. Many people going out for six mile runs and longer bicyles carrying so much extra weight. Even without the usual post-exercise goodies that people often indulge in, they still carry excessive weight and never get rid of it. Sometimes they even get frustrated and quit. Just look in the classified under used exercise equipment. What I have learned the hard way is when you are making a serious dietary change it is often best to just do one thing at a time. Don't worry about exercise. Not that the exercise won't be beneficial but it should not be your priority. If you make the dietary changes that are advocated in the MericleDiet you will lose weight and feel better. Once you learn how much better you can feel and that you do not have to be hungry all the time, then exercise really becomes a pleasant experience since it is so much easier to exercise when you are not carrying a lot of extra baggage and your metabolism is in better shape. This latter point is extremely important.
Do not rely on exercise to lose weight. I have to catch myself all the time. I'll start to put on a few pounds and the first thing my mind tells me is to exercise more ie, run more mileage. After many years of doing just that I have learned that it seldom works. Very few people can actually increase their weekly mileage to get to the point where it will reduce your weight before the increased appetite from all that mileage increases your weight. The math is really firm on this one. Eat too much food or drink too much beer and voila -up goes your weight. It's pure mathematics and biochemistry.
When your weight goes up -decrease your food intake. I can't change it nor can you. Now when my weight starts on an upward trend I still will say run more ... then catch myself and then say ... just don't eat so much or more often than not -cut down on the beers. Sometimes I'll even decrease my mileage and lose weight by cutting down on my food intake. Even as well as I eat, it is easy for me to still eat way (weigh) too much food and put on weight. Unless you are young, training for the Marathon and living at elevation doing 100+ mile weeks -you are not going to run or exercise off any weight on a permanent basis. Always try to think when your weight goes up -I must be eating too much food and work on trying to decrease the amount of food you are eating.
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http://www.DrMericle.com
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http://www.DrMericle.com/fscook3c.php
posted by John Mericle M.D. D.A.B.R. @ 3:18 PM
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