Later that day, Kelly punches TIME Magazine in the face.
TIME Magazine recently posted an article on their website entitled “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.” It’s a pretty hefty article, but I recommend reading the whole thing to grasp the sheer lunacy of it. Basically, the gist of it is that exercise won’t help you lose weight. It states the effects of exercise on your weight are so minimal it isn’t worth it, and if you want to lose weight just watch what you eat. Oh, and that exercise makes you more hungry, so you are going to eat more, and thus, you will not lose, or will possibly gain weight from exercising.
Ha, yeah, cause over exercising is why America is overweight. That’s our problem.
The author states: “After we exercise, we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or in “sports” drinks like Gatorade. A standard 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade contains 130 calories. If you’re hot and thirsty after a 20-minute run in summer heat, it’s easy to guzzle that bottle in 20 seconds, in which case the caloric expenditure and the caloric intake are probably a wash. From a weight-loss perspective, you would have been better off sitting on the sofa knitting.”
Hmm…I want to lose weight, so I go for a run. Just because my body makes me crave sugary calories (does anyone actually crave sugary calories after working out? I don’t) I am going to eat those sugary calories because I have no free will. I cannot possibly make a healthy decision and reach for an apple or a glass of milk after my workout, I must give into my cravings and eat whatever my body wants.
How about some self control? How about you DON”T drink that sports drink, even if you crave it? How about you drink trusty water like any good fitness professional would tell you?
I don’t understand why people write off human beings as being ruled by cravings and instincts, completely incapable of making healthy decisions.Where is the accountability?
Giving into cravings is what gets people overweight in the first place. If you want to lose weight, you are never going to be able to eat what you want. It’s not exercises fault, its your fault when you make an unhealthy food decision. Its not a scientific process that makes you eat more after you work out: you can still control your hand, your mouth and your debit card. Its a choice to eat more after you work out.
Its not exercises fault, its the misconception that if you exercise you are allowed to eat more. Eating more is what go you into trouble in the first place and why you need to exercise. Its not exercise’s fault that people will make any excuse to be able to eat whatever they want, and then like to blame those things for their weight gain. Exercise can stimulate hunger, this is true but, shocker, you don’t have to eat when you are hungry. If you do eat when you are hungry, you can have an apple, instead of a sundae. If you eat back the calories you are burning off, then yeah, you are going to stay the same weight, if not gain more.
“You might think half a muffin over an entire day wouldn’t matter much, particularly if you exercise regularly. After all, doesn’t exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn’t muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”
He goes on to say the effects of muscle are negligible, so what’s the point in building any…you know, besides the fact that building muscle increases your metabolism, improves your every day performance, helps prevent injury, facilitates bodily processes, and gives you the shapely, fit look everyone wants.
First of all, fat doesn’t turn to muscle and muscle doesn’t turn to fat: they are two completely different things. You can build your existing muscles bigger by adding bigger and badder muscle fibers, or you can expand and shrink your fat cells- but they are not interchangeable. This is how people get confused, so please fact check.
Here are the facts: the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you burn. You must gain muscle by exercising. You burn calories while exercising. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. If you eat those calories back, of course you aren’t going to lose weight. Again, that’s not exercise’s fault- exercise creates a calorie deficit no matter what, but cancelling out that exercise is done by your inability to control your eating patterns. That’s your fault, not exercise.
A lot of things stimulate your appetite: like stress. Lets all quit our jobs and run away from our responsibilities to avoid the increased hunger. My job is making me fat because it stresses me out and I get hungry. It’s my job’s fault. See how ridiculous that sounds?
You have burn calories to lose weight. Even if you eat your 1600-2000 calories a day (maybe more, depending on your size) of healthy food, the only way you are going to LOSE weight is to burn the stored calories on your body. How do you do that? Exercise.
Quick Poll:
How many people out there think our country is overweight because everyone exercises too much and it makes them hungry so they over eat?
How many people think America is fat because we live sedentary lifestyles and eat high fat, high calorie foods?
Thought so.
Brilliant, Kelly. I read the article a few days ago and got very upset that it would give people an excuse not to work out. That is the very last thing this country needs — an excuse to sit on their ass. Your rebuttal is eloquent and factual. I think you should send this in to TIME.
Thank you Kelly, I’ve seen this article make the rounds and it just sickens me. Why would any one magazine want to give people a justifyable excuse to do nothing? Isnt the health benefits from exersice for outweighting (no pun intended) the draw backs. Sure, to lose weight 80% of it is diet because most peoples diets are shockingly bad, but exercise is absolutely nessesary for a complete balanced lifestyle.
Ha, I definitely agree with you about exercise and I don’t like some aspects of the article either.
But I do think it’s also promoting the fact that we should actually be living active lifestyles instead of being lazy all day and then HAVING to go to the gym because otherwise we won’t get any form of exercise in for the day. And for some obese people, thinking they have to go workout really hard in the gym in order to loose weight is daunting and scary and for people who are used to eating sugary fatty foods do crave sugary things after working out because if you’re not used to being active or have really never worked out before once you finally do, it very easy to feel like you have “deserved” that sugary item because of what you just did.
Basically, I don’t read it as “don’t exercise, it won’t help” but I read it as “just live an active lifestyle and walk for once instead of being lazy because that in itself will help contribute to healthy lifestyles and lesson obesity”.
That’s my two cents anyways and this comment is entirely way too long.
Clearly I’ve been living under a rock because I a) haven’t read this article and b) have missed the memo that it’s essentially pointless for me to exercise. Wow. Wow. WOW.
Not only do I exercise in order to maintain my weight, but I also do it challenge myself, improve my strength/fitness/shape but I also like the idea of being healthy, especially as I get older. Sometimes I might feel a little bit hungrier after a workout, but I tend not to give myself license to eat french fries or a muffin and instead choose more of the other good stuff I choose regularly.
Let’s also keep in mind thin doesn’t equal fit. To get fit you need to exercise
Rick
Dayum, Kelly. Way to kill the fantasy. I was just starting to fix flower pots on my bike and turn it into a cat tree.
Dori- thanks. I would have left that all in a comment on the article, but guess what, no comment section. Imagine that.
Lani- and why is it all based around being thin? Thin isnt a goal anyway- well, not a good one. what about health? why is that never anybody’s goal?
lesley- i completely agree with that, and its so true. I sit in front of the computer for work all day, then go bust my ass in the gym, and I know i could probably lower the intensity of my workout if i was, say a mailman, and walked around all day, but unfortunately thats not the world me live in.
The only thing with that is to receive certain cardiovascular benefits you have to get your heart rate elevated. but still, its better than nothing.
Ashley- amen!! its not just about being “thin.” psh- id love to meet the person that says “i work out to be thin.” holy superficial.
Rick- exactly. some people are born thin, some diet to be thin. No one is born fit- you gotta work for it.
Camevil- ha, sucker. tell the cats they gotta move in somewhere else!
Okay. From someone who has been into health and nutrition for many years now. From someone who knows the body very well and from someone who swears that MOST people who exercise hardly, I repeat hardly, lose the weight they desire….
Yes, we make the decision on what to put in our mouths everyday, but the problem is we know more on how to exercise than on how to eat (more on that below).
Think about something for a moment. We give so much credit to working out because it has been ‘marketed’ en masse as the key thing to losing weight. Really?
We are animals, right? Okay, why is it that an elephant or a tiger, or even our closest relatives the chimp don’t go to the gym, run five miles, or do situps and yet you hardly EVER see obesity in these populations? Why? Because this thing we call “exercise” is a made up marketing tool for people to make money off of. (think medicine, think diet products). Yes, there is no problem in walking around, climbing stairs, or stretching here and there…but come on…really…human beings running around the track, lifting weights, jumping around sweating in aerobics class. This is manufactured stuff! Okay, it’s fun, yes, but it doesn’t keep the weight off in the long run. Why? Keep reading…
Get this folks…people in Asian countries have remained slim for hundreds and hundreds of years without these ‘luxury’ places called gyms. Why is that? IT’S THE FOOD THAT IS EATEN. We don’t NEED to ‘exercise’ per se to remain healthy and fit. All we need is to move around and EAT BETTER FOODS. The food makes all the difference people NOT the exercise. You don’t need it to remain healthy!!! I am not saying to be a couch potato I am saying to keep ‘moving’ that’s all. You don’t need to have an exercise routine to be healthy.
Case in point: You give me two slim and healthy people. One goes on an exercise ‘kick’ and goes to the gym or wherever else he or she would like to exercise. This person also eats as most American’s do: ignorant of the foods they eat not realizing the INTERNAL effects.
The other does NOT ‘exercise’ at all but simply ensures to walk or move whenever he or she can. THIS person has the correct information about the food industry and eats those foods that prevent toxic buildup in the body and that promote proper elimination.
I guarantee my last dollar to you all that after twenty years as indicated the second person will be healthier on the inside and slimmer on the outside. Wake up people, please! We need more knowledge in what our foods contain NOT the price of a gym membership.
So why does exercise (in general) not keep the weight off. Because after years of eating ‘toxic’ foods like hydrogenated oils (trans fats), and other fried foods in general the body can’t digest these foods properly. They build up in the body and putrefy causing disease very slowly. Matter builds up in the body (colon, intestines etc.). This bloats the body and causes weight (internal core) gain. No exercise in this universe is ever going to eliminate this waste. The only way to do this is to clean the body.
Let’s face it: we are getting fatter at a much earlier age and don’t believe it when they tell you it’s because kids don’t exercise anymore. It’s because of these toxic foods going into these underdeveloped bodies).
Andy
Graduate student
Public Health
Andy, thanks for all that information and I dont disagree with any of it. What I disagree with is that the article blames exercise for making unhealthy food decisions- quite literally. It states that exercise increases your appetite which causes you to over eat. Over eating isnt exercises fault, its your fault for choosing to over eat.
You cant exercise and eat whatever you want- and no one said you should. its a balance between the two. Its not a matter of being thin, its a matter of being healthy. Food and exercise work in conjunction, and i really dont think that people relying on exercise is a issue in America, its lack of knowledge of how both nutrition and exercise play a part in keeping a healthy weight. You cant deny that exercise is imperative to health, and burns calories- a necessary component in weight loss.
its a matter of emphasis- not facts. The fact is it is undeniable that diet plays a huge part, but exercise is a necessity, through and through, and to publish an article telling people that exercise is unnecessary as long as you move enough during the day is misleading. Our society is not set up to move enough to replace exercise, otherwise you could never use your car, have to farm your own food, carry everything and never sit. Its unrealistic, and doesnt give you the cardiovascular benefits of having an elevated heart rate.
we are all arguing the same point: you cant rely on food OR exercise to cancel out the other.
Thank you Kelly for your response. I respect all the opinions on this forum. I just wanted to extend my discussion a bit….with a bit of rebuttal along the way…
I agree that the article is MISLEADING but certainly not wrong.
Exercise DOES cause one to eat more because obviously when you use significant amounts of energy the body turns to its natural faculties and thus NEEDS food. However, what
happens to most people when they seek that foodstuff is they eat a lot of processed foods (cookies, cereals, anything with hydrogenated oils, etc.) What has happened is that humans, by virtue of their desire to burn off calories -a.k.a exercise- in such a short, unnatural timeframe (remember we don’t have to “chase” after our food, the most we ever had to do to get our food was to sweat a little during the foraging process, or some work in the garden or hunt down an animal here and there) we have “accelerated” the body’s innate desire for food. So what happens? Most people get really hungry and 1) eat the above terrible processed foods and/or 2) eat very quickly and don’t chew their food and thus cause long-term health problems later.
Just watching people in general eat you will see that most of them eat too quickly. Now imagine watching someone eat who has just burned off a lot of calories during ‘exercise’ and you will see one of the worst things humans can do to their bodies – not chew their food properly! The human digestive system is made for fine mastication, why? It is a VERY long distance from mouth to colon. THIS IS ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES FOR MANY INTERNAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD. It’s just something we can’t see taking place because it is happening inside the body at a very slow pace. Undisgested food becomes decayed, putrifies, interacts with bacteria, creates gases and toxins as byproducts (remember, bacteria are living things too, if they find food they will eat too) , and slowly ‘moves’ around the body to create disease. Let me give you just one disease that results because of this eating habit: Diverticulosis. DOCTORS would NEVER tell their patients this because most of them don’t even have a clue this happens!
Anyway, I am not downplaying exercise at all. I think it is fun to go out and enjoy hobbies, interests and all. I got to tell you all tho that this exercise thing is killing us more than it is helping us only because people do NOT have the knowledge necessary to properly feed their bodies’ cells after putting the body through such stresses during their exercises. The body’s numerous cells require quality fuel to survive (remember cells are living things) and if they are not fed and replenished properly after being put through this external “stress” then guess what? The cells resort to their own reserves and do so until they have exhausted their supply and then eventually die a premature death. So in a nutshell, people exercise in and of itself in a way exacerbates peoples’ bad health and makes them sicker quicker ONLY because people are not feeding their cells properly. Get it?
So, if someone wants to talk about a “balance” between exercise and diet, guess what? The tilt is totally in the wrong direction. America has glorified the concept of exercise so much that it is ingrained in our minds that it is absolutely necessary.
Consider this one….there are many people living longer these days…oh…I don’t know…let’s say there are thousands and thousands of people in the world right at this moment who are over 100 years old. Take all of those people and turn back the clock so they are about 60 years old. So…that’s 40 years ago…
Let me ask a question…Have most of these same people, or better, have even a TINY percentage of these people exercised regularly over the past 40 years? Do you really think so? I am willing to bet against it, folks.
So how can all these centarians live for the past 40 years (and counting) without REGULARLY going out for a run, lifting weights, playing basketball, etc. AND have older bodies that seemingly could use exercise for “balanced and total health?”
They are living in the absence of exercise (but remember, they are only moving) and yet they could be completely healthy and I bet ya it’s because they watch what they eat. We don’t need exercise to live long lives!
Don’t you see that it is the younger people who have regular exercise routines? But what happens. The older one gets the sooner one begins to quit this activity (generally speaking) and yet many, many people continue to live healthy and happy lives into old age despite not being weekend warriors anymore.
Here is an axiom about true health…
“Exercise to have fun but ONLY if you eat to live”
Andy