To explain that exercise does not affect your weight, or impact on obesity rates

[allmyown]

I see this misconception all over MN every day.

Exercise is fantastic for your physical and mental health in many ways, but it is not a weight loss tool.

Posters are forever quoting energy in -minus energy out = energy stored, etc, as if we are petrol engines or something! we are not - this is not how our body works.

It is more like energy available / energy required to maintain weight= energy body decides to use.

Your body burns off excess energy if you are taking in more than your homeostatic systems think you need. Your body slows down and uses far less energy if you have taken in less than your homeostatic system thinks you need.

And so if you lose weight, and go below what your body wants you to be, then your metabolism will just slow down massively to make the weight go back on. And if you exercise a lot, your metabolism will just adjust to accommodate that.

The key to weight loss is making sure your homeostatic systems decide you should be a healthy weight. You can lower the weight your homeostatic systems is attempting to maintain, with healthy eating, cut out sugar, HPF, vegetable oil, margarine, and cut down on wheat.

Eat plenty of fresh food and greens, nothing long dated.

Unless you are running 10K every single day, you are not exercising enough to change your weight, and even if you are, it won't stay changed.

The obesity epidemic is related to sugar, highly processed food, vegetable oil, margarine, etc, and poor diet in general, not too little exercise.

But don't get me wrong, there are other health problems caused by too little exercise, I am not saying exercise is bad, just that an obese child is not necessarily a child getting inadequate exercise, as so many people seem to think.

Read "Why we eat too much" by Andrew Jenkinson, he explains the up to date science in so much more detail.

😂

"The science is very very clear on this. I have no idea why anyone is disputing it"

The diet industry is huge, a lot of people are desperate to lose weight and there is big money to be made selling books etc that purport to tell us how to do this, preferably with minimum effort. Sadly, the scientific literacy of a lot of people isn't very high so we become prey to someone's cockamamie theories because they tell us they're a diet doctor, or whatever. The authors of the books don't care - when we fail we blame ourselves, not the book/diet sheet for promoting something inaccurate or impractical. We berate ourselves, feel like failures and move onto the next author who has greedily seen how to make some money.

Reading this thread after I posted meant I gave the dog more crisps so I had less.😂Saved a calorie or three 😀

Oh yes, there are many many benefits to exercise, I am a bit of an exercise junkie myself! as I said, I run marathons!

I am starting this thread in response to other posts I read on MN regularly, particularly today, I have read that parents of obese children being slated for not making sure their children exercise more, but lots of obese children exercise A LOT!

and other parents saying they protect their children from obesity by making sure they use the trampoline / go to dancing lessons, etc. All these are great for children's health, and do a lot of good, but won't protect them from obesity, at all. A healthy diet will do that, no sugary snacks, no highly processed food, less wheat, not margarine, no vegetable oil, etc.

I am trying to spread a bit more knowledge and understanding - but unfortunately, the idea that exercise is linked to weight is very deeply ingrained, and a lot of people are not really going to look at the evidence at all

As I said, I do recommend "Why we eat too much" by Andrew Jenkinson, because it clearly lays out all the science, research and understanding from the last few decades, all of the studies he mentions are independently verifiable.

It's linked to a lot of factors including muscle mass
People try to over simplify things is the problem.

Going to the gym works for me. Possibly cause its time I'm not spending eating shit

Sorry don’t agree….I was a postie for 2 years, walked on average 20k steps a day, I lost 3 stone in 10 months….obviously whacked it all back on when I stopped!

A lot of the research done on weight loss and gain, and BMR has been done on prisoners, who have volunteered. Obviously, they can be closely monitored in a way that cannot happen in the general population. And the scientific studies on prisoners all confirm what I am saying here.

one issue is people believe they can calculate their BMR through complicated equations. You can't. You can just get an average for someone your age, weight, sex and height. no one actually knows their BMR unless it is measured overnight in a lab. Which no one really has access to, unless they are part of a controlled scientific study, such as many of these prisoners have been

😁basal metabolic rate not weight (obv.)

You really don’t understand this at all do you? Turn your percentages into absolute numbers and you might understand better.

I don't know what you mean about "invested". I recommend this book because it clearly lays out all the science and understanding from the last few decades of research into this area.

no it doesn't. That is why I started this thread, to hopefully explain that this is a misconception, and hopefully get people to understand better how to look after themselves.

Exercise is very good for you in many ways! but not in this one

I don't think that's right. People burn more calories running than watching tv sitting down.

Haha didn't even notice the typo. I read it as rate lol

But you aren't helping. You're adding to the literally thousands of conflicting messages people get from unreliable sources about weight and health.

It isn't something to "disagree" about, it is a fact that is clearly seen when metabolism is measured, which is won't be in most people.

When people (normally prisoners) in scientifically controlled studies have had their diet and exercise controlled, and their metabolism MEASURED - then this is what has been shown.

And why prisoners??? Which ones?

I know that a combo of fast walking for approx 15-20 mins each day for approx 2-3 months helped me lose weight as well as reducing carbs. I lost a stone that way. Also, using the stairs rather than the lift but what’s more important to me is allowing yourself the odd treat at work, we had a treat desk then.

Cardio exercise (see above) is crucial to burning fat.

A good night’s sleep also helps with losing weight, and eating by say 6pm to allow food a chance to digest.

3k will also do it, Op.

Have you tried this?

Why prisoners? because their diet and exercise levels can be very carefully controlled long term, over many months or even years - whereas that cannot happen in normal life. And which ones, volunteers, obviously!

Um... sorry OP, that's complete bollocks!

I think you've misunderstood the science. Exercise on its own doesn't increase your BMR, but it does burn calories. And over time, exercise usually leads to increased muscle mass, which burns more energy even at rest.

Overtraining without proper nutritional support can cause your body to become stressed and unable to recover properly, leading to muscle loss and a subsequent decrease in BMR, which is an issue for endurance athletes. However, for the vast majority of people, exercise will help with weight loss.

I usually advise an 80:20 approach, where weight loss is 80% down to diet and 20% down to exercise.

I wouldn’t have agreed with the poster and stuck to conventional wisdom until I listened to series 3, episode 7 of ‘A thorough examination’ on bbc radio, by doctors Chris and Xander Van Tulleken, who very clearly explain the science whereby a person exercising by walking and being physically active 10 hours a day will burn exactly the same calories as a person sitting at a computer monitor.
luckily for me I hate exercise.

Empirical observation shows me that people who exercise more without increasing their calories have lost weight. Should I disbelieve the evidence of my own eyes?

o yes, but margarine and vegetable oils, sugar. artificial sweeteners, and hpf are the worst offenders.

So you’re saying that exercise has absolutely no affect on weight loss…unless of course you run?

Also, calories are calories, it doesn’t matter whether you get them from 19,000 lettuce leaves or 50 chocolate bars. Of course you wouldn’t be as healthy with the chocolate option but in terms of calories it makes no difference what food you get that from.