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Rethinking exercise as a weight loss strategy
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Exercise helps with weight loss. Right?
That assumption is rarely questioned. Credible sources of information uniformly tout the value of exercise as part of a weight loss or maintenance program.
Unfortunately exercise is not a weight loss panacea. An interesting article published awhile back in The New York Times Magazine presents an interesting and rare idea. The main thesis of the article is that vigorous exercise causes hunger and hunger causes eating. For most people, the additional calories consumed outweigh the calories burned. So some exercisers not only don’t lose weight, they gain it.
There are other reasons to exercise besides weight loss. Exercise is good for the heart and lungs. It builds strength and flexibility. It releases endorphins, so it’s good for the mood. But assuming that exercise will automatically result in weight loss is incorrect.
Physiological effects of exercise
Psychological effects of exercise
The “Caloric Balance Equation” shows that weight gain is a function of two variables: calories burned and calories ingested. People who are exercising regularly and either not losing weight or gaining weight may want to track their calorie intake, noting days on which they exercised. It’s likely that they are taking in more calories on those days. Among other web-based tools, there’s an iGoogle app that simplifies calorie tracking.
The primary strategy of any weight loss program must be calorie reduction. Exercise should be a part of the solution, but most people will fail if they try to simply exercise their way out of obesity.
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