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Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

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Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#11

I guess it's just a coincidence that most athletes aren't overweight. It doesn't have anything to do with them exercising?

I thought the same thing at first, but then I read this. We're talking us regular folks getting maybe an hour of exercise. If you're an athlete you're getting WAY WAY more so it makes sense that you're burning off calories like mad.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#12

But, wait.... #10 - eat less fat? That runs counter to science too... http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/07/the-sugar-con...

It you a eat a lot of fat you will get fat too. Its all about moderation. If you eat 4000 calories of FAT everyday you will get fat.

Eating 4000 calories of anything will make you fat.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#13

But, wait.... #10 - eat less fat? That runs counter to science too... http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/07/the-sugar-con...

It you a eat a lot of fat you will get fat too. Its all about moderation. If you eat 4000 calories of FAT everyday you will get fat.

Not if you burn those same 4000 calories a day.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#14
So that's an interesting long read, I guess all the details end up making sense. Some physical activity in addition to calorie counting and other behavioral changes is the best way to go. The most important thing a person can do is to limit calories in a way they like and can sustain, and focus on eating more healthfully.

Don't expect to be able to exercise enough to lose much weight.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#16

I guess it's just a coincidence that most athletes aren't overweight. It doesn't have anything to do with them exercising?

Under one heading, the do specifically call out elite athletes, "whose job is exercising" as a potential exception.

It's also true that many endurance athletes are pretty careful about what they eat. My brother, who was a pretty good high school and college runner (5ks and 10ks especially), used to say he had a high body fat for a runner because he ate ice cream. His BMI? Maybe 20, 21 at most, and he was lifting weights back then.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#17
Does anyone actually still think that the extra energy consumption caused by exercise will cause you to lose weight and not just eat more?

A more contemporary discussion would include the idea that the different state of being caused by exercise causes less food intake ... which incidentally is true for me personally.

It is entirely possible that people that exercise regularly never have any trouble with their weight and thus never show up in these studies.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#18

I guess it's just a coincidence that most athletes aren't overweight. It doesn't have anything to do with them exercising?

I thought the same thing at first, but then I read this. We're talking us regular folks getting maybe an hour of exercise. If you're an athlete you're getting WAY WAY more so it makes sense that you're burning off calories like mad.

I also thought the same thing. The article didn't really address the point specifically, if you are highly active most of the day you will burn a substantial amount of calories. Some people maintain weight while consuming 4000+ calories per day, for example on long hiking trips or long distance running.

I'm not sure about the hunter gatherer example. That was interesting. Maybe they are in much better shape and can be active a large portion of the day without expending much more energy. Or simply, the activity isn't extremely high-level.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#19

But, wait.... #10 - eat less fat? That runs counter to science too... http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/07/the-sugar-con...

It you a eat a lot of fat you will get fat too. Its all about moderation. If you eat 4000 calories of FAT everyday you will get fat.

> It you a eat a lot of fat you will get fat too. Its all about moderation. If you eat 4000 calories of FAT everyday you will get fat

Calories-in-calories-out without considering the hormones that drive both satiety and crucially fat-storage-vs-fat-mobilization (and thus drive both how many calories are craved and how many are burned) is misguided. CICO isn't wrong, but for all practical purposes what drives CICO in real life are those hormones, which are in turn affected by the ratio of fats and carbs in diet: chiefly insulin and leptin. How those are affected by 4000kcal-of-carbs-low-fat (badly) vs 4000kcal-of-fat-no-carbs (benign/beneficially) is easy to find out.

4000kcal of fat and low carbs, if one could stomach it for years, after a few weeks of keto-adaptation? They'd be a tad little bit fatter than they'd like, and feel profusely hot and sweaty. As their leptin and insulin sensitivity gets ever-better, 4000kcal will soon become impossible to stomach, however. 4000kcal of carbs and low fat for years, just become obese and get metabolic syndrome.

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