A few good points but overall I can’t believe what actually gets published these days…
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html
Yeah, overall, a pretty ridiculous article. The essential message that you still have to watch what you eat and can’t take in more calories than you burn is a good one, but it gets lost in the hyperbole that the problem is the exercise, and instead of not having any self-control and awareness of what you stuff down your pie-hole.
Spot
I read that earlier. Its pretty crapolicious. All it needed to say was “don’t ruin the gains you made by exercising by eating tons of crap.” Instead, they use a misleading title and caption to capture attention.
Couldn’t agree more. I was disappointed that they let this article get through. An attuned reader will get the underlying (i.e. burn more than take in) but to argue that it is exercise that’s the problem is just ridiculous.
The problem is that people’s perception of exercise is distorted and ugly. People go to the gym in order to eat like slobs, whereas healthy living needs to be promoted at all costs. Walk more, bike more, laugh more. Just think if we preach to our kids that exercise is bad…
If you don’t mind, I’m going for a 5 hour ride 
What’s the problem. The science that is quoted is all quite valid. It simply brings home the point that what most people (not STers) do for exercise, doesn’t make a bit of difference with regard to weightloss, and the fact that people don’t realize this contributes to the problem since they feel “entitled” to reward themselves for all the hard work. This is a spot on article if you ask me. I do think it is a bit far fetched to say that increased memberships at health clubs in the last 15 yr along with an increase in obestity implicates exercise as contributing to the obesity epidemic. The problem is the lack of self-control epidemic, and the easy access to calorically dense food, and the relatively low level of physical exertion that is required to get by in this world.
That being said, the article is pretty straightforward, and more needs to be made of the point that walking 2 mi per day, which is a big deal for a lot of people, only burns 200 cal. As the article points out, many of these people will reward themselves with a healthy treat that not only negates the energy expended, but will add calories on top of it.
Not a bad article, it is just not clear in its main point.
The title should read:
If You Eat Like a Pig Exercise Won’t Make You Thin
No matter how much you exercise, you can always out-eat your exercise.
The other HUGE flaw in the article is that it speaks about weight loss vs. fat loss.
If one is simply dieting, then weight loss is probably appropriate measurement.
But if one is working out, then you could easily be gaining weight, while losing fat.
A big article should make this distinction loudly and clearly, but they failed.
Good article. All this time I had it wrong. I think I’ll sell all the bikes and tri stuff and start my reality tv watching career tomorrow.
didn’t think it was all that bad. x2 on what someone else said about weight loss and fat loss.
kinda liked the picture of the girl running on the treadmill and dreaming of cupcakes, LOL.
A few good points but overall I can’t believe what actually gets published these days…
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html
A few good points, some total b/s.
This article is geared towards the masses, then yes there is some validity. But mostly not applicable to serious triathletes. Now, back to my bowl of cap’n crunch…
This science was sort of valid, but not complete. At one point the articles says that 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a day is recommended for weight control. Then they quote a study that had four groups with the max group exercising 30 minutes a day as disproving that statement. Seems to me that the study should have had one group exercising 90 minutes a day to disprove the current recommendations.
One of the conclusions the article reaches is that extra exercise leads to reduced activity the rest of the day. Perhaps at some level, say 1000 extra calories, you still end up burning significantly more calories than not doing anything instead of it being a wash. Perhaps that is why the recommendation is 60-90 minutes a day.
I’ll agree with the overall conclusion that exercise AND diet lead to weight loss, but I think the way the article was written was misleading and potentially dangerous. I would have titled it something like “Exercise alone not enough to lose weight”
The problem is that most people associate calories with healthy foods, if it is low in calories, it must be good for you. The other problem is that people exercise and feel that justifies poor eating habits because they don’t gain weight, again focussing on the weight gain/loss to determine health.
I believe that there is way too much focus on exercise in terms of overall health. If you eat lightly and well, reduce stress and get lots of movement (gardening, walking), you don’t have to “exercise” to maintain excellent health.