A University of Pennsylvania study was published recently about weight loss and physical activity. You can check out the abstract but I have been unable to find a full version of the study for free – not that most people would be interested in reading it, but I sure am. Here’s what it says in a nutshell – obese women who limit calories and get half an hour of exercise a day lose NO statistically significant weight. Obese women who limit calories and get an hour of exercise a day lose statistically significant weight.
Michael and I had a big discussion about this last night. He remarked that the most interesting part of the study is this: that half an hour of exercise daily does nothing to weight. It should, logically, do something. It should help you lose about half the weight you would lose getting an hour of exercise (assuming caloric intake is steady). So why doesn’t it?
Michael thinks this study gives credence to the set-point theory. The set-point theory is basically this – our bodies want to maintain our current weight. In this scenario, it takes somewhat drastic changes to force your body off a set-point. Apparently, half an hour isn’t enough exercise to force your body off a set-point, but an hour is. That’s incredibly fascinating.
I think what we need to remember is this, though: even if half an hour daily isn’t helpful for weight-loss, it’s still good for your overall health. Weight is not the end-all, be-all for most people. Some of us are so fat that losing weight should be our number one aim because it’s our biggest health concern (like me). Some of us shouldn’t worry so much.
In the meantime, I’ll have to find a way to put a solid hour of gym time in. Daily. All at once. Dang.
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Some people believe that everybody has an unchangeable “set point” for weight that’s responsible for making fat people fat and thin people thin. Just to be clear, I think those people are bonkers.
That said, I do believe that I can reach a weight where I can eat 500 fewer calories than I expend each day and lose no weight, just as I can eat 500 more calories than I expend every day and gain no weight. Life is still fair; there are just tolerances.
When I first started losing weight I dropped fairly quickly and consistently to the weight I’m at now. Since then, there have been weeks where I’ve followed our diet carefully and weeks where I’ve eaten with relative abandon. My weight has stayed roughly the same day to day and week to week.
I think I’m just at a point where I have to push hard to either gain or lose weight. If this is a set point, I’ve had many different set points in the past, so they’re obviously subject to change. It’s not my destiny to weigh 185.
I’ve been saying just this for a while (for myself). I see NO difference whatsoever unless I am getting 1-1.5 hours of exercise A DAY and DON’T limit my caloric intake. My suspicion is just that — that my body wants to stay at this weight. My caloric intake isn’t actually that high on an average day (assuming I am not drinking), so when I drop my caloric intake into the 1200-1500 kC range, it seems to go into starvation mode [which seems totally absurd] regardless of how much exercise I am getting.
This is why I get so pissed off when someone (doctor or otherwise) says, “hey, it’s easy, just limit your calories and exercise! you know, take in less than you’re burning” Uh, and when you’ve done that for years and seen no difference? There’s a hell of a lot more to it than that.
I find myself putting exercise above cooking complicated meals at home, so sometimes I go home from work, do some minor prepwork for dinner, go to the gym for 1.5 hours (I get there as the post-work people are leaving), then come home and eat a (late) dinner. I think you guys get up much earlier than I do, so it might not work for you.
There’s a lot of discussion about this in the blogosphere. I don’t believe it. I am a 45 year old woman sitting on my office chair all day long. If I continue to eat the exact same thing BUT I get up and exercise a half hour a day I will lose weight.
You guys have got a lot of great info on your blog. I would love it if you considered adding your blog to our community so other readers can find what you have to say.
Here’s the link. I hope to see you there.
http://www.benaturallywell.com/blog/add-your-blog/
Many Blessings,
Shelley
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