Absolutely, Anon. No one would suggest that exercise is useless. It does countless good things for our bodies, our health and our minds. Those who do not get enough of it in their lives are fatter, sicker and more likely to feel depressed or anxious.
But I think the surprise of it was this, at least for me: That once you are a regular exerciser, you can't overestimate its affect on simply your weight. Because often, when we exercise, we see it as an excuse to be able to eat more.
Just Saturday I went rock climbing with a girlfriend (who is thin, by the way), who said "I am going to have a lot of pie on Thanksgivng!" What she meant was that she was paying it forward -- she knew that Thanksgiving was a food challenge up ahead, and she was doing something about it ahead of time.
We have to eat better, regardless of what else we do. And that, I think, is the true message of the magazine article. We can't simply hit the gym three times a week and then go on to eat anything we want. We have to change our diet and eat less if we want to lose weight. Exercise is a tool, and a valuable one, but it's not a panacea if we don't change the core of what we eat.
What you describe in Brazil and China is true in Europe as well. People simply eat less, eat better, and move more. And they are thinner and, yes, more attractive because of it. I can't imagine what it seems like when people from those countries come to visit here, where we are nearing a 40% obesity mark. The ability to get French fries on every corner is undermining us in more ways than we know.
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Absolutely, Anon. No one would suggest that exercise is useless. It does countless good things for our bodies, our health and our minds. Those who do not get enough of it in their lives are fatter, sicker and more likely to feel depressed or anxious.
But I think the surprise of it was this, at least for me: That once you are a regular exerciser, you can't overestimate its affect on simply your weight. Because often, when we exercise, we see it as an excuse to be able to eat more.
Just Saturday I went rock climbing with a girlfriend (who is thin, by the way), who said "I am going to have a lot of pie on Thanksgivng!" What she meant was that she was paying it forward -- she knew that Thanksgiving was a food challenge up ahead, and she was doing something about it ahead of time.
We have to eat better, regardless of what else we do. And that, I think, is the true message of the magazine article. We can't simply hit the gym three times a week and then go on to eat anything we want. We have to change our diet and eat less if we want to lose weight. Exercise is a tool, and a valuable one, but it's not a panacea if we don't change the core of what we eat.
What you describe in Brazil and China is true in Europe as well. People simply eat less, eat better, and move more. And they are thinner and, yes, more attractive because of it. I can't imagine what it seems like when people from those countries come to visit here, where we are nearing a 40% obesity mark. The ability to get French fries on every corner is undermining us in more ways than we know.
November 24, 2009 - 8:55amThis Comment
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