Lose It For Ever – Dave Elger

“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless” -Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University

Facinating article in Time Magazine called Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin that protrays exercise as a villian in the weight loss struggle. What’s the real story?

FACT: It’s true that exercise does not speed up weight loss. In my book, Lose It For Ever, I cite research that supports this fact.

FACT: Most people trying to lose weight cannot do so using exercise by itself without a change in diet.

FACT: It is extremely difficult to compensate for a high calorie diet with physical activity.

FACT: If you looked at a breakdown of weight that is successfully lost in comparison studies, exercisers lose more fat and less muscle compared to those who just diet.

FACT: While exercise does not speed up the weight loss process, those who practice it regularly have a much higher probability of keeping it off compared to dieters.

FACT: It’s much easier reduce calorie intake by 300 than it is to burn 300 calories through activity.

FACT: It’s a no-brainer that exercise provides more health benefits than you could possibly derive from anything else modern medicine can provide. That should be reason enough.

MY THEORY: There is more to weight loss than reducing “the energy gap”. I believe the real value of exercise and successful weight loss results from changes within the body that improve your ability to convert food into energy. Diet doesn’t do that. I also am convinced that the optimal weight loss/weight maintenance program requires a balance of activity and sensible eating.

Exercise, Weight Loss Science diet, Exercise, weight loss