THE EXERCISE MYTH PART II: EVEN MORE REASONS WHY PUTTING EXERCISE BEFORE PROPER FOOD INTAKE IS A HUGE MISTAKE!

If you believe that weight loss is just a matter of will power, I have bad news... it is NOT! Sure you can be obsessive-compulsive about your weight and have some positive results, but at what cost? Being obsessive-compulsive is not healthy!

The truth is, we are not yet built to have self control over eating for long periods of time. So, if you feel as if you are depriving yourself, your self control WILL weaken with time. Your self control is like a muscle and it will weaken even a day after you use it. Lets be honest... after a hugely difficult workout, what sounds good; gorging on something "bad" or nibbling on something "good"?

The challenge is this: if we exercise more, move more, or burn more, we will want to eat more. It is that simple!

It may make you wonder why your favorite fast-food chain has a playground.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

1. Makes your child hungrier (they may burn 250 calories, but they may consume over 2500)

2. Your child now associates junk food with feeling good (I feel good when I eat that "junk")

Ugh!

And we wonder why we have Childhood Obesity issues in the United States.

Creating a caloric deficit via predominately exercising is very difficult as we are still wired to eat more than we burn.

THEN WHY EVEN EXERCISE?

1. Improved Mental Health

2. Improved Back and Core Strength

3. Improving Muscle and Bone Density

And yes, the truth is that you could improve your mental health and back strength by just moving daily (i.e. walking, carrying groceries, climbing steps, building things, etc.). You know, like we used to before the Technology Era came to be.

But, come on, concerning weight loss isn't a vigorous workout more valuable than just normal day-to-day activities?

It depends.

But... probably not.

Research is finding that those of us who do vigorous workouts move less the rest of the day than those who don't work out but do prioritize everyday and all day movement. Studies are even finding this to be true for children of excellent physical education programs. The children may be involved in more activity while school is in, but do very little once school is let out. So those who are not exercising at school do more once they get home!

So, here is the key point:

EXERCISE NOT ONLY DEPLETES THE BODY'S MUSCLE, BUT IT ALSO DEPLETES OUR SELF CONTROL

Did you know very few obesity researchers before the 1970's promoted exercise as critical for weight reduction.

Tell me, why is "The Biggest Loser" a hit again?

In matter of fact, the idea of adding exercise to decrease the incidence of obesity has created "inconsistent" results. Once again, the idea here is that the body will respond to the increased energy expenditure with a decrease in movement for the rest of the day.

Another note of importance. Many obese people are already exercising more than the rest of us. Yes, they actually expend far more calories than the average person.

So... just like I have been saying here all along at Food First Wellness, it is what we are eating that makes the difference, not how hard we are exercising to work it off and keep it off.

Furthermore, you may just find that the "compensatory eating" that follows your vigorous workouts may actually be causing you to gain weight!

This article is a conclusion to: THE EXERCISE MYTH: MORE REASONS WHY PUTTING EXERCISE BEFORE PROPER FOOD INTAKE IS A HUGE MISTAKE! (The majority of the information found here was gleaned from Time Magazine, August, 17, 2009: "The Myth About Exercise", by John Cloud)