Diet vs. Exercise - the results are back

andtckrtoo

andtckrtoo

Cathlete
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/us_nm/diet_exercise_dc_2

So, is it just me or is anyone else frustrated by this? OF COURSE a calorie is a calorie and you can lose weight by eating less or my exercising more. DUH!!! We've been talking about that for as long as I've been here. What frustrates me is that it's not just about losing weight! Why don't they do a study as to which lowers your risk factors for Diabetes, heart disease...?
 
There was a thread on this last week and I was so irritated I didnt chime in. I totally agree with you... Lets write articles giving people reasons to continue to not exercise and eat cra* as long as you stay low in calories... I think its irresponsible. People will always seek out this kind of info because it supports poor nutrition and no exercise. I am amazed how many people here were "ditto-ing" the info in article. I personally know that 1300 calories of junk food does not look the same on my body as 1300 calories of clean food + exercise. Its just not that simple. Is the scale now the determing factor for health? I think not.
I guess its just one of those God Bless America things... we can write what we want and readers can believe what they want.
 
Because diabetes and heart disease don't show up on the mirror! People want rewards they can see. Weight loss is everyone's obsession because no one wants to look fat. There are studies done regarding lowering risk factors for those diseases, they just don't get the publicity because weight loss is the major obsession.
 
But, unfortunately, it's not just the mirror. I have friends who are slim, but eat crap and don't exercises and their doctors assume that because they are thin they eat right and exercise. A few are suffering from diabetes and the docs just tell them to pop a pill. Other have high blood pressure. Some suffer high blood pressure and again are put on medication because "obviously they are doing something right - they're thin!"... WTH!!! I've about 20 pounds to lose. I'm a 27 on the BMI index. My doctor is constantly telling me I need to lose weight (yes, I would like to drop that 20 pounds), but at the same time he exclaims over the fact that my resting hr is amazing, my blood pressure spot on normal, and all of the blood tests - normal. He even went so far to say that the way I eat and workout is responsible for my thyroid levels being normal even with all of the lumps and bumps I have there - which are hereditary and not diet related. I once asked him why I need to lose weight and he responded, "Well, you don't want to get any of the risk factors associated with being over weight." I replied, "I have none." That seemed to stump him. Just an observation...
 
Christine-
Hey cheetah! Tom Venute wrote a really thorough response to this on his blog that pretty much says it all. My mom and aunt (both chronic "dieters") had emailed me this article when it came out and I emailed them Tom's response---that felt good:7

Just remember, we'll probably have the last word b/c we'll outlive them }(

Mattea
 
Hey there Cheetah Cheeter... :p We miss you over there!

I would LOVE to see that - if you still have it, email or PM it to me! And you're right, though it's kind of sad - the ole "if you're thin you're healthy" attitude is not healthy at all.
 
I don't think Tom disagrees with the what the article reported. He seems to be concerned about how people may interpret the results. Even the researchers said they thought exercise was valuable. I think what *everyone* is agreeing on is that there is no "magic bullet" for fat loss. It boils down to consuming fewer calories than you use.

Here's the excerpt from Tom's blog:

"One last point: This article on Yahoo news about Ravussin’s study and his conclusions do highlight a very important fact that I don’t want to dismiss:

What is most important in the end is the energy balance equation. This IS important!
Too many people keep looking for some kind of “diet magic” or “metabolic advantage” - whether in the form of a special diet technique, new-fangled exercise program or a magic fat burning pill - that will override the law of energy balance, but in the end, no matter how much you protest - it always, always, comes back down to calories in vs calories out. Gang, you can make this as incredibly complex as you want, and get horribly lost in nutritional biochemistry, exercise physiology, and piles of research papers, or you can just boil this whole weight loss thing down into its essence: You need a calorie deficit to lose weight…

My main concerns about this story are (1) that people may misinterpret the findings as “permission” or even a “recommendation” not to exercise, and (2) that if people in the diet/fitness industry start using studies like this as “ammo” for their “easy”, “no effort” starvation diet programs with “no exercise required” pitches, then that will be very disturbing, and will be sending people down the wrong path.
I hope that fitness professionals will continue to emphasize the importance of exercise - resistance and cardiovascular - and avoid jumping on the “exercise is bad” or “exercise is unneccessary” bandwagon, for sake of selling their wares, as unfortunately, that looks like it could be the next novelty and new trend. Train hard and expect success. Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

PS You must have a calorie deficit to lose fat. But you can get that deficit in different ways. I propose that creating your calorie deficit with a combination of mild food restriction + cardio + resistance training is the optimal method for fat reduction and long term maintenance… in other words BURN the fat… FEED the muscle!"
 
Lucinda,
I never meant to put words in Tom's mouth :) and I never said that he disagreed with the results of the study (you're right, I don't think any of us would argue that a calorie deficit will make you lose weight:) ). I simply enjoyed the thoroughness of his response, how he was careful to point out the real upshot of the study. It was nice to have a sort of official response to offer those who were prepared to latch on to this "latest news" as an excuse not to exercise, instead of just me saying, "But exercise is about so much MORE than weightloss!!" and sounding like a broken record:p

Sometimes it's so hard to understand why someone doesn't want to use their bodies like they were meant to move! Sigh... I guess that just leaves more space for the rest of us;-)

Mattea
 
Personally, I think this study is a step in the right direction. It focused on weight loss and I think that's fine. You've got to focus on something right? Imagine if the entire country started eating low calorie (and healthfully) alone. Tons and Tons of obese related medically problems would disappear, just based on diet. It goes both ways too, you really can't reap all the benefits from exercise without a clean diet and vice versa. I've also read studies that indicated if you want to live longer, a low calorie diet is more important than exercise(of course this has nothing to do with quality of life in which exercise would of course play a HUGE role). So to focus on diet is not a problem with me. The thing that bothers me (and I stated this in the last thread), is the article didn't say what the participants were eating. What you eat is way more important than the volume of food you eat IMO. I for one am glad that scientists are out there doing studies. I love hearing new information that comes out and I agreed with much of what the article said.:)

Carolyn
 
>Lucinda,
>I never meant to put words in Tom's mouth :) and I never said
>that he disagreed with the results of the study (you're right,
>I don't think any of us would argue that a calorie deficit
>will make you lose weight:) ). I simply enjoyed the
>thoroughness of his response, how he was careful to point out
>the real upshot of the study. It was nice to have a sort of
>official response to offer those who were prepared to latch on
>to this "latest news" as an excuse not to exercise, instead of
>just me saying, "But exercise is about so much MORE than
>weightloss!!" and sounding like a broken record:p
>
>Sometimes it's so hard to understand why someone doesn't want
>to use their bodies like they were meant to move! Sigh... I
>guess that just leaves more space for the rest of us;-)
>
>Mattea


Matt,

Thanks. I didn't interpret your comments as such. Some people seem to have a strong reaction to the article (not you...) and pulled Tom's comments out to make a point or whatever. I just wanted people to see that Tom was making some great points without disagreeing about the essence of the article.
 
Well, I for one, have never been successful at losing weight w/o incorporating BOTH aspects into my program.

I have tried in the past to lose weight by diet alone but simply can not do it. It doesn't work for me.

The general population may lose the same amount of weight using one or the other but IMO printing an article like this ENCOURAGES people to be lazy. It seems to encourage lack of exercise since diet alone can be an affective way to lose weight. That's not good. Daily exercise needs to be encouraged no matter what. Too many people are sedentary...even those who have no pounds to lose. This country needs to get up and START MOVING! Case closed.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now!:p

Have a great day!:)
 
>
>The general population may lose the same amount of weight
>using one or the other but IMO printing an article like this
>ENCOURAGES people to be lazy. It seems to encourage lack of
>exercise since diet alone can be an affective way to lose
>weight. That's not good. Daily exercise needs to be
>encouraged no matter what. Too many people are
>sedentary...even those who have no pounds to lose. This
>country needs to get up and START MOVING! Case closed.
>
Wendy, while I agree with you on the merits of exercise, I think that this may be a TALL order for many people. I think that as long as the method is safe and healthy, it should not be ignored. I may be pessimistic about it but I really doubt that a lot of people out there want to exercise the way we do. If they can get health benefits from losing weight from diet alone, I don't have that much of a problem with it. I agree that too many people are sedentary. I also think that when people lose weight, they may be inspired to exercise as well. Diet comes before exercise with weight loss so it can be considered a first step that people need to take towards a healthy life. I've just known way too many people who won't (and I mean WON'T) exercise. At least they have the option to eat healthy and that could make a tremendous change in their lives.

Ok, off my soapbox too..
>
>
>
;)
 
No where in this article does it say anything about eating a healthy diet. If it did, I would not object as much. It says a calorie is a calorie and that as long as you decrease portions you'll lose weight. Nothing about eating healthy. So basically it's telling people to go ahead and continue eating the crap you do. All you have to do is eat less. While that will help you lose weight - hey the Atkins diet does work - it will not help at all with the miriad of health issues people have and that's my complaint.

I did want to addres one thing, though. While I believe that one can be fairly healthy with diet alone if it's a healthy diet, I know that quality of life as one grows older is affected by exercise. To keep a good quality of life as we age, one has to exercise.
 
I read the journal (not the article about the journal) and it said that the subjects followed a diet "based on the American Heart Association guidelines, 30% of calories from fat, 15% from protein, and 55% of calories from carbs". Subjects were provided all food from their 'metabolic kitchen'. The problem I have, is that the articles left this information out.
The study does mention the importance of exercise and does not condone not exercising.

Carolyn
 
Lucinda-I know you didn't think that's what I thought, I just wanted to be sure that everyone else knew what I thought, what you thought, and what Tom thought. How's that for clarity:p And you were right, I should have thought let Tom's words speak for themselves:)

As for the article, while I do think that eating less is an important part of most people's weight loss, the problem is as fundamental as thinking that "weightloss" = "health", which just isn't true. I want to clarify, that is NOT what anyone posting here has said, but it is often the popular conception and one I think that those responsible for the study should have taken into consideration. The study's authors should have tried harder to emphasize the healthy elements of their study and to stress the other ingredients of health and wellness. It only takes a little bit of insight to realize how the media was going to take (and run with) their results. Of course, that could be the reason that it was such a huge story to begin with, which in the super competitive world of academics, makes me suspicious of why they *didn't* choose to be more proactive about expressing their results and the conditions used to obtain those results. I'm not saying that it is entirely their fault (the blame for misinterpretation is also that of the media and public---for pandering to what people want to hear and for only listening to what we want to hear).

Of course, one could argue that they were simply reporting the results of their experiment and they had responsibility to any particular aspect of weightloss or healthcare, but then why are they researching this area, seeking funding for research in this area, and tacitly promoting the diet guidelines set by the ADA (and not Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Sugar Busters, Abs Diet, Scwarzbein Principle, Eat to Live, Body for Life, BFFM...you name it). In my opinion, all three pillars of this information system need to step up their personal responsibility to health and wellness. Yes it's hard, but yes it's worth it.

Looks around kind of dazed and apologizes. Has NO idea how I got up this soap box and will quietly secede to the next speak who would like to rant about stubborn cellulite or something equally fluffy :p

;-)
Mattea
 
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