Filed under: Advice, Happiness, Health, Fitness, Fit Family Guy
Last Sunday, a friend emailed me this article titled: “The workout: An exercise in futility?” The story quotes Eric Ravussin, director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Centre at the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in Baton Rouge, La., who casts doubt on exercise as a weight loss tool. It’s the not first time I’ve heard this argument.
The article reads:
“Eric Ravussin, who is recognized internationally for his work in obesity and diabetes, says the amount of exercise needed to cause significant weight loss is more than most free-living individuals are capable of undertaking. In general, he says, that holds for anyone who has stepped onto a treadmill hoping to lose weight. “But it is more true for the obese because they could never achieve the level of exercise which could make a dent in weight loss.”
To start, I’ll admit that I’m a big fan of Dr. Bouchard (the executive director of Ravussin’s research centre) who is also quoted in the article and who disagreed with these assertions stating that exercise is far from useless. However, there are parts of the article that I agree with, such as most people over-estimating how many calories they burn during exercise and this generating a feeling that they then “deserve” to indulge in more calories. I also agree that many people don’t like the idea of long, frequent and intense bouts of exercise. Nevertheless, I don’t agree with the overall conclusions of Dr. Ravussin because they ignore the larger picture and mentality that people need to adopt in order to be successful at significant and sustained weight loss.
Exercise is not a panacea for weight loss. At least not exercise in the manner that most people view it. Most people think if they do 20 minutes, three times a week at a moderate intensity then they are going to lose lots of weight (think Bowflex commercial).
Continue reading Exercise and Weight Loss: You Need More Than You Might Think to Lose Weight