Posted on 08/17/2009 10:30:29 AM PDT by BellStar
As I write this, tomorrow is Tuesday, which is a cardio day. I'll spend five minutes warming up on the VersaClimber, a towering machine that requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously. Then I'll do 30 minutes on a stair mill. On Wednesday a personal trainer will work me like a farm animal for an hour, sometimes to the point that I am dizzy an abuse for which I pay as much as I spend on groceries in a week. Thursday is "body wedge" class, which involves another exercise contraption, this one a large foam wedge from which I will push myself up in various hateful ways for an hour. Friday will bring a 5.5-mile run, the extra half-mile my grueling expiation of any gastronomical indulgences during the week.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
There is a difference between being thin and being in shape.
If you want to get thin, do like some women, smoke a pack a day.
When I was overweight, I could run flat-out for pretty much as long as I wanted, above the recommended heart rate. Never lost weight doing it. Running is way overrated.
Both help. Exercise and diet together are my secrets to having a youthful, lithe, strong body in my mind forties. One without the other has never brought long term results as much as the combination. This article is really lacking a full spectrum picture. I love how you mention ALL the exercise you did and then said it was the food. It is about calories in and calories out. They work together. Your comment is a good example.
“When I was overweight, I could run flat-out for pretty much as long as I wanted, above the recommended heart rate”
I meant to add: on those eliptical machines in the gym. I find it somewhat more taxing to run on the real ground.
LOL. Good point.
Here it is:
Diet and exercise go hand in hand. Trying to lose weight on just one or the other usually gets minimal results.
That is probably one of the best ways to demonstrate the differnce between reducing intake and burning intake.
If you want to get thin, do like some women, smoke a pack a day.
OR
Do what the hollywood celebs do.....snort coke..
Rush Limbaugh said it best when he was dieting, and I paraphrase: You don’t lose weight by exercising. You lose weight by consuming fewer calories than your body burns.
If your weight is stable and you start running a couple of miles a day, without changing your diet, you WILL lose weight. This goes for working out as well. And if you build muscle with these activities, your body will be consuming more calories for the simpler reason that muscle consumes calories, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you consume, all other things being equal.
More accurate: Why Exercise ALONE Won’t Make You Thin
What is this wonderful piece of equipment you ask? I shall tell you.
The Couch Machine!
Its like Bowflex, but better!
I notice the meat of the article goes counter to the headline. Most of their exercisers eat, and eat junk, after the exercise. Yes diet is an important part of the equation, but exercise CAN help you drop weight as long as you don’t take the diet soda drinker approach (”I exercise/ drink diet soda so now I can eat that extra BigMac and apple pie”). It’s got to be part of a whole body whole mind whole life change.
I've been running 1000 miles a year for 15 years. I started out at 205 pounds and I quickly brought my weight down to 165 pounds which I have maintained.
I still eat like a pig.
There are always exceptions.
Have you seen Michael Phelps “diet”.
He chows down about 12,000 calories a day and most of it is junk food because, if you tried to eat 12,000 calories of salads, you would probably explode your stomach.
Most people have no idea what their exact caloric intake is and absolutely no idea what the macro-nutrient breakdown is for what they eat throughout the day.
I’ve gained weight while weight lifting and I’ve lost it rapidly while weight lifting. It all depends on knowing what your body’s metabolic rate is and knowing exactly what you’re eating.
It really is basic physics at work, but you have to do your homework to be successful at controlling body compostion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.