Re: My response to this article.bezajelAugust 22 2009, 00:08:37 UTC
Well maybe if you want to lose weight you should see how many calories you are eating every day. I felt the article addressed this. Part of looking at the calories you eat is to ask what are the habits you have around your calorie intake. If rewarding yourself with more calories after a hard work-out is a habit you have, then perhaps a hard work-out isn't the best way to go. The point I got was that if you increase your incidental exercise you will gain the health benefits of exercise without consciously feeling like you deserve a muffin (/need a high energy 'fitness food').
I think the entire problem with this article is that it puts the be all and end all focus on weight loss as the major goal people should have. I didn't think that article endorsed weight loss as the ultimate goal. I thought it pointed out that the goal of losing weight has overshadowed other reasons for exercise, which would have the effect of making you give up exercise if it 'wasn't working' to make you thin. They certainly didn't claim that we should give up exercise, but rather implied that short intense bursts of exercise might not be the best for us in terms of compensatory behaviours (eating and being less-active later).
So I agree with what you're saying, but I also thought the article did, too ;)
"In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain."
I felt the article addressed this. Part of looking at the calories you eat is to ask what are the habits you have around your calorie intake. If rewarding yourself with more calories after a hard work-out is a habit you have, then perhaps a hard work-out isn't the best way to go. The point I got was that if you increase your incidental exercise you will gain the health benefits of exercise without consciously feeling like you deserve a muffin (/need a high energy 'fitness food').
I think the entire problem with this article is that it puts the be all and end all focus on weight loss as the major goal people should have.
I didn't think that article endorsed weight loss as the ultimate goal. I thought it pointed out that the goal of losing weight has overshadowed other reasons for exercise, which would have the effect of making you give up exercise if it 'wasn't working' to make you thin. They certainly didn't claim that we should give up exercise, but rather implied that short intense bursts of exercise might not be the best for us in terms of compensatory behaviours (eating and being less-active later).
So I agree with what you're saying, but I also thought the article did, too ;)
"In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain."
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