In the “The Myth of Moderate Exercise,” TIME magazine draws some conclusions that are the opposite of my personal experience, but others are accurate.
TIME says: “What has become increasingly clear, however, is that the conventionally accepted advice — 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week — is probably insufficient to spur any real change in a person's body weight.”
My Experience: I have lost weight several times. Ten years ago, I lost about 50 pounds by going for a walk every morning. That's all. Currently, I am using both weight loss tools – eating less and exercising more. I exercise 3 times a week – occasionally 4. If I stick with it for 40 minutes, I lose. If I get busy and cut to a half hour too often, I plateau. I started out at 3 miles an hour for 2 miles – very moderate. I lost 50 pounds or about 20% of my weight. When I plateau-ed last winter, I kicked it up to 3.5 or 3.6 miles per hour and started loosing again. Yes, I also cut calories, but I am not living on lettuce.
TIME says: “A study published July 28 in the Archives of Internal Medicine … suggests that obese people would have to exercise at least an hour at a time to see any significant difference in their weight.”
My Experience: I have not exercised for an hour at a time since my 20s - the Jane Fonda Work-out. Back then I was NOT obese. I have nothing against an hour of exercise, but I have a life.
TIME says: “Indeed, exercise was more strongly associated with weight loss than any other factor, including diet. Overall, the more the women exercised, the more weight they lost.”
My Experience: This seems to contradict the first statement. Perhaps the problem is the definition of “moderate” If your idea of “moderate” is walking 2 miles an hour, then yes, you’ll have to do more.
TIME says: “More than half of the study participants managed to lose at least 10% of their body weight within the first six months. At the half-year mark, however, most of those women relapsed and started gaining the weight back — a discouragingly common phenomenon.”
My Experience: Been there. The new wears off. You got into your bad eating habits for a reason and you drift back. What elevates your heart rate when you weight 270 and never exercise is different than when you weight 200 and are in better shape. “Moderate” should be adapted as your fitness level improves.
TIME says: "The major outcome of this paper is the maintenance issue," Jakicic says. (This is the guy that did the study.) “Once a patient hits her target weight, it's imperative that she stick with her exercise and diet regimen to maintain her new weight.”
My Experience: AMEN! Dieting doesn’t work long term. You have to change. Why do you think I’ve had to loose weight so many different times? Because I checked it off the list. Problem solved, and I slid back into my old ways.
TIME says: “Still, the underlying question remains: are diet and exercise a reliable cure for obesity? Modern-day obesity researchers are skeptical — achieving thinness, they say, is not simply a matter of willpower. Research suggests that weight may largely be regulated by biology, which helps determine the body's "set point," a weight range of about 10 lbs. to 20 lbs. that the body tries hard to defend. The further you push you weight beyond your set point — either up or down the scale — some researchers say, the more your body struggles to return to it.”
My experience: This is the big question … or is it just an excuse? I have no interest in being a single digit dress size. Too much work. But I don’t think I can blame biology for being 125 pounds over a healthy weight. 10 or 20, perhaps. You can only dump so much garbage on your parent's doorstep. At some point, you have to take responsibility for what you've made of your life. If you've made yourself fat (as I did), then it's time to man-up and deal with it.
TIME says: “But the keys to success, according to Jakicic, were embracing the weight-loss program fully …"
My Experience: This may be the major flaw in this study. How committed were they to losing weight? What did they get out of it besides a free treadmill?
For the complete article, go to http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827342,00.html
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