The Exercise Paradox

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Dingus McGee

Social climber

Where Safety trumps Leaving No Trace

Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 24, 2017 - 04:03am PT

Reported studies have concluded that exercise alone will not shed pounds. The study reported in Feb 2017 SciAm, Exercise Paradox, has also looked at people who say, ...but I get a hell of a lot of exercise. After accepting this conclusion of science one can decide to control pounds by the rational choice of diet or use a method of Hope and began praying.

Now the cover page of this issue says -- and what to do about it. After reading the article a couple of times I have concluded that it does not explicitly tell one what to do to shed those pounds -- other than,

focus on diet to look after your weight

.

It seems our innate appetite evolved with our ancestors [no room here for Creationists] successfully living the life of hunter/gathers while having a brain that takes 25% of their metabolic output. They needed to store up energy to cover the famine times. Extant hunter/gathers have about twice the body fat of idling zoo Chimpanzees -- we have evolved to be FAT.

My Conclusion from this obtuse article: In the these days of instant & all time feasting & concentrated gratification we need to artificially create some symbolic famines -- I am not suggesting fasting but far less shoveling. Watch those vegetarian starch bombs and oils. And start thinking exercise has many benefits but I control my weight by less shoveling as the exact measure is calories in - calories out = weight change. But as for calories out, when exercising our bodies have built in compensatory mechanisms that do less in other forms of maintenance to keep us from getting into a weight loss situation. You will have to tolerate the "yuck' of this famine feeling.

You do have to keep feeding the brain even when the muscles are idle.

Some of my Islamic friends living nearby do some fasting at least once a year but from the their shapes I doubt whether these instances are frequent enough to kept them at just twice the body fat of chimpanzees or less?

Gunkie

Trad climber

Valles Marineris

Jan 24, 2017 - 04:51am PT

For me it's all about diet. Exercise just exasperates my hunger and I really have to manage what I eat during those times. But when I take a break from working out I can eat a lot less and I actually shed pounds rather easily.

clinker

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, California

Jan 24, 2017 - 05:44am PT

Put your scale in the attic, weigh yourself often.

Dingus McGee

Social climber

Where Safety trumps Leaving No Trace

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 24, 2017 - 05:54am PT

Put your scale in the attic, weigh yourself often.

This advise suggest exercise[going to the attic] with frequent monitoring for weight control -- exactly what the study says does not work. The study says you must regulate diet -- maybe with monitoring.

The study says exercise has tons of well documented benefits and it is very much worth doing -- Exercise to stay healthy and vital

clinker

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, California

Jan 24, 2017 - 05:58am PT

Okay, add also the key to the kitchen door ;)

This was discussed with great insights on a ST weight challenge thread by Nature

My appetite has never allowed itself to be moderated.

Yet.

fear

Ice climber

hartford, ct

Jan 24, 2017 - 07:56am PT

I found that contracting the H1N1 flu last year did wonders for my figure.

Also left my O2 sats around 90% for 2+ months!

Good news is there's plenty to go around this year.

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Jan 24, 2017 - 08:20am PT

Speaking from my own personal experience, diet and exercise are pretty darn effective at changing the shape and condition of my body. When I've had jobs eating gluttonous dinners with customers and not doing any exercise, I was up to 180-185 pounds. After 3 months of climbing 1 time per week in Yosemite (all day adventure), no other exercise, and eating garden burgers and skipping the french fries, I was down to 148 pounds. No real focus on weight loss, other than an active choice at lunchtime to resist the cookie and french fries and greasy chicken burger.

The trick for me in that period was to learn to love that feeling of my stomach being a little hungry, and not to try to stay in that always slightly over-full mode that many people (including myself right now) learn to treat as normal.

Todd Eastman

climber

Bellingham, WA

Jan 24, 2017 - 08:24am PT

Learn the value of Levels 1 & 2 training where fats rather than carbs are the main fuel source. This is very easy training and not utilized by most citizen athletes. It is the foundation to successful sports training.

Moof

Big Wall climber

Orygun

Jan 24, 2017 - 08:48am PT

Sounds right. I ramped up exercise over the last 18 months, but didn't sweat the food intake while doing it. I lost/gained 0 lbs, but got much stronger, more endurance by miles, etc. This year I am focusing on improving the diet side. Soda has been cutout for 2 months. Beer is getting ramped down from ~1/day average to 2/week.

Got to stop taking thirds at dinner.

Stewart Johnson

Mountain climber

lake forest

Jan 24, 2017 - 03:58pm PT

Shoveling all this snow I've lost 8 pounds in two weeks!

paul roehl

Boulder climber

california

Jan 24, 2017 - 04:06pm PT

Stop drinking any alcohol, flush the weed, stay somewhat active and watch the pounds go away.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Jan 24, 2017 - 04:27pm PT

No mention of what your weight is made of? Fat vs. muscle?

The way I learned it more muscle means a higher metabolic rate. A higher metabolic rate burns fat, or prevents its formation in the first place.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the idea that getting stronger (exercise) won't cut body fat.

Dingus McGee

Social climber

Where Safety trumps Leaving No Trace

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 24, 2017 - 05:45pm PT

No mention of what your weight is made of? Fat vs. muscle?

Exactly.

He writes, "Humans are not the only species with a fixed rate energy expenditure....We found that captive primitives living in labs and zoos expend the same number of calories each day as those in the wild, despite obvious differences in physical activity.

On the average, couch potatoes tend to spend about 200 fewer calories each day than people who were moderately active: the kind of folks who make it a point to some exercise during the week and make a point to take the stairs. But more important, energy expenditure plateaued at higher activity levels: people with the intense active daily lives burned the same number of calories each day as those with moderately active lives.

Further along he adds, "Saving energy on these [unseen?] processes could make room in our daily energy budget, allowing us to spend more energy on physical activity without increasing total calories spent per day.

These metabolic test were done using the doubly labeled water method ---

a gold standard in public health for measuring the calories burned each day during normal daily life.

It just may be that the results of accurate measures of metabolism will put away some faulty assumptions as to how we use the energy from food?

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Jan 24, 2017 - 09:02pm PT

people with the intense active daily lives burned the same number of calories each day as those with moderately active lives.

I find that difficult to believe. But I wonder what he means by "intense active daily lives".

Dingus McGee

Social climber

Where Safety trumps Leaving No Trace

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2017 - 03:11am PT

I find that difficult to believe. But I wonder what he means by "intense active daily lives".

Apparently his data supports his conclusion. I see his conclusions as the result of very accurate metabolism measure over diverse population samples. Or has he got it all wrong? I have no metabolic measuring tools and can only go by my feelings which tended to agree with your perceptions. We have been fooling ourselves?

I have done a few 50 km skate ski races [freestyle]. These epic endeavors required far more energy expenditure than any event in anyone's intense active daily life. After these events my routine was "easy slow" with hot tub time but little interest in skiing even 10 km the next day.

One ski season I decided no more traveling to races and for 4 months straight I was able to do 10 km or more of skate skiing every day -- the pace was somewhat fast but not race pace. That year we had plenty of snow and a different policy for I 80 road closure. I mostly lived to do my winter addiction [no climbing gyms yet] and was seldom working, I could rest as much as I wanted and had no colds along with little social life. Would this life qualify for an intense active daily life? Probably not? As for a large portion of the day I was not in an intense active daily life. Think, saving calories when my only activity was skiing hard for less than 1 hr. There is little remodeling work in Laramie during winter but occasionally some maintenance work.

I see an intense active daily life as encompassing the routines of someone who has an 8 hr demanding mental/physical job and spends 2 hr at gym per day while, get this: raising 3 kids, enhancing their events and sharing duties with the spouse -- Yuck! Kids are demanding. I am a lazy sloth.

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber

Out Of Bed

Jan 25, 2017 - 05:59am PT

Please send your weed to the man in Merced !
his weight loss is no cause of concern , it is healthy,
but he has no funds, so starves by the end of his month.

For me? to this thread, I'm working on being a'round, Like a bowling ball.

Seems that the rearranging of my physique,
from cords of neck muscle that protected a broken neck for years, to the shoulders I was so proud of, have left their respective stations to take up a Gaurd on my abdomen .
Glad I'm so 'uge or I wouldn't be able to see my we-wee!