You cannot exercise your way out of obesity

[mtnbkr]

Which is a fine way to over train and do more damage than good. 

Get out and follow your advice for a while (months, not a week) and let us know how it works out for you.

Chris

[KD5NRH]

Which is a fine way to over train and do more damage than good.

Get out and follow your advice for a while (months, not a week) and let us know how it works out for you.

Been there, done that.  Three days a week on run/walk intervals and one day of living room cardio.  Was averaging losing three pounds a week until I trashed my shoulder at work and couldn't take the jolt of any sort of useful exercise.

[Ron]

Regular moderate exercise including resistance training combined with dietary changes will cause you to lose weight and be healthier overall.

The benefit of exercise is you burn more calories as your metabolism ramps up. More muscle burns more calories.

Lifting weights is good for muscle strength and growth, bone strength and density and has moderate positive effects on cardio vascular health.

Brisk daily walks have incredible benefits on the cardio vascular system. For the lifelong sedentary starting a walking regime will sometimes have miraculous benefits.

It is a lifestyle change though, not a short term project.

You can lose weight and still be unhealthy. Moderate exercise gets you into a healthier category as well as weight.

[Mannlicher]

I don't recall seeing many obese long distance runners.   Not many obese folks were found in POW camps.

Cutting down caloric intake, and exercising seems to still be the best way to lose weight.

[KD5NRH]

I don't recall seeing many obese long distance runners.   Not many obese folks were found in POW camps.

Yeah; amazing how certain situations seem to inherently select people who don't have the "create fat from ambient oxygen" gene.

[mtnbkr]

Been there, done that.  Three days a week on run/walk intervals and one day of living room cardio.  Was averaging losing three pounds a week until I trashed my shoulder at work and couldn't take the jolt of any sort of useful exercise.

Just because you made it work for a while until an injury forced you to stop doesn't make it a workable long-term strategy.  There's a reason reputable trainers advise against back-to-back efforts of that nature.

Chris

[KD5NRH]

Just because you made it work for a while until an injury forced you to stop doesn't make it a workable long-term strategy.

Four months until an unrelated injury is getting into the neighborhood of long-term in my book.

There's a reason reputable trainers advise against back-to-back efforts of that nature.

Ah yes, the old "the only reputable experts are the ones who agree with me" method.  Crossfit uses the same tactic.

[mtnbkr]

Four months until an unrelated injury is getting into the neighborhood of long-term in my book.

Maybe, maybe not. Depending on your goals, four months is not that long.  I spent nearly a year prepping for a solo century in the mountains (ended up riding 117 miles).   I already had a base level of fitness and experience riding supported centuries.

Ah yes, the old "the only reputable experts are the ones who agree with me" method.  Crossfit uses the same tactic.

I'll take the word of a person with a medical degree over some random internet guy. :)  Crossfit is a fad and not where I get my health and fitness information.

Chris

[Balog]

Saying it's ALL "Calories in and calories out" does have it's limits.

You eat 5000 calories a day in fat and protein with zero carb content... you'll be a concentration camp scarecrow inside of a year. In theory you can make sugars out of non-carbohydrate food stocks, almost all living things on earth can through gluconeogenesis and some of the sugars might get converted to triglycerides/fats for storage... and your liver is going to eventually give up on glycogenolysis after roughly 72 hours of such a diet, switching over to ketone bodies instead.

But your GI tract isn't going to come anywhere near to absorbing all 5000 calories of fat and protein. You're going to poop a lot of it out. And your insulin response is going to grind to a halt as well. And instead lipolysis is going to start up as your body starts attacking fat/lipids to break them up into glyerol sugar-alcohols. And even if you're getting 100% of the lipid calories from dietary fat intake, you're likely to activate the lipase enzymes in your own fat stores which will break them down whether from a caloric intake standpoint you need them or not.

I'm not advocating anyone actually TRY a no-carb diet that extreme, but it AIN'T the fat and protein that's making Americans fat. HFCS, corn, bleached wheat, potatoes, rice, and to a lesser degree sucrose* is doing it.

And enough sucrose to actually make you fat is simply unpleasant or downright uncomfortable to eat. The osmotic pressure on your mouth and stomach from that much sucrose, crystalline, or in suspension is going to make it kind of "burn" just like salt, whereas HFCS is "smooth" and you can just keep gulping it for hours, even if your pancreas started screaming "Uncle!" a long time ago. 

The Inuit's with their wintertime diet consisting of almost solely meats caught through fishing/hunting, and other tribal people who's diet was almost all subsistence meat-hunting were thought to be the exception to this, however it turns out they get/got a fair amount of dietary glycogen from eating organ meats of the animals that we normally pass up, and that they actually traded meat and fish to other peoples for plant-based foods. And conversely, many Native north and south American peoples suffer obesity and diabetes at rates even higher than Euro-Americans when they eat a diet high in processed refined carbohydrates.

Yup. My wife is pre-diabetic (and has PCOS for the folks who think that's just a nonsensical excuse) so we try hard to avoid sugars etc. It's almost impossible without a very limited diet. Everything has huge amounts of sugar thrown in, including things you wouldn't expect like processed meat or savory sauces. It's difficult and expensive to eat healthily. Veggies are expensive, making everything from scratch to avoid the pointless sugar is time consuming and expensive etc.

[charby]

Yup. My wife is pre-diabetic (and has PCOS for the folks who think that's just a nonsensical excuse) so we try hard to avoid sugars etc. It's almost impossible without a very limited diet. Everything has huge amounts of sugar thrown in, including things you wouldn't expect like processed meat or savory sauces. It's difficult and expensive to eat healthily. Veggies are expensive, making everything from scratch to avoid the pointless sugar is time consuming and expensive etc.

Frozen and canned veggies can be quite reasonable in price.

I remember as a kid the only times we had fresh veggies (other than carrots and potatoes) if the garden was producing them. We didn't raise many potatoes for storage because bacteria issues with potatoes grown in Iowa.

[Balog]

Frozen and canned veggies can be quite reasonable in price.

I remember as a kid the only times we had fresh veggies (other than carrots and potatoes) if the garden was producing them. We didn't raise many potatoes for storage because bacteria issues with potatoes grown in Iowa.

We do eat a lot of frozen veggies, but there again you run into limited selection issues.

[charby]

We do eat a lot of frozen veggies, but there again you run into limited selection issues.

Very true, better than it used to be.

Might be a regional thing, but every supermarket here has at least an entire 30' aisle in the frozen section dedicated to frozen veggies.

[MillCreek]

^^^ When I am doing my intermittent fasting days, my usual dinner is a 16 oz. bag of frozen vegetables, usually the sugar snap peas stir fry blend.  Approximately 150 calories for the bag, and delicious with a drizzle of soy sauce.

[mtnbkr]

Yup. My wife is pre-diabetic (and has PCOS for the folks who think that's just a nonsensical excuse) so we try hard to avoid sugars etc. It's almost impossible without a very limited diet. Everything has huge amounts of sugar thrown in, including things you wouldn't expect like processed meat or savory sauces. It's difficult and expensive to eat healthily. Veggies are expensive, making everything from scratch to avoid the pointless sugar is time consuming and expensive etc.

Yup.  I'm what I would call pre-pre-diabetes.  A year ago, my fasting blood sugar was 100 and my A1C was a couple tenths high, but not technically in the pre-diabetes range.  Doc said I needed to lose weight (was 205) and avoid carbs, starches and sugar.  It's hard.  Everything has one of those three.  You either go all meat or have to eat so many green, leafy vegetables eating becomes work.  My first yearly physical after finding out I was edging into "diabetes-land" is next week.  We'll see if losing 25lbs, mild diet changes, and ramping up the exercise did the trick. 

Frozen and canned veggies can be quite reasonable in price.

Canned veggies tend to be high in salt and/or mushy.  Frozen is better, but not by much.  Selection is fairly limited in either case.

Financially, eating a diet very high in fresh veggies isn't a problem, but you get to a point where you've run through the produce section 2-3 times, even sampling the weird stuff, and you're just plain sick of it.  It's tougher when you have two picky kids and an equally picky wife and have to fix your own veggies.

Chris

[charby]

Financially, eating a diet very high in fresh veggies isn't a problem, but you get to a point where you've run through the produce section 2-3 times, even sampling the weird stuff, and you're just plain sick of it.  It's tougher when you have two picky kids and an equally picky wife and have to fix your own veggies.

Chris

I eat sautéed chicken and steamed veggies 2-3 a week. I mix the spices up with the mix to keep it fun, wife is also picky and kvetches a lot about my spicy foods.

My parents never let us get picky, it was either eat it or peanut butter sandwich. The very few times we went out to eat, we had to order the food how it was listed on the menu, no hold the ketchup, mustard, pickles etc.

Also I went to Catholic schools, so the lunch menu was never posted until HS and the nuns made you eat everything on the tray unless you had allergies.

[mtnbkr]

I am not a fan of steamed veggies most of the time.  I'm ok with broccoli and a few other substantial vegetables, most just don't have flavor or texture.  I'm liberal with spices and seasoning.  I also make vegetable curries when I have time.  Regardless, it gets old and I don't feel "satisfied".

The kids are getting better and the oldest is almost as adventurous as I am, but they both still default to the basics (taters, corn, green beans, pinto beans, etc) most of the time. 

Chris

[charby]

My favorite is the frozen Mexican corn bean veggie mix.

[Perd Hapley]

Ask folks how much they would burn in a 5k run and I am certain any non-runner would say they burned 1000+ calories. 
Chris

I've been a runner, and I've never had a clue how many calories were burned, or how many I was eating. I always figured that counting would just be a headache, and take the fun out of both activities. 

The only time I've ever lost much weight, to speak of, it was during times I paid no attention to diet. The first was due to running ~10 miles a week. The second time around I was doing a little bit more physical activity at work, but I was mainly just constantly worried about losing my job. Then I quit, and got a desk job, and gained it all back.

[Perd Hapley]

I don't recall seeing many obese long distance runners.   Not many obese folks were found in POW camps.

Cutting down caloric intake, and exercising seems to still be the best way to lose weight.

I don't know exactly what makes one a long distance runner, but I was never svelte, even when I ran that half-marathon.

[gunsmith]

I must be a freak of nature or have a high metabolism- 2013 I woked out like mad until summer of 2014 when injury/depression sidelined me .
Following generally low carb and Wheat Belly book / paleo diet guidelines I shed 60 pound from over 200 to 140 - since the summer I've kept the diet except for - I eat a lot of calories in the form of chocolate - I've become flabbier from not working out but still only weigh between 146- 153 since the summer of 2014
... I think its due to eliminating all grains and having a physically demanding job - and I eat about 3000 calories a day from Chocolate probably more because I never really count it but I buy the giant XL bars from walmart because its cheaper than buying 1 serving - I eat two of those every chance I get
its a terrible addiction but it helps with depression and what the heck, it doesn't give me a hangover 

[mtnbkr]

I've been a runner, and I've never had a clue how many calories were burned, or how many I was eating. I always figured that counting would just be a headache, and take the fun out of both activities. 

Counting calories sucks, but is the only way I can consistently maintain or reduce my weight.  I have a desk job, one that doesn't require me to move around a lot by going to other parts of the building for meetings, etc.  My daily commute is 1hr each way.  Ergo, I spend a lot of time sitting on my arse each day.  Even if I ran a couple miles each day, it wouldn't offset an extra slice of pizza or dessert, etc. 

The only time I've ever lost much weight, to speak of, it was during times I paid no attention to diet. The first was due to running ~10 miles a week. The second time around I was doing a little bit more physical activity at work, but I was mainly just constantly worried about losing my job. Then I quit, and got a desk job, and gained it all back.

I have yet to find a level of exercise that can offset my propensity to eat.  I run 5-10 miles a week, lift weights at the gym 2-3x a week, bike 1-2 x a week (5-20 miles), and have still gained weight if I don't count calories and limit my intake.  I tend to eat when I'm stressed and when I'm bored.  That combined with a desk job means I gain weight easily.  I'm a small framed guy.  Every bit of excess weight shows.

Chris

[Balog]

Yup.  I'm what I would call pre-pre-diabetes.  A year ago, my fasting blood sugar was 100 and my A1C was a couple tenths high, but not technically in the pre-diabetes range.  Doc said I needed to lose weight (was 205) and avoid carbs, starches and sugar.  It's hard.  Everything has one of those three.  You either go all meat or have to eat so many green, leafy vegetables eating becomes work.  My first yearly physical after finding out I was edging into "diabetes-land" is next week.  We'll see if losing 25lbs, mild diet changes, and ramping up the exercise did the trick. 
Canned veggies tend to be high in salt and/or mushy.  Frozen is better, but not by much.  Selection is fairly limited in either case.

Financially, eating a diet very high in fresh veggies isn't a problem, but you get to a point where you've run through the produce section 2-3 times, even sampling the weird stuff, and you're just plain sick of it.  It's tougher when you have two picky kids and an equally picky wife and have to fix your own veggies.

Chris

Good luck with your physical.

[KD5NRH]

I run 510 miles a week, lift weights at the gym 23x a week, bike 12 x a week (520 miles),

There you go; just getting rid of those hyphens has you at a routine that you shouldn't be able to out-eat.