Article on Weight Loss as Related to Exercise

Yesterday a study came out about contestants on the reality television show, The Biggest Loser and the long term impact of the diet and exercise program the contestants are put through. Ultimately, the type of low calorie, intense exercise, and fast weight loss that takes place has a few long-term negative effects on the contestants:

Two main factors contribute: the decrease of a hormone called leptin, which controls hunger, and a damaged resting metabolism. When contestants began the show, their resting metabolism (meaning the number of calories they burned daily) was normal. While any dieting regimen will result in a decreased metabolism, the contestants changes were so radical that it was virtually impossible to eat so little that the body could maintain its current weight. Even more surprising was that in the six years following, their metabolisms never recovered—in fact, they became even slower.

The study was a small sample group but I imagine this is likely true for most of the contestants. They didn't mention if there is a solution to the issues they are facing. Full article.

Here's another article about the myth of exercise leading to weight loss without changing diet. "Exercise alone is almost useless for weight loss." Not only does it break it down, issue by issue, the article offers solid advice:

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-bur...

Here's an inspiring article about a runner that gained weight while training for marathons and then managed to lost 25 pounds:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/crossing-the-finish-line-2...

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Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on May 4, 2016 at 2:29pm

The article about exercise not leading to much weight loss is excellent.  Biking has many physical benefits, but I have never found, or expected, weight loss to be among them.  Eating less and better is way more important in that regard.  I read stories about people claiming to have lost huge amounts of weight by cycling, and my suspicion is always that they improved their general lifestyle, including eating and drinking habits, at the same time.  

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on May 5, 2016 at 3:12am

I was really happy to find this article - it all finally made sense for me after years of not understanding how it all works. 

Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on May 4, 2016 at 3:10pm

I read somewhere (don't remember where) that the health benefits of bicycling amounted to 2 or 3%. It's a small number, and it's not going to cure any disease.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on May 4, 2016 at 5:07pm

2% or 3% of what?? You refer to the "health benefits", while I though the subject was weight loss. The two are often conflated but they are separate issues.

Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on May 4, 2016 at 4:40pm

When I changed from a suburban to city lifestyle, I started biking a lot more and driving a lot less.  I lost a lot of weight.  Diet was probably the main reason.  But my diet changed because I spent more time riding and less time sitting on my *ss eating to compensate for my miserable existence.

Permalink Reply by V W on May 5, 2016 at 2:49am
OK so reducing calorie intake has a bigger impact on weight loss, but is weight loss inherently healthier than exercise?

I mean, All Sharpton lost a ton of weight mostly by eating less, with a very marginal amount of exercise in the form of walking on a treadmill here or there. But he doesn't exactly look healthy to me.

The way I look at it, every little bit of exercise counts, it just doesn't count for as much as we would like it to. And even the ceiling on benefits seems to only come into play when you're a world class athlete and don't really need to lose any more weight at that point anyway. But I think it's the less easy come easy go side of the equation and it still can be used to keep your weight reasonably in check while keeping you healthy which is the most important thing.
Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on May 5, 2016 at 3:03am

If you are looking to lose weight or wondering why you are gaining weight when you are exercising a lot, this article helps explain why and offers recommendations on how to lose the weight. Of course, this isn't saying exercise isn't healthy, the article is mainly saying that you still have to be careful about what you eat even if you are burning loads of calories by riding your bike, training for a marathon or spending lots of time at the gym. Personally, I really appreciate the article because this has been something I struggle with - losing the last of the weight after having ramped up my activity significantly since 2011. 

Permalink Reply by V W on May 5, 2016 at 8:19am
I agree that it's informative when it comes to explaining the effacy of weight loss by diet vs exercise, I just think it's also important to avoid the slippery slope where some people get fixated with, as Curtis said, the "cultural obsession with ... (All the things he listed below)", I think some people fall into the trap of trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole and trying to fit some image of the svelt low body fat model type even if that's just not how their bone structure and physiology is set up to work optimally- trying to lose weight by any means necessary as if losing weight is an end in itself and not a means to be healthy.
Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on May 5, 2016 at 4:53am

I, for one, am not sure that I would personally find any data drawn from The Biggest Loser experience to be useful in extrapolating relationships between calorie intake/consumed, calories burned in exercise, basal metabolic rate, and set-points. These scenarios are rather extreme in the starting/before weights, the calorie restrictive diets, the intense amount of exercise, and the rapid rate of weight loss.

I do know what has worked for me (although I was never 300 or 400 lbs.), but I am reluctant to share my experience as weight-loss narratives are usually rather boring. This is not to be insensitive to other people's struggles, but our cultural obsession with weight gain, weight-loss, body image, fat acceptance vs. fat-shaming, and mass media representations/distortions of idealized bodies/beauty has us swimming in the shallow end of the pool.  

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on May 5, 2016 at 4:58am

Totally agree. Sorry, I wasn't in that 300-400 lb weight category either. Maybe it confused things by including it - I just was concerned with the extreme dieting for ratings construct (it's always bothered me and seemed dangerous to me).

Mostly, I really liked the article that got into weight loss by exercise and/or diet. 

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on May 5, 2016 at 9:04am

For sure.  America tends to be a skin-deep kind of place.

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