The Skinny on Exercise

This post has been writing itself in my head for some time now, usually when I'm slogging through another treadmill workout. I actually love to exercise or, more precisely, am somewhat addicted to it.  I don't feel good when I don't do it, and with the exception of certain points during and right after my pregnancies, I haven't gone a week without exercise in almost 10 years.  But I no longer exercise to lose or maintain my weight; I do it for muscle tone, stress relief, strength and cardiac health.  This represents a huge shift in my thinking over the years and may contradict the advice you typically hear - that in order to lose weight you have to exercise - so first, a little background:

While my exercise habits have stayed very consistent over the past 10 years, my weight has not, ranging almost 25 pounds from the low point to the high point (not including pregnancies).  In the summer of 2009, I was at my heaviest weight in years, exercising vigorously every day while on vacation with another couple. I was complaining about the extra 10 lbs I was carrying and my friend said "But if you keep exercising like you are, you'll be slim in no time." We don't see each other often so how was she to know I had been doing that same long power walk rain or shine, heat wave or cold front, every day for months on end (not to mention the yoga, Pilates, boxing classes and free weights) with no change in my weight. And how was she to know that, based on new research that was about to emerge, she was wrong: exercise doesn't actually help most people lose weight.  After that conversation that I had an epiphany:

Exercise does NOT make or keep me thin. In fact, it makes absolutely NO difference in my weight.

In what seemed like kismet at the time, my personal epiphany came within days of TIME magazine publishing an article that got a lot of attention in the media. I strongly recommend you read the whole article but one of the main points is that while exercise burns calories it also stimulates hunger and most of us end up eating more calories than we burned as a result. It's human nature to think "I can have that dessert because I exercised today." It's also natural to truly be hungrier because you exercised (I was reminded of this Monday when I didn't do my morning cardio for the first time in a few weeks and had half my usual appetite in the afternoon). The article also explains that after a vigorous workout, most people are more likely to be lazier the rest of the day as a result. This is definitely true for me.  If I take a kickboxing class in the morning, I am more likely to suggest Legos than a walk to the park as an an afternoon activity with my son. The article made me realize that what was true for me was actually true for most people, which also explained why I saw the same slightly overweight folks time and again on my walks and trips to the gym.* Of course many people at the gym look fabulous, but we must assume they are also watching what they eat.

It was after the one-two punch of my epiphany and the Time article that I got serious about what I put in my mouth, started exercising LESS and finally lost the 10 lbs (plus a few more). The experience was so life-changing for me, I started school at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, became a certified health coach, began blogging and started my business, Inhabit Health. While I returned to regular exercise for stress relief and because I like to have muscle tone, I no longer believe it will have an effect on my weight and I certainly don't kick myself if I miss a workout. I now exercise to be better, not smaller. 

But enough about me already; here is some useful information for you (for more detail, read the Time article I linked to above as well as this article on exercise myths):

• Unless you are exercising like Lance Armstrong or Novak Djokovic, you cannot eat carbohydrates and sweets freely without consequences (and of course these guys watch what they eat too). Even vigorous exercise a few times a week is not enough to offset extra calories and may actually cause you to gain weight by compensating with more food. 
• Being sedentary most of the time and then hitting the gym hard a few times a week or even an hour per day is very stressful for the muscles (causing intense soreness) and is likely to result in you being lazier when not exercising.
• A lot of the aesthetic effects of exercise people long for - defined triceps, a "six-pack", etc., cannot be achieved until fat is lost (i.e. you can't see the six-pack under the layer of fat), and a healthy diet is the key to losing fat, not exercise.
• In multiple studies, frequent short bursts of activity (the kind life required before TV, computers, supermarkets, etc) have been shown to keep people as healthy as sweat-filled gym visits.  This means that just by being fairly active in your daily life (playing with your toddler, doing handy work around the house), you can be just as healthy as the sedentary office worker who hits the gym for an hour after work every day.

Of course, exercise is still great for alleviating stress, anxiety, depression and arthritis pain as well as lowering high blood pressure, preventing osteoporosis, strengthening your muscles, making you look better in your clothes ... the list goes on. So, by all means, exercise! Just don't count on it alone to affect your weight. A healthy diet is essential for looking and feeling your best.

To learn more about changing your diet to improve your health, consider signing up for one of my programs or email me about my Nutrition Boot Camp special. www.inhabithealth.com or lindsay@inhabithealth.com. 

* I must add that every study has to be taken with a grain of salt and everyone is different. Some people tell me that once they exercise, everything else falls into place and they eat better too. If exercise does help you lose or maintain your weight, that's great; keep it up!