Arcite says that exercise doesn’t do squat. With all due respect, Arcite is incorrect.
It is true that exercise won’t undo somebody’s poor eating habits. That does not mean that it “doesn’t do squat,” though. There is also a huge difference between light exercise and an intense workout. even sven says, for example, that 30 minutes on a treadmill will only burn about 120 calories. That might be true if you’re walking at a moderate pace; however, a brisk walk would burn more like 200 to 240 calories, and a fast run can burn even more than that. If you do the right kind of workout, you can burn 600 to 700 calories in an hour, though it make take a while before one can build up the necessary stamina.
As I said, exercise is not some panacea that will magically undo that double cheeseburger you had for lunch. To say that it doesn’t accomplish squat, however, is simply incorrect, and it’s a dangerous message to convey.
I keep thinking about how, when I lived in the UK, many people there ate almost as badly as they do here. Yet the obesity rate was significantly lower. The most obvious difference I saw was simply that more people walked from place to place.
True but a lot of your cities were built before cars so the city grew up around a walking culture. A lof of our cities in the US were designed with the car in mind so things can be really spread out. I’d love to bike/walk to work but it’s 23 miles from my home. My brother lives just a few miles from his work and he bikes mosts days. Living that close to work would be nice and I could sleep in an extra 40 minutes.
Zoning laws requiring all residential and light commercial areas to have sidewalks and a certain number of bike racks
Re-introduction of recess and phys ed as part of the curriculum in all public schools, for all ages
Increase school funding for playgrounds, gymnasiums, outdoor educational space, home economics, health classes, and activity-oriented field trips
Repeal No Child Left Behind and whatever other acts are whittling away recess and phys ed and art and music in public schools
School lunch reform
An easy-to-understand nutrition information system to be posted on all packaged foods and restaurant foods; the Weight Watchers point system is a good place to start
Gradually reduce subsidies for corn, dairy, and even soy. Use money to fund things listed above
Increase the break time businesses must offer employees, to allow for better meals and some exercise
Personally, I really dislike the WW point system. I much preferred - as a way to teach nutrition, the previous WW system of “know what portions of X are, then check off your three/four proteins, three to five milks, 3-4 whole grains, one to two fats and all the fruits and vegetables you eat during the day. Plus 100 calories (or whatever it was) worth of ‘treat’”
For one thing, I couldn’t eat 27 points worth of Kudos bars and think I was being “good.” (Last time I did WW there were several in the group I was in that were doing something a lot like that.) For another thing, its way easier to learn to estimate portions then count than than it is to try and figure out how many “points” are in something - and more maintainable long term.
Dangerosa–I wouldn’t expect all or even 90% of people to actually try to count points, but it seems like a constant reminder like that would lead to smaller, healthier choices that have a cumulative effect over time.
A lot of people really don’t get basic nutrition… I’m sure you’ve been on dieting and nutrition message boards where people ask, as a blanket question, “is this healthy?” Well sweetie, lets talk about calories and macronutrients and fiber and what else you’re eating today and what you’re gonna do with it… you know? At least the WW points system encapsulates several aspects of healthfulness in one easy-to-read number. It’s also very good at magnifying just how much of a splurge some foods are.
Not only this, but exercise also has metabolism-booting effects, especially if you do weight training.
For me, when I’d diet and not exercise, it’d go great at first. I’d just cut calories way down, and suffer through it. Inevitably, I’d get hungrier and hungrier and my results would be less and less. I was burning through my lean muscle mass. Even everyday activities were harder; after working all day (at an office job) I wouldn’t have the energy to do normal things. I didn’t want to go out. I was tired, I slept a ton, I was miserable. I couldn’t keep it up for more than a few months, and because of the lower lean muscle mass at the end it made gaining the weight back even easier! I dieted my way to successively more and more weight, in hindsight.
Now, I eat more than I did on say Weight Watchers (though I do watch what I eat more, in terms of composition) but I also exercise. Exercise, even during periods where I’ve eaten poorly (e.g. holidays, vacations) has kept me from gaining weight back the way that I used to. I’m not there yet, but as time goes by I get better and better at finding ways to manage my weight. On top of this, since exercising, my results in fitness and health tests have gotten better and better. My blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. are all very good for someone of my age, regardless of my weight. I’m much healthier now (and happier, and more successful at dieting) than I was just a few years ago when the best I could muster on my diets was occasional walks, even though I’m gasp eating more calories, and horrors more fat in my diet. I was earnestly trying my best, but following a bad plan with your best efforts doesn’t work.
Dieting can only go so far on a sedentary lifestyle for many, many people. Telling people that exercising is a waste of time is terribly irresponsible advice (and I got it from many doctors, even, over the years). You don’t need to go to a gym, you don’t need to have a regimen – an active job can be enough, if you’ve got one – but physical activity is key. I’m sure there are exceptions of people who can stay healthy despite 50 years of barely moving and just simply eating like a bird, but in general we’re wired to eat, and we’re wired to move.
Setting aside my personal stance that everyone is responsible for their own actions and the consequences thereof.
The first thing I will do is mandate a useful replacement for the BMI index. That thing is a total piece of crap designed on a one size fits nobody plan.
Slightly more complicated will be some sort of nutrition index for foods beyond calories, carbs, & whatever other magic numbers that are the latest fad to track.
Then it all goes back to the pocketbook. You can still eat as much as you want, but the healthy combo meal will be $2.99 while the McJumbo will be $19.99. These rates will be based on the nutrition index.
Combo meals only come in one reasonable size. You don’t get to upsize for 25 cents. You want more food? Open that pocketbook and order a la carte.
The BMI replacement comes into play at tax time. The fit end of the scale gets a modest tax break. Average healthy range pays base rate, and overweight picks up multipliers. The worse the numbers, the more it’s going to cost you. The EIC amounts will be adjusted according to the index number of the child(ren) claimed.
You want to be overweight? Fine. You’ll just subsidize your own weight related health care issues.
Getting rid of HFCS is good, but you can’t just shut it off without collapsing the economy. There are far too many interconnected systems. It would have to be phased out over the course of most of a decade. Doable, but not simple.
I agree with this (and fluiddruid). The reason we’re talking about people losing weight is for them to be healthier, and being active and getting outside and getting fresh air and sunshine and moving your body is all part of being healthier.
I also have heard that exercise helps control appetite.
Man, I wish it was that simple. One of the reasons we eat out on weekends is that I do all the cooking in our household, and I just want someone to make something, ANYTHING, for me instead of me cooking it. I’d happily order healthy foods in restaurants if it was that simple.
I agree with even sven about the exercise thing. I personally despise gyms…the last time I ever set foot in one was way back in college. But I’m thin as a rail because I’m moderately active. People look at me funny when I tell them I walk 7 miles a day* (to and from work), but then they ask me how I keep so damn skinny. Well…I’m not counting WW points, obviously.
But people say they don’t have time for that kind of “work-out”. Yes, it does take two hours out of my day for my routine…and that is excessive for most people. But what about an hour? Instead of sleeping till six-thirty, get up an hour early and walk around the block for an hour. Take Sparky with you. Or break it up throughout the day. It is not simple to be disciplined enough to do this everyday…at first. And you may not see rapid results. But then it becomes an engrained habit and you do start seeing differences.
The longest lived people aren’t the marathon runners or the gym bunnies, but the people who always keep active at a low-level of intensity throughout the day.
*I’ve actually have had to cut back, due to doctor’s orders. But I hope to start back once I get myself up to a healthy BMI again.
Most places I’ve eaten at will do this too- but the thing is, you’re paying for food that’s either going straight in the bin (and is thus hugely wasteful) or that you’re not receiving (meaning that you’re being overcharged).
Some places- notably Subway- have meal deals that are basically the sandwich (or other “main item”) and a drink (which included bottled water at most places I’ve seen) for a reasonable price that is actually less than buying the two items separately. I just wish more places would follow their lead, basically.
A lot of things were different in schools 30 years ago (when I was in them), not the least being that we weren’t captive on the school grounds, everyone who wasn’t bussed walked to and from school, and there wasn’t any food or drinks available on the school grounds - you ate what you brought from home, or you walked home for lunch. In my high school of about 300 kids, there was a handful of fat kids.
I graduated high school in 1966. There were vending machines with candy, pre-made sandwiches & soda, along with the cafeteria food.
In elementary school, you ate the school lunch or brought your own. My grandma ran the cafeteria, so mine was free. Ah, the fresh baked bread with surplus butter! But there were moderate portions. I’ve never been skinny, but the fattest girl in school back then wasn’t all that big by today’s standards.
And I’d like to chime in with support for gym time as part of a healthy regimen. I’ve noticed a definite improvement after several months of 3 sessions a week–half an hour on an aerobic thingie & a circuit of the weight machines. But I keep an eye on my intake. And walk a bunch. (But the walking is not new.)
