In Why We Get Fat, Gary Tabues spends a lot of time debunking the theory that to lose weight we need to exercise more.
He details many studies conducted on unsuspecting laboratory rats, which I’ll spare you. The study that resonated most with me was conducted by Danish researchers where they took a group of sedentary, overweight people and over 18 months trained them to run a marathon. The findings were very telling. Of the men, there was an average weight loss of something like a few pounds but the women in the study averaged no change to their weight. Imagine running 42km and not losing anything.
This is consistent with my own experience. In 2005, I decided to run the Sydney marathon. At the height of my training I was running over 90km a week. Which is a lot of running, trust me. And while I certainly felt a lot fitter and had more energy, my appetite was enormous. Even though I tried to eat a normal amount of food, I couldn’t help myself. So my weight stayed about the same.
Since reading Why We Get Fat back in January, I’ve experimented with decreasing my running. And I’m happy to report that with eating mostly Slow Carb I’ve found a great balance and am pretty happy with my weight. I run because it’s fun and it clears my head. I love it.
So even though you don’t need exercise to Reclaim Your Waistline, there are many other benefits to getting off the couch…
1. improves your mood
Exercise promotes positive brain chemistry which means you’ll feel better.
2. decreasing depression
My Dad has suffered from depression most of his life. These days thankfully, he has it under control. And while the medication helps, he says when he is walking every day he feels so much better than if he isn’t.
3. combat chronic disease
Exercise helps improve your blood pressure and cholesterol levels which decreases your chances of suffering from things like heart disease, type II diabetes and certain cancers.
4. energy levels
It’s funny but so true. The more energy you use, the more it feels like you have.
5. better sleep
Exercise not only helps you get to sleep more quickly, it also improves the quality of your sleep.
6. improves your sex life
Both men and women experience more enhanced arousal when they are more physically fit.
7. stimulates appetite
My Irishman always says that ‘hunger is a tasty sauce’ and he’s absolutely right. I find things always taste better when I’m hungry and there’s nothing like physical activity to stimulate your appetite, well apart from point 5. 😉
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