Exercise won't make you thin.

I can recall sitting in an undergrad nutrition class (who I believe was taught by the yummiest of professors) and having it explained how much more effective controlling diet for weight loss was than increasing exercise alone. Because really, weight loss is just simple math. To lose one pound, you need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories which can be done through the diet, exercise, or ideally, a combination of the two. With exercise alone, an average-sized adult owes the gym 35 hours of moderate-to-intense exercise, or approximately 35 miles of walking/running. Now that's not exact science, but it gets the point across: exercise alone will probably lead to osteoarthritis before it gets you to your weight loss goal (half jokingly). Needless to say, that yummy professor solidified my thoughts on proper nutrition -- it's important stuff, especially in regards to weight loss.

So TIME put out this article on August 9th explaining why exercise won't make you thin. In addition to the information above, the article explains that some believe exercise to increase their appetite, causing them to eat more and negate the work of their exercise. Some exercisers just make poor decisions because they exercise, likely overestimating the calories they expend during exercise [1].

The article states that there are more than 45 million Americans who belong to a gym, up from 23 million in 1993. Of course, that doesn't mean that people actually GO to the gym (unfortunately a membership alone does not qualify you as physically active). A study performed by the Minnesota Heart Survey found that more people say they exercise than the number who actually do. The 20-year survey found that the number of individuals saying they exercise rose from 47% in 1980 to 57% in 2000 [1].

Until recently, exercise was deemed an integral part of weight loss, when in fact, its role is largely over-stated. Exercise does, however, play an essential role in fighting chronic disease and in particular, heart disease...as well as cancer and diabetes [1]. So it's not to say exercise isn't hugely important...just maybe not so for weight-loss endeavors.

A recent study lead by Dr. Timothy Church randomized 464 overweight, sedentary women into 4 groups. The groups were asked to workout with a trainer for 72 minutes, 136 minutes, and 194 minutes per week for six months, with the last group being a control group. The women were asked to change nothing diet-related and to fill out monthly medical-symptom questionnaires. The results? On average, all the women lost weight. The three groups meeting with the trainer for varying lengths of time did not lose significantly more weight than the control group, however. Some women in each of the four groups actually gained weight -- some more than 10 lbs! What happened? Some of the exercising women ate more because the worked out. Some "rewarded" hard work at the gym with an extra treat. Some moved less when they got home because they worked out [1].

Current 2007 recommendations for exercise put out by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association include 60 to 90 minutes most days of the week for weight loss. That's quite a lot for the average Joe [1].

A quote from the article:
"According to calculations published in the journal Obesity Research by a Columbia University team in 2001, a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns. Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that."

So today during my TWO hockey games (makes me tired just thinking about it!), I will opt for water in place of my G2 (Gatorade's low-sugar option). While even I was thinking, "It's just 100 calories...I'm burning WAY more than that"...I am reminded of otherwise. Thanks, TIME.

[1]. Cloud, John. Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin. TIME. August 9, 2009.

Go on a date!

Date to lose weight? Yep! But don’t get married, nope. I blogged about marriage and weight gain in the past, and unfortunately for love, the two go hand-in-hand.

A study performed by psychologist Meredith Young, PhD found that women who eat a meal with a man...eat less. Women eating in large groups, however, tend to eat more and also consume foods which are more calorically dense [1]. Anyone see the Sex and the City episode where Carrie calls Miranda to meet at “their spot,” a local grease pit. Here Miranda and Carrie gossip over extra large pizza slices into the wee hours of the night. Always an exception to the study results!

Men, however, are a hold different beast. They, unlike women, do not vary their intake based on their company. Young’s research found that neither companions nor the gender makeup of the group had any impact on what men consumed. The results were all published online in the journal Appetite [1].

During the study, it was found that the average caloric intake for a meal was 716 calories for men and 609 calories for women. When women ate with men, they consumed 552 calories, but when eating with other women, the women consumed 665 calories – more than they would’ve consumed eating on their own. When a woman eats in a mixed group, she also eats less than when eating with only other women. Young explains, “As soon as there is a man in the mix, the amount of calories a woman eats decreases” [1].

How many women is too many? When three women dine together, they intake an average of 650 calories. When a fourth woman is added – the damage goes up to 800 calories a piece. Wowza!

The logic? Sarah-Jeanne Salvy, PhD and assistant professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo explains that people often manipulate the amount of food they eat to “convey a positive impression.” She goes on to say that “eating like someone else would be integrating yourself” while women eating in front of men commonly consume less in order to appear more feminine and in control [1].

Similarly, Salvy found that overweight children who eat in the presence of their overweight friends eat more than those who eat with someone they don’t know. Does it have to be an overweight friend that’s making us eat more? Nope. Salvy found that whether it be a friend or a complete stranger, the fact that their company was overweight was enough drive for the individual to consume more [1]. Subconsciously, of course.

Just something to be aware of…but you may want to eat in a closet just in case!

[1]. Doheny, Kathleen. Ladies’ Night Out A Diet Wrecker. WebMD Health News. August 5, 2009.

Precious Z's

According to my recent poll, sixty-six percent of you reading my blog (and responding to the poll...) wanted to lose between 15 and 30 pounds. Well, listen up!

I returned from my honeymoon last night. Husband and I spent 7 days in beautiful Puerto Vallarta at the Dreams all-inclusive resort and spa. Red flag: all-inclusive. Or, as I consider it: (nearly) guaranteed diet failure.

The mini bar...stocked with juice, beer, and sodas. Included. The restaurants on the resort...ohhh the restaurants. Five in total serving from 8 am to 11 pm. Included. Before or after that...you, my friend, were ordering room service. At any hour of the day you can order room service (full menu). Included. If this wasn't enough, the "preferred club" tower of rooms offered varying arrays of food and beverages throughout the day...in case picking up the phone and/or walking to a restaurant was a bit too much to bear. Included. Did I mention the beach and pool service? Forgive me. Included. There was that, too. About every 15 minutes, like clockwork, a resort staff member would approach you offering you a beverage of your choice: pina coladas, mojitos, daquiris, beer, dirty monkey, soda...you get the point. The calories flowed without cessation 24/7.

While I dug deep for dietitian self-control, I often found it difficult myself (especailly since we all know that when in Mexico, don't drink the water*!). When we arrived back home, I somewhat feared stepping on the scale. Though I didn't look or feel any bigger, I imagined that a diet so far fetched from my norm had to have caught up with me. To my pleasant surprise, the scale barely budged!

I got to thinking how this could be. While I wasn't inhaling the buffets or drinking the bar dry, I thought a few fellers would've surely stuck around to torture me. It wasn't until we picked up our new puppy that I thought maybe there was something in Puerto Vallarta working in my favor to ward off vacation weight......sleep!

While I embrace meeting the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep each night, husband and I surely exceeded this each night while on our honeymoon. Our room was just ten stories above the "adult only" pool on the resort, which was constantly occupied by a myriad of crunked adults. I actually heard one couple (from Canada, if that matters) state their disappointment in the swim-up bar not being in the adult-only pool. Let's just say I can count my lucky stars that it was not, as I'm sure our twelve-hour sack sessions (give or take) would've been interrupted with even more drunken debauhery.

Similarly, Lily, our bulldog, sleeps constantly. And when you're sleeping, typically you aren't eating. When she's not sleeping, however, she has the appetite of a cow in green pastures and can consume an obscene amount of food for such a lil peanut. If she weren't a bulldog, I'd think something was truly wrong with her. I swear, she defies puppyhood in my book. We got on our webcam tonight to show Mark's parents their new grandchild, and she wouldn't even open her eyes. She was curled up in her princess bed sighing at the disturbance. We're such a bother, didn't you know?

Lesson learned: sleeping does the diet good. And surely the same goes for the ill-mannered bulldogs out there.

* Take my advice (along with the millions of other unlucky and/or wise guys) and don't drink the water in Mexico. Swine may not hold a candle to what Mark and I experienced one evening while honeymooning.