Can Exercise Make You Gain Weight?
One of the most widely-believed concepts in our culture is that if you exercise you will lose weight. But when it comes to weight loss, is this actually a myth? Can exercise actually be keeping you from losing weight?
Registered dietician Keri Glassman appeared on "The Early Show" Thursday to explain the relationship between exercise and weight loss.
Exercise is important, Glassman said, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons:
1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.
2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.
3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.
To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle, Glassman noted these comparisons:
Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned=1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts
Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned=Grande Starbucks caf? late with whole milk
Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned=1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style
Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned=5 pieces of hard candy
So is exercise not worth it?
Glassman said exercise is worth it, if you use it to your advantage. "Good nutrition," she told CBS News, "is primary. Combine that with good exercise habits and you have a powerful combination."
She added exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it. Also, staying active in your daily life, she said, is important.
And since, exercise may trigger hunger, Glassman said, you need to focus on not only the calories you are consuming, but making sure the calories you do consume are going to fill you up. Foods high in fiber, protein and healthy fat, she said, are low enough in calories that you won't be sabotaging your workouts.
Glassman said you can beef up your workouts by doing weight-bearing exercises, too.
"This will help increase muscle mass," she said. "...In conjunction with the calories burned during exercise and being diligent about your diet, you can make a dent in your waistline."
And, Glassman said, don't forget all the other benefits of exercise, such as reducing your risk for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Glassman recommended these meals to help keep your eating habits in check:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Large glass of water
Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with avocado, tomato, mustard
Large side salad (romaine, broccoli, carrots, onions) with 1 Tbsp. vinaigrette
Large glass of water
Dinner:
Baked Sweet potato
6 oz. Roasted chicken or halibut
Sauteed spinach with 2 tsp. olive oil
Side salad with 1/3 cup chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and 1 Tbsp. lemon vinaigrette dressing
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Registered dietician Keri Glassman appeared on "The Early Show" Thursday to explain the relationship between exercise and weight loss.
Exercise is important, Glassman said, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons:
1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.
2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.
3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.
To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle, Glassman noted these comparisons:
Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned=1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts
Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned=Grande Starbucks caf? late with whole milk
Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned=1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style
Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned=5 pieces of hard candy
So is exercise not worth it?
Glassman said exercise is worth it, if you use it to your advantage. "Good nutrition," she told CBS News, "is primary. Combine that with good exercise habits and you have a powerful combination."
She added exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it. Also, staying active in your daily life, she said, is important.
And since, exercise may trigger hunger, Glassman said, you need to focus on not only the calories you are consuming, but making sure the calories you do consume are going to fill you up. Foods high in fiber, protein and healthy fat, she said, are low enough in calories that you won't be sabotaging your workouts.
Glassman said you can beef up your workouts by doing weight-bearing exercises, too.
"This will help increase muscle mass," she said. "...In conjunction with the calories burned during exercise and being diligent about your diet, you can make a dent in your waistline."
And, Glassman said, don't forget all the other benefits of exercise, such as reducing your risk for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Glassman recommended these meals to help keep your eating habits in check:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Large glass of water
Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with avocado, tomato, mustard
Large side salad (romaine, broccoli, carrots, onions) with 1 Tbsp. vinaigrette
Large glass of water
Dinner:
Baked Sweet potato
6 oz. Roasted chicken or halibut
Sauteed spinach with 2 tsp. olive oil
Side salad with 1/3 cup chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and 1 Tbsp. lemon vinaigrette dressing
- How to stop junk mail - forever
- Dad Punishes Daughter with Free Babysitter Ad Play Video
- Best Low-Tech Cell Phones Suitable for Seniors
- Legit Work-from-Home Websites - and the Scams
- Five-Year-Old Arrested Play Video
- Best Wheeled-Luggage for Your Budget
- PickleBall Play Video
- Lidia Bastianich's Spaghetti And Meatballs
Also, Ms. Glassman, if you work out at an intense level you HAVE to eat more. Otherwise your body will freak out and go into starvation mode, and ACTUALLY gain fat... or you'll pass out and be weak all the time. Let's not be stupid. And, CBS? You spelled dietitian wrong.
People like this are the reason america is fat. "DON'T WORK OUT JUST EAT LESS!" Noone understand what FITNESS truly means. Fitness has many components: Isometric strength, eccentric strength, concentric strength, flexibility, muscular stamina, endurance, flexibility, agility, anaerobic power (speed) and NUTRITION. In order to be truly FIT you have to incorporate ALL of these. You can't skip one because it's not fun or not easy. Get over it, and make yourself a better human being. Alright, my rant is over -- time to hit the gym
Let's examine her curious contentions...
Glassman says;
"Exercise is important, Glassman said, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons:
1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more.
Nice blanket statement - this is mostly false. Review the literature and the vast majority of studies show that exercise DOES NOT increase appetite and in certain cases can blunt it. Even when people eat a little more in response to exercise, it does not match or exceed that of the session itself. It's common sense - going to starbucks for a 400 calorie drink and brownie after 20 minutes on the treadmill isn't going to get you anywhere. If you don't know this than you will stay fat.
2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym.
This may be true for some people - these people stay fat. Again, common sense.
3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned.
Glassman loves blanket statements. Could we plase define "exercise" Will walking at 2.2mph on the treamill 3 times per week burn many calories? No. You have to look at the type (strength vs. cardio) intensity, duration, frequency, body weight levels, NEAT, EPOC - there are numerous factors to take into consideration when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of exercise and movement. Can you outtrain a crappy diet? No.
This comes down to being consciously aware of your intake and activity levels. If you don't change your diet, you won't be very successful, but to suggest or infer that exercise is keeping you fat is misinformed and TERRIBLE advice.
I wrote a 3 part series on the suject. I'll post them later.
Her article concerns me because there is very little calcium or vitamin D in the example - she should have included some dairy or added a calcium/vitamin D supplement to that. In fact, I would probably feel very deprived if thats all I ate and I don't think I could possibly ingest sufficient nutrients to fuel my active lifestyle and physical demands. Refer to WWW.MYPYRAMID.GOV for more info on standard serving sizes and healthy food options.
I do eat whole foods only (meat, eggs, fish, berries and nuts)and eschew anything processed including the so called 'lite' or low-fat stuff that's loaded with sugars or starch. Just read the ingredient labels-- it can be an eye opener. Whole foods don't need an ingredient list a mile long.
It is true that no amount of exercise will make you lose weight. You have to control your caloric intake to keep it below the calorie expenditure. That's not higher math or even long division.
http://www.bodybuildingmantra.com/