The truth about exercise

Nobody working up a sweat in the gym or doing a HealtheHelen around Disneyland or London Zoo wants to read that exercise is of little use when we want to lose weight. And I have written on this blog before that I get quite annoyed when friends use this as an excuse remain inactive. But, with John Briffa recently blogging on the subject, and Jacques Peretti devoting one of his documentaries to it, I am planning to research and write a feature on the matter soon – and, when I do, I will share my experts’ comments here.

Meantime, here are a few of my personal thoughts about exercise and weight loss…

1.   It is true that the Aquarobics class I attend is not full of sylphs.

2.   It is equally true that the Aquarobics teacher is totally sylph-like – but she does a hell of a lot of exercise, teaching a packed week of classes in which she is constantly on the go.

3.   It is surely also true that the ladies in my Aqua class would be even less sylph-like if they were doing no exercise at all…

4.   Both John Briffa and Jacques Peretti point out that two reasons exercise makes little difference is that a) calorie consumption is low unless you work extremely hard, and b) exercisers tend to feel as if they deserve a reward (in the form of food) – and many gyms foolishly offer muffins, burgers and fizzy drinks: exactly the foods that pile on the pounds, and will usually pile on more weight than your exercise class just took off.

5.   Heavy duty exercisers DO lose weight and nobody can dispute that – have you ever seen an overweight runner complete a marathon in sub 3 hours 30?

6.   Let’s not forget that exercise builds muscle, and muscle is metabolically active hence the more of it you have on your body, the more calories your body will burn. Muscle also weighs more than fat – so you may not see the difference on the scales, but you should see it in your waistband.

7.   Exercise releases feel good chemicals called endorphins and when we feel good we are more likely to want to look after our body – ie not stuff it with muffins, burgers and fizzy drinks (unless we are totally desperate and already addicted to that food). Rewards do not have to be edible – I treat myself to five minutes in the steam room (heaven) after my 20 lengths of the pool.

8.   Exercise does not always increase appetite – get it right and you will feel less hungry as a result.

9.   Exercise will never shift pounds if you consume more calories than you burn.

10.                 I find that exercising on a Monday or Thursday – when my mind is focused on the fast – means there is no risk I will raid the fridge when I get back home.