Exercise and Weight Loss
By now, I’m sure you’ve seen (or heard) media reports that exercise – in and of itself – isn’t a major contributor to weight loss (click here for an example). While I’d dispute that (at least for those looking to optimize their body comps), it’s probably true that exercise alone isn’t enough for your average person who’s interested in losing his/her surplus flab.
At least from a physiological perspective…
Nonetheless, I’d like to draw attention to this thoughtful blog post from Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, on the power of exercise from a psychological perspective:
Saw a lovely patient the other day. She’d been doing great with our program, had lost 7% of her body weight, and was thrilled to pieces.
About a month ago however, she developed an injury, and as a consequence, her exercise dropped down to nothing.
Wanna know what else dropped down to nothing?
Her healthy eating behaviours.
She stopped food diarizing, snacking, including protein, and having enough calories for breakfast. As a consequence, she’s started struggling in the evening again and has gained a few pounds.
…I’ve seen this pattern hundreds of times.
A regular exercise program requires discipline and intent… which can carry over to other lifestyle behaviors, including diet/eating behavior. Thus, as Dr. Freedhoff concludes, “…exercise has a crucial and relatively unexplored scientific synergy with dietary caloric reduction.”
April 18, 2011
I have seen that happen many times. If someone gets an injury it’s like all bets are off. Everything from that point is back to “the old way” of living.
It does seem if you get out of the exercise “groove” you whole plan gets thrown off.
I went through a few injuries over the last few years, but it just made me more determined to follow the dietary part more closely.