Currently viewing the category: "metabolism"

Obesity Paradigm Wrong

By On · Add Comment · In behavioral approaches, epidemic, magic bullet, mental patterns, metabolism, obesity, Scientific American

Just finished reading an article that was as good an analysis on obesity as I think you’ll find today.  The latest issue of Scientific American featured a piece titled, How to Fix the Obesity Crisis, and it does a great job of explaining the multi-factorial complexity of today’s obesity epidemic.

The article discusses the numerous metabolic, genetic and molecular process that might be involved in the mechanism of developing obesity, but it focuses on the behavioral approaches to breaking mental patterns involved in overeating and poor food choices.  The history on the obesity epidemic is pretty good, too.

Where I think the article fails is that it still approaches obesity from the same mechanistic thinking that has been unable to figure out the malady to begin with.  This sentiment can be summed up by the line,

“Maybe someday biology will provide us with a pill that re-adjusts our metabolism so we burn more calories or resets our built-in cravings so we prefer broccoli to burgers.”

Continuing to hope for a magic bullet that will allow us to live a faulty life style consequence-free is foolish. That IS the problem!  I’m going to leave my full assessment for a later time, because I think the article is worth reading.  But stay tuned.

Don’t Give Up Exercising

By On · Add Comment · In calories, exercising, fat, insulin resistance, lose weight, metabolism, physical fitness, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, type 2 diabetes

A message that I try to get out in my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, is that exercising for purely aesthetic reasons is a sure to lead to frustration and disappointment for many. It’s the best way to guarantee an abandoned physical fitness program when things don’t turn out the way you’ve fantasized. I think a much better approach is to exercise for the myriad of physiological or health benefits you will surely enjoy if only you can keep up the effort.

I think what happens is that people want to lose weight and “get ripped.” Nothing wrong with either of these desires. But what happens when it doesn’t occur over night, or in a few months? Well, many people end up frustrated, and say, “This isn’t working.” They then come up with all kinds of implausible excuses why it’s not working for them: genetics, slow metabolism, or the old, “I work out all the time, but I never seem to lose weight.”

Well here’s good news this week out of the University of Michigan: Fat metabolism speeds up in just one exercise session. That’s right! Just one workout and fat burning increases. This lowers your chance of developing insulin resistance–the hallmark of type 2 diabetes–and increases your ability to burn fat in the future. How? Exercising increases the ability to store fat in the muscle tissue as triglycerides, which makes it available for quick energy; much quicker than the fat filled adipose tissue we store around our bellies, butts and hips.

So even if you find that you “never seem to lose weight” no matter how much you exercise, just know that despite what seems to be slow going, you’re doing yourself a great physiological and health service by working out regularly. If what you say about working out all the time is true, then you might need to be honest with yourself and cut the calories you’re ingesting everyday in the form of food, booze or soda. But you can be sure that your metabolism is working faster and burning fat more efficiently if you are exercising. And even if that’s the most you get out of it, you are still doing your body a world of good.

October Fitness Plan Update

By On · Add Comment · In exercise, lifestyle habit, metabolism, stretching

OK, I’m baa-aaack. Vacation and illness out of the way–it’s Hammer Time…

Back to the gym tonight for the first time in two weeks. While in New York, stretching was the limit to my regimen. I did it every day, though. When I returned home, I got sick immediately, and I pretty much just focused on work and rest.

It’s cool–no problem. I don’t stress out in these moments because I know I’ll be back, so no need to guilt trip myself. I just go into it knowing that my first session back will have to be scheduled, and then I’ll have to stick to it no matter what. No “playing it by ear” crap.

And get this: I lost a pound of weight. How do you like that? I got to rest, and I didn’t gain any weight–I actually lost weight! Chuckle. That’s what happens when you work out regularly. You can get by for a week or two without having to worry about slowing down your metabolism. However, when it gets to be three or four weeks…or a month! you better not count on maintaining your metabolism. Anyway, when you make exercise a lifestyle habit, you won’t have to trip if you miss some time because–you’ll be back–it’s what you do.

Not much more to report. Ready for the soreness.

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