Eat Hard,Train Harder
April 9th 2007 09:45
Fitness gets tough when the truth about the body and improving it is revealed to be counterintuitive. Intuitive and common sense are not exactly synonymous,but there is a close relationship. Here is an example. If you are overweight, the intuitive and common sense approach is to reduce your eating. Eat less and your body will be forced to burn up its fat and you will get thin.The fact is that the contrary is true: if you eat less your body will drop its metabolic rate and you will have to eat less and less as time goes by to achieve weight loss.
So when a recent study seemed to indicate that the group who dieted only lost more weight than the diet and exercise group, there was a sigh of relief from everyone who hates to exercise.(That would be the majority.) Tom Venuto, whose realism I respect, has been saying over the years that the only way to really control the tendency to fatten up is to both eat more and exercise more. Wow. That is so unconventional and counterintuitive. We all know that exercise burns calories. What has escaped some folks is that not only does exercise speed metabolism,but so does metabolism.
Lets consider this a little. Most people who panic about their weight start dieting and exercising at the same time. If what I am saying is right, they are sending the body contradictory signals. The reduction of intake sends the signal to the metabolism that slowdown is necessary. The simultaneous exercise sends the signal that the body speed up its metabolism. I also say that the body will do what it does and it is tough if you don't like it. Send it opposite signals and it will eventually do one of the other-slow down or speed up. I suggest that slow down is inevitable. Why? Because dieting eats up muscle. Muscle=metabolism. Unless you really hit the exercise you will inevitably loss muscle when your weight starts to fall.
Many people would be overjoyed to lose weight even if muscle went with it. I suggest that in the long run they will regret the loss. Its common knowledge that yo-yo dieting is the most common kind.Lose weight;gain weight;Lose again;Gain again. The sit and diet crowd are really going to get hit with a backlash, but diet and sort of exercise will get hit too.
What is the answer? I think the plan should be to exercise first and keep ramping that up to the limit of conditioning and the realities of life. At the same time try cleaning the junk out of the diet. Stop eating sugar and high carb foods and replace them with meat,vegetables, and fruit...but eat and don't starve. You will get the stimulation of metabolism from both the diet and the exercise. You will also give your body a strong signal to begin to burn its fat rather than the glucose that starchy,sugary foods predispose it to burn.
Venuto is exactly right. Eat hard and train harder. Its counterintuitive to an extent and its never going to really catch on. Too much work. Your servant, as always.
So when a recent study seemed to indicate that the group who dieted only lost more weight than the diet and exercise group, there was a sigh of relief from everyone who hates to exercise.(That would be the majority.) Tom Venuto, whose realism I respect, has been saying over the years that the only way to really control the tendency to fatten up is to both eat more and exercise more. Wow. That is so unconventional and counterintuitive. We all know that exercise burns calories. What has escaped some folks is that not only does exercise speed metabolism,but so does metabolism.
Lets consider this a little. Most people who panic about their weight start dieting and exercising at the same time. If what I am saying is right, they are sending the body contradictory signals. The reduction of intake sends the signal to the metabolism that slowdown is necessary. The simultaneous exercise sends the signal that the body speed up its metabolism. I also say that the body will do what it does and it is tough if you don't like it. Send it opposite signals and it will eventually do one of the other-slow down or speed up. I suggest that slow down is inevitable. Why? Because dieting eats up muscle. Muscle=metabolism. Unless you really hit the exercise you will inevitably loss muscle when your weight starts to fall.
Many people would be overjoyed to lose weight even if muscle went with it. I suggest that in the long run they will regret the loss. Its common knowledge that yo-yo dieting is the most common kind.Lose weight;gain weight;Lose again;Gain again. The sit and diet crowd are really going to get hit with a backlash, but diet and sort of exercise will get hit too.
What is the answer? I think the plan should be to exercise first and keep ramping that up to the limit of conditioning and the realities of life. At the same time try cleaning the junk out of the diet. Stop eating sugar and high carb foods and replace them with meat,vegetables, and fruit...but eat and don't starve. You will get the stimulation of metabolism from both the diet and the exercise. You will also give your body a strong signal to begin to burn its fat rather than the glucose that starchy,sugary foods predispose it to burn.
Venuto is exactly right. Eat hard and train harder. Its counterintuitive to an extent and its never going to really catch on. Too much work. Your servant, as always.
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