Dan Cantor Fitness
At-Home Trainers TM
Serving South Jersey & Philly Area
At-Home Trainers TM
Serving South Jersey & Philly Area
Dan's original articles about working out, proper diet, and wellness
Diet vs. exercise – Which is better for long-term wellness?
September 2009
September 2009
In my practice I’m often confronted with the issue that although a greater percentage of clients do in fact reach their weight loss goals, certain clients are not able to obtain any real reduction in their base weight. It’s my experience that only those people who really do make significant changes to their daily eating habits actually achieve significant weight loss. One of the big problems for people with long-term obesity is that losing weight is not just mind over matter. Recent research has shown that there is a neural network in your digestive system. One of the functions of this neural network is to maintain the status quo of your body, also known as your “set point” weight. Your mind is sent signals from your body to feed yourself the same quantities and types of foods you have habitually consumed. This means that you are not just fighting habits and preference, but against a physiological drive with an interest is maintaining the status quo.
That being said, even though a client may not lose weight during the course of his or her fitness program, there are significant benefits from regular exercise that includes resistance training as a major component, that mitigate many of the detrimental effects of an overweight condition. These include a reduced occurrence of chronic lifestyle diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, as well as increased cardiovascular health, improved mood and stress reduction, improved sleep, and increased levels of testosterone and estrogen (which alone provide many significant benefits for older men and women). Other important benefits include increased functional ability and elimination of chronic muscular weaknesses that lead to soreness, and also the elimination of unhealthy fat, especially visceral fat, or the fat that accumulates around your organs and in your blood vessels, which is a major cause of heart attack and strokes.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November 2008 on the health effects of abdominal fat showed that waist circumference was a leading predictor in the death rates for men and women. A large waistline of over 40” for men and 34” for women, combined with less than average muscle mass, provides a 78% greater risk of premature death (that is, prior to achieving average life expectancy). This percentage was dramatically reduced with an increase in a subjects muscle mass. It should be noted that the former condition would include the above-mentioned visceral organ fat accumulation.
In regard to body weight and type, slightly overweight people with regular exercise habits and an adequate lean muscle mass are shown to be healthier than underweight people who by definition exhibit a paucity of lean muscle mass and essential body fat. This is especially important to understand in our culture where the ultra-skinny model is held as the ideal body shape. Based on my research and personal observations, given adequate exercise, people are better off overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the 25-28 range than ultra-thin with a BMI under 20 (BMI is a Weight:Height ratio). Your body must have adequate stores of energy and nutrients to deal with both emotional stress as well as variations in external physical conditions such as heat, cold, exertion, and lack of water or sleep. Healthy stores of energy and nutrients in your body fat and interstitial fluids will allow you to more easily overcome short-term deprivations and harsh conditions that will wear out a body without access to these important resources.
It has become a well-known fact that diet in the absence of exercise will not only reduce your total body fat, but will also “consume” lean muscle mass. Additionally, people who do not exercise are much more likely to re-gain the weight lost through dieting. The net result being that when individuals are back to their original weight they are actually “fatter” than prior to dieting. The bottom line here is that if you are overweight, you should not diet at all. Dieters achieve their goal and then return to the habits that made them overweight to begin with. The only approach that really works is a permanent change to your eating habits combined with participation in a regular exercise program. This means that there is no end point, no “goal.” If you eat a well-balanced diet with appropriately sized meals along with caloric intake that’s well distributed throughout the day, and combine that with regular energetic activities, your body size will adjust accordingly.
In closing, my position is that a well-designed exercise regimen is more important to your overall health than being thin, provided you are not well into the obese range, with a BMI over 30. Ideally, participation in regular exercise combined with a BMI of 20-25 will provide the best opportunity for the enjoyment of maximal health and wellness. Another problem is that people do not know what constitutes a well-designed exercise regimen. As a certified fitness expert my role is to teach people what is appropriate and most effective for their age, needs, and physical circumstances. An expert Personal Trainer will teach you how to exercise, provide you with a weekly workout routine, and proven science-based nutritional advice that, when followed, will get you to your optimal body weight and best physical condition in years.
