Mama Baker

It’s hogwash in my opinion!

I haven’t posted in a while because I have been so tired. Sleep at night is a stranger to me because my beautiful baby loves to stay awake, haha.

Anyway, I have been too tired to bake but I thought I would share an article I read the other day. The article was entitled For “Canada’s obese, exercise alone isn’t going to cut it.”

I will try and give you the thesis of the article without excluding too many points. Basically a man named Eric Ravussin claims that exercise is useless for weight loss because “vastly overestimate how many calories they burn during a workout, and overcompensate by increasing their food intake after they exercise, especially when the workout is vigorous.”

Now, I am not an expert but I do not think that exercise is useless for weight loss. It has been proven that if you keep your diet the same and simply walk most places instead of driving or taking the stairs rather than the elevator you will eventually lose weight.

I don’t know what facts and studies he has to prove the validity of his theory but I find it a problematic statement. The problem I have with this claim is that it will stop people from exercising, which is something that plays an important role in a healthy lifestyle.

Ravussin says that for weight loss people need to focus on calories-in rather than calories-out. I believe the following argument is half true in that a person should focus on both caloric in take and exercise if he or she wants to lose weight.

His argument, however, becomes lofty when he goes on to say that “If you have been a couch potato for 45 years of your life it’s very unlikely you’re going to engage in a rigorous exercise program.”

One could also say that if you have been had a diet where you’ve been over-consuming fatty, unhealthy food for 45 years of your life it’s very unlikely you’re going to engage in a healthy diet program.

What I want to stress is that exercise is important. Don’t exercise mainly to lose weight. You should exercise because it is good for your body and is one of the key factors to a healthy lifestyle.

So go out and find an activity that gets your body moving like dancing, swimming, hiking or even walking. If you find an activity that you enjoy the exercise won’t feel like a chore.

My husband likes bicycles, which is a fun way to stay in shape.