Fit vs. fat
This debate has been going on a bit more in recent years, and a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association lends further credence to it. According to University of South Carolina researchers, ‘tis better to be fit and fat that skinny and sluggish.
Over the course of 12 years, researchers studied more than 2600 American adults over the age of 60 and found that regardless of their weight, those who engaged in regular cardio lived longer than those who were sedentary. Even obese individuals reaped rewards from regular, moderate exercise in the form of reduced risk of heart attack, stroke and other illnesses.
This is essentially the first study to show that cardiovascular fitness helps men and women over 60 increase their lifespan, regardless of body fat.
"Fitness and fatness are two different things," Dr. Steven N. Blair, a professor at the University of North Texas and lead author of the paper, said in a Baltimore Sun story. "You can be fat and be fit - and if you exercise, you are going to get some protection."
These results shouldn't be interpreted by peeps as an excuse to hunker down on the couch with a case on bonbons. As we all know, extreme overweight/obesity is a risk factor for all sorts of diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, joint problems, and more. But it is encouraging for those who want to become healthier/shed weight but feel intimidated by governmental guidelines for exercising. Taking a walk at lunch, dancing with friends, choosing stairs over the elevator, walking messages to a coworker instead of emailing - all of these things add up in a good way.
If you’ll recall, we discussed a similar angle of this topic a few months ago, when I introduced you to Sarah Watson of ‘Fat Girl on a Bike.” Sarah is the self-described “typical high-energy fat chick who doesn't listen to people who tell her what she can't accomplish.” At 27, she competes in triathalons at a weight much higher than what one would typical peg a triathalete at. I know some readers made comments regarding her weight seeming inexplicable when considering her activity level. This new research backs up Sarah - and other athletes like her - bigtime.
There's also the issue of "skinny fat" people (God, I hate labels, but so be it). These are people that appear rail thin - some supermodels come to mind - but actually have no muscle mass and get winded walking up two stairs. Often you'll hear these women saying “Really, I eat everything and never work out - I just can't put on weight." The problem is that in addition to enjoying fried food everyday, they're going to suffer from lower bone density and lean muscle loss.
My hunch is that many, many women, if given a choice, would jump at the chance to be a skinny person who doesn't have to workout, but from a health standpoint, it's better to have some meat on your bones and go hiking. Thoughts?
BTW I was watching (don’t Judge) The Bad Girls’ Club, Part 2 on Oxygen the other night and sqeualed with delight when Tanisha proclaimed herself “Phat, PHAT - Pretty Hot and (expletive) Temptin.” To see the drama go down, watch this. Warning: Bad language, bad TV.
Comments
No one ever believes me when I say this, but I don't lose weight from working out, never have, never will. Hell, I don't even gain muscle. Go figure, eh?
And for what it's worth, I've got more stamina in my 'morbidly obese' body than anyone else I know.
I've been following Intuitive Eating for the past few months, and one of the suggestions they make is to exercise for health, not weight loss. At first I was like, "What? Are you trippin?!" Then I thought about it (for a loooong time) and it made sense. During my E.D. days I would work out compulsively, sometimes for hours a day, in my effort to lose weight. Now I've discovered the kinds of exercise that I really like to do, and I do it because it makes me feel good.
Just this morning my husband and I were talking about weight. He's smaller and shorter than I am, and today I realized that when I was in grad school, I weighed what he weighs now. And for the first time, I didn't feel wistful, I actually felt scared and sad about what I had done to myself back then.
Orodemniades, you are living proof that the old adage is true: you can't judge a book by its cover.
I'm glad they did this study on older folks - it seems like after people pass 60, researchers figure "meh, they're as good as dead anyways." With people living to an average of 78+ (for US women, this is very timely research. Plus this goes right in hand with the recent research about people with an "overweight" BMI actually having better health outcomes and living longer than people with a "normal" BMI.
Alyssa - I love intuitive eating!!! I haven't been able to make it work for me 100% but I loved the book and I really WANT it to work:)
Orodemniades - I totally believe you. My strongest friend (who is a powerlifter) is well over the "normal" mark on the stupid BMI chart. I don't know why people use it - it is not a good measure of health.
For me personally, I have found that when I am exercising regularly I consume an average of 250-500 extra calories a day, so my weight tends to stay the same. I think if most people looked at their diet, they would find they eat more when they work out, which accounts for weight staying the same or even extra weight creeping up.
Notice I said "for me" and "most people"! If this isn't the case for other people, so be it. I'm saying, in general, this is what I find to be true.
I tried to word this response very carefully, because in the past this has been a touchy subject. :)
Nikki,
I think I actually read a recent study backing you on this point - the people who exercise a lot tend to compensate for the burned calories by eating more. It makes sense - your body is craving fuel. Gotta feed it!
Chariander, I'm so glad to find a fellow IE-er! DO you know about the message boards? They're on yahoo groups. It takes a while. I'm still working on it myself. Good luck!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
yep, unless you are combining excercising with lower calorie you will not lose weight your body adjusts itself to the additional exercise. if you are trying to lose weight dont forget to cut back your calories also. if not then just enjoy the working out. case in point I just ran my first marathon and never lost one pound during the whole approx year of training. my body needed so much extra food it compensated for all the extra exercise. its two fold: imagine running 45-50 miles per week and not losing weight but then again I had all that time of not worrying if I wanted something extra to eat. i could, it was getting worked off the next day without fail.
Leslie (and anyone else interested): here's the study you were looking for http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/index4.html
It's a VERY interesting read but the basic point is that exercise makes you hungrier so if your only motivation to exercise is to lose weight than you ought to rethink that (find other reasons to exercise - not stop exercising).
Thanks for the link to the article, Charlotte. I agree that people should think of other reasons to exercise other than weight loss. Now that it's winter, it's harder for me to work out (I usually bike or run outdoors). I noticed that I've had less energy and felt more stressed out since I stopped exercising regularly (my weight has stayed the same). Luckily I'm in California, and signs of spring will start turning up, oh, around January. :)
I noticed that when i didn't exercise while on vacation i lost weight, but i honestly do believe it was from slight muscle loss. I was always a bit of an exercise buff, but i remember some days i was so stressed in high school, i just didn't do it. I am fairly thin either way but i love to excerise. I wrote a post on my site (nutritious junk) on whether i would use an exercise pill if it were to become available and i'd say hell no. I know some people, and totally understandably so, hate to exercise, but i get off it. I also notice active people are happy people, i mean do I've never seen someone leave a spinning class all angry regretting they just exercised. I really would never do it for weight loss, its the just anti-depressant. I dont really mind if i eat more AND exerxise, obviously my body is needing the fuel. Its the vegetating in front of the tv and over-eating that i dont want to pick-up. (nikki, i live in la, and i totally agree, we have no seasons).
There's a saying: âI'm not overweight. I'm just nine inches too shortâ by Shelly Winters.
Telling people it's ok to be "fat but fit" is just giving them another excuse to do nothing.
___
How often do you feel unwell?
That's too often...
I hate to break it to you folks, but when I was working out some 10 hours a week - for a year - I was also tracking all my food on fitday. I even weighed everything I ate, so I know I wasn't 'fibbing' on the amounts I put in. Averaging out the calories, on a daily basis I ranged from 1200-1800 over the week, with occasional forays both above and below those numbers. Overall you could say I got about 1600 calories a day.
Now, if you would like to explain how I lost no weight eating like that, feel free. And good luck!
Forgot to add, thanks for validating my opinion that thin folks will always blame the fat for being fat.
This is why I tried to make my post very sensitive. Like I said, that is your story and I'm not trying to invalidate you. For me, I have food journals dating back to high school and every time I am exercising regularly, the calorie intake goes up between 250-500 calories per day. I stayed the same weight. That is just how it was FOR ME.
By the way, I take being referred to as "think folks" as a compliment. At 5'6 and 150 lbs, I think of myself as pretty average!
:)
