Hey, Tubby! Knock off all that exersice! Really! (No, not really!)

I have to thank My Pal Janet (her new official title!) for today’s blog fodder. She’s good for that!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28524942/

Diet, not exercise, plays key role in weight loss
Study: Better nutrition trumps physical activity in avoiding obesity

By LiveScience Staff
updated 1:46 p.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 6, 2009

Physical activity has many proven benefits.

It strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. Exercise is also good for your brain.

It may not be a cure-all for obesity, however.

Though better nutrition coupled with exercise has long been the favored prescription for losing weight and avoiding obesity, a new study suggests diet actually plays the key role.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.

Researchers had expected to find that the slimmer Nigerian women would be more physically active. To their surprise, they found no significant difference between the two groups in the amount of calories burned during physical activity.

"Decreased physical activity may not be the primary driver of the obesity epidemic," said Loyola nutritionist Amy Luke, a member of the study team.

U.S. government guidelines state that each week, adults need at least 2 ½ hours of moderate aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging). Adults also should do muscle-strengthening activities, such as weight-lifting or sit-ups, at least twice a week.

The benefits to overall health are clear. Exercise has even been shown to improve kids' academic performance.

Burn more, eat more
People burn more calories when they exercise. Thing is, they compensate by eating more, said Richard Cooper, co-author of the study and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology.

"We would love to say that physical activity has a positive effect on weight control, but that does not appear to be the case," Cooper said.

Diet is a more likely explanation than physical activity expenditure for why Chicago women weigh more than Nigerian women, Luke said. She noted the Nigerian diet is high in fiber and carbohydrates and low in fat and animal protein. By contrast, the Chicago diet is 40 percent to 45 percent fat and high in processed foods.

More research seems to be needed, however, as the new finding conflicts with other studies. A study in the September issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine found that Old Order Amish people who had a gene related to obesity stayed thin nonetheless because they exercised a lot.

Yet results of the new study are similar to those of a 2007 study of men and women in Jamaica. Researchers from Loyola and other centers found there was no association between weight gain and calories burned during physical activity.

"Evidence is beginning to accumulate that dietary intake may be more important than energy expenditure level," Luke said. "Weight loss is not likely to happen without dietary restraint."

The results, announced in a statement from the university today, were published in the September 2008 issue of the journal Obesity.

Other centers involved in the study include University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Howard University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Wisconsin.

(This article is reprinted without permission for commentary purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. All right reserved)

Well, yeah...

The key to remember about all of this, before you decide to quit going to the gym, is this: Diet is key for avoiding obesity. That is correct, avoiding obesity. As in, making sure you don’t become obese. Sure, that's direct from the Bureau of Common Effing Sense, you would think. If you are athletic you can eat like a savage until you get out of college or slow down and get a desk job. Conversely, if you were like me and not athletic at all unless it involved a swimming pool in the summer or running (driving) to the record store, but ate like I was training to get the Gold in "Men's Freestyle Buffet" in the Olympics, it means a lot more work further down the road.

If you are already a giant fat ass*, you need to get the weight off. Let’s face it, you didn’t get to the point you’re at now eating apples and celery. OK, maybe if they were baked into a pie and stuffing respectively, sure. Anyway, the weight loss process, like a tortoise on Viagra, is hard and slow. Exercise will speed it up, regardless (to a point!) of what you are eating.

Let’s look at a few things I take umbrage with in this article, shall we?

<<<"Evidence is beginning to accumulate that dietary intake may be more important than energy expenditure level," Luke said. "Weight loss is not likely to happen without dietary restraint." >>>

Really? So if I go to Krispy Kreme and spackle my cake-hole shut with delicious, hot donuts and exercise moderately, I won’t lose weight? Of course not, you ignoramus!

To lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in. Plain and simple, and this article doesn’t really deny that. Let’s get some perspective, kids. You’re not going to burn off the average American diet by leading a sedentary lifestyle. The Flash, maybe, could do it, maybe in one of those issues where he races Superman around the world or something**, but you sitting at home in your tighty-whiteys playing Sonic the Hedgehog will not.

<<diet actually plays the key role. >>>

Wow, really? Again, these folks seem to be shooting for the Nobel Prize in the “No Duh!” Science division.

So what I’m saying, basically, “keep on keepin’ on!”

Endnote:
I was going to talk about the new season of The Biggest Loser that started last night, but I’ll do that in my next installment. We’ve already had some surprises and the biggest team ever to be on the show. I am truly scared for some of these people.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.





* and I say this describing myself, thank you.
** And how come Superman and the Flash had to always tie for first? OK, yeah, Superman is "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet" and all, but so is The Flash. In fact, the Flash is "The Fastest Man Alive!" I mean, that seems pretty straightforward to me. Unless it's because "The Fastest Man Alive Other Than that Smug Berk Superman, Of Course" would look admittedly shitty on the cover of your comic book.