Last week a startling report was published in the national news. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (based on current state by state surveys), by the year 2030, more than 42% of the adult population will be obese – not merely overweight – but obese. For comparison; In 1990 the obesity rate in the U.S was 12 percent, 2010 – 35%. The impact of obesity on overall health are well known; diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure rates increase dramatically as body fat increases. Not only is this a huge burden on our already stressed out health care system, but frankly a threat to our national security. As I’ve said before, no country can maintain a strong economy and military, if the majority of its people are unhealthy. It just won’t work.
Since my book Corps Strength was published in 2010 I’ve received 100’s of emails from people trying to lose weight and get in better shape. While everyone is different, when you strip a way all the hype and BS, losing weight, and maintaining a healthy bodyweight is really comes down to more movement, less chow. Now I realize that is a simple solution to a very difficult problem for many people, but I also think most people make this harder than it has to be. In my book I lay out a proven exercise system and simple healthy eating plan that has been proven to work for all types of people. That being said, I think that beyond diet and actual exercise, there is a very important aspect in helping keep your weight in check. Its what I call “Active Rest.” These are daily activities that would not be considered exercise but do burn calories. Good examples of Active Rest are walking the dog, mowing the lawn, washing the car, riding a bike, etc. The blunt fact is that too many people in this country spend way too much time shining a chair with their backside. Our go to recreation over the last few years has become watching TV, surfing the internet, etc. I read another medical story recently that “sitting has become the new smoking” when it comes to influencing overall health. Its more than just being lazy, our jobs have become much less physical also. Progress has made doing less a habit that is effecting or health. Not to mention the effect thats its having on our children, their obesity rates are also on the rise.
If you travel overseas like I frequently do, you’ll notice very few obese or overweight people. It’s not because they exercise 24/7 or have perfect diets, far from it, in fact I think they do much less formal exercise and certainly don’t pay as much attention to their diets. It’s because they’re generally just more active. Meaning more active rest, they do more walking and bike riding in their daily lives, and I’m convinced this has a huge impact on helping keep their weight in check. The bottom line is if you want to get your weight right, diet and exercise may not be enough, you need to get moving. Turn off the TV, or computer and take the dog for a walk. Especially after dinner. Try it, it works. Good luck and take care.
Semper Fi
MGunz
Tags: Corps Strength
I see that trend in our younger population and it comes from inactivity meaning, sitting in front of the computer constantly updating Facebook, Twitter, iPhone texting et al. There are also a number of factors, some of which are cultural, worth considering.
The obvious accounting problem – If you intake more than you expend your body stores the excess in fat. The not so obvious adaptive nature of our body. In its ruthless efficiency, it disposes of what it does not need. Inactivity leads to skeletal muscle atrophy and eventual loss. That has an effect on homeostasis which alters metabolism.
Lastly, and I think a biggy, is the cultural perception that good restaurants serve large helpings. Portion control! The less of our plate we see, the better the restaurant is, right? Not really. This is a mindset issue; some of the best meals that I’ve had took up, including presentation no more than 50% of the plate surface.
Eat less per meal, eat more frequently, exercise every day, hydrate and give the PC, iphone and T.V. a break; what at first is a regiment becomes habit after a while.
Not only are people in different countries more active, but they eat less total calories. I was in the USN from 1993-2002 and traveled the Mediterranean. The first things i noticed:
Their entrees are the size of our appetizers
Their fast food restaurants (at the time) didn’t offer “super-sized” options
They din’t offer “king size” candy bars
Social gahterings were based around food…they would eat a bit, sit and chat and thn eat some more…allowing the stomach’s signals to reach the brain, signalling it “was full.” Here in the US, people inhale their food, consuming greater calories.
Your premise that losing weight boils down to move more eat less is a common belief among many, but is also very incorrect. Studies continue to show that some may lose weight ‘moving more’ and eating less, but 99% gain that weight back in short order. Diets used to obtain short term weight loss are rarely sustainable for the average person.
The whole idea of it is ludicrous when you break it down. Moving burns energy which increases appetite. How do you expect people to eat less when they are increasing their appetite? The answer is you can’t.
Obesity is not a phenomenon of the United States. Despite what your eyes have told you, countries across the globe that have adopted our western diet are experiencing alarming rates of obesity as well.
Obesity is a disease of hormones, not sloth. Insulin is the one hormone in the body which can decrease blood sugar. It does so by turning it in to fat. Sugar levels in our food have increased since the government decided to wage war on fat back in the 70s. Sugar (and carbs which break down tithe same common denominator, glucose) raise blood glucose levels which spike insulin which tells the body to store fat. Sugar also blocks the body’s access to body fat as am energy source. The result is more storage of fat and less burning of fat.
It’s not really all that ludicrous, while exercising more does increase the appetite to a degree it’s because it’s also increasing your metabolism. This means that whatever calories you take in area burned faster and you retain less fat. Don’t believe that? Take a look at someone who is obese and joins the military, I guarantee you that that person will come out of boot camp looking like a totally different person. I can attest to personally, I went into Marine Corps boot camp weighing 160 and I came out after 3 months weighing 130. Going by your theory I shouldn’t have been able to lose those 30 pounds because all of the running around I did in boot camp and that’s with 3 square meals a day and some of those meals were MREs which are loaded with calories.
Riceball, what you experienced was semi starvation neurosis, which is not sustainable. If you had the choice, you would have at much more than you did.
I had some excess fat when going to boot camp. This disappeared rapidly, and never have I been in as good as physical condition as during my active military duty (infantry). And I saw the same all around me.
Later, when I had the opportunity to commute by bicycle, some 3000+ miles a year, I got pretty similar results. However, less so than during the much more physically demanding military duty.
When doing field work, or longer recreational backpacking trips, I see the same effect: Loosing fat and improving especially aerobic performance. I’m sure that if I’d have the opportunity to do this on a continuous basis, I’d see the same effect as during my active infantry duty. And no, I’m not ‘starving’. Typically I end up eating less than what I have packed along based on estimated caloric consumption.
I’m afraid I don’t have a study at hand to quote, but I recall that there is a clear tendency for sedentary people to overeat, unlike active ones. Also, during endurance exercise, body fat is being utilized. The better the physical condition, the better the body can utilize fat. And for the latter, I do have a reference, ‘Clinical sports nutrition’, an excellent book whose authors I however don’t recall.
(Btw, this recalls me of a competition orienteer friend of mine, who was diagnosed with having too little body fat. It was so close to zero that the body fat percentage could not be measured at all. It’s unhealthy not to have any fat reserves at all – you’ll burn muscles when running out of carbohydrates, go into ketosis and so forth. So, what was the doctors suggestion: Train less, eat more, eat bunnies and other sugary things. 🙂
At any rate. For people with a desk job: Sit less, move more, eat healthy. More fun, superior health and, definitively, much improved performance in combat (if that still matters).
“How do you expect people to eat less when they are increasing their appetite?”
I expect the fatties to exercise some self control and not stuff their faces. All that is a bunch of excuses for fat, lazy people to stay fat and lazy.
The metabolism premise is also incorrect.
A long term increase in metabolism through muscle gain (vs short term increase due to need for tissue repair) has no real effect on body weight outside of theory. Five pounds of muscle mass increase the body’s caloric need by 24 calories per day. That isn’t even a slice of bread….what’s more is as energy need goes up, appetite goes up, as I stated above. Anyone that has done any amount of hard physical labor can attest to that (hungry as a horse??).
Calories in calories out appears to make sense, but falls apart quickly once you look into it at depth.
The calories in calories
I have said it once and I will say it again,. The reason they have substituted Bromides for Most baking and Dough products is to Destroy the Thyroid.
It is the Body Regulator of Efficiency and probably the Immune system.
I have read all bloody flows through the Thyroid every 17 Minutes. Iodine and Iodide will kill almost everything given enough time.
Destroy that and the results are Goiter, Stupidity and FAT>
Why else do you think the FDA does not mandate it’s removal.
But the DEA labels IODINE a level one substance.
YEA RIGHT, Medicine for the Most part only manages your illness now. Cures are out Maintenance is IN.
Yo are on a good track Greg but the Iodine is the Key to much , Hormones are components of Elements and Chemicals .
Break the Process and Destroy the Organism.
Hey gang,
Thanks for the great response to my monthly fitness blog. Good points all. However I will say as a person who has spent 1000’s of hours training people form all walks of life, to include internationals, I feel that for the vast majority of people losing weight and keeping it off is not a medical issue, its a lifestyle choice, a habit and above all else a mindset. I’m am not a doctor, nor do I have college degree in nutrition. However I have been studying this issue, and working with real people on it for about 30 years. Yes most people do regain weight when they lose it, but its not because of hormones its due to the return to their old habits. The proper mindset when developing a effective and sustainable fitness and eating regime is the MOST important aspect. I speak about this constantly in my book and to people I advise on the subject. You have to fundamentally change your thinking. not easy but there are ways to do it. Some people may have some medical issues that make losing weight a real problem, but I think that number is very small, and unfortunately just an excuse for many. Again thanks for the input. Take care and good luck.
Semper Fi
MGunz
Gregory said it correctly. High blood sugar from sugar, grains, wheat, and processed food (our S.A.D. diet, Standard American Diaet) causes an insulin spike. Your body only uses so many carbs and can only store very little carbs. That remaining excess insulin stores the excess carb(sugar) as fat. It is that simple. I have my team mates switching to this way of eating. It is not a diet. It is a way of life and eating. If you haven’t heard of the PALEO or PRIMAL lifestyle of eating, you are missing out!
OBall,
I hear you but I have to disagree on the Paleo diet. I feel its unhealthy and unsustainable for long term use. I have known many people who have tried it and despite their claims of its great benefits, they never seem to be able to stick to it for very long. IMO anything that you can’t do long term, isn’t successful. Now before you send me the names of a couple of people you know, or have heard of that have been doing it for years consider this. In the Nov 2011 issue of Nat Geo there is a great story about the frozen Iceman ‘Otiz”, that was found in the Italian Alps in 1991. Through carbon dating it was discovered that this man was appox. 5300 years old. Recently his body was unthawed and given a complete medical examination, to include a CAT scan, and DNA sampling. This was what the story in NAT GEO was about. It was determined that he was a man and was approx. 40 years old. He was a true Paleo man. Never had any sugar, wheat, grain, no processed foods, only grass fed meat, native fish, seasonal fruit and vegetables, and he obviously got plenty of exercise and wasn’t overweight. However the doctors examining him found that he had ADVANCED heart disease and would have probably died of a heart attack before the age of 50! You would think that based on his pure Paleo diet he would have zero heart problems, but the opposite was true. I think that this says a lot as he is the only true Paleo man that we have to go by, check out the article it is very interesting in many respects.
MGunz
Point taken, but one case never makes the rule.
Insulin stores fat and blocks access to fat (far lysis or break down) thus preventing one from losing weight. So what do we do? We regulate insulin. How do we do that? We balance yoor blood sugar. And how is that achieved? Limit intake of sugars, avoid processed foods, avoid white, starchy foods, eat smaller meals more often and always eat a fat with a carbohydrate. This is completely achievable and effective.
Gregory: ” Studies continue to show that some may lose weight ‘moving more’ and eating less, but 99% gain that weight back in short order. Diets used to obtain short term weight loss are rarely sustainable for the average person.”
And why is this so? Because people *stop* moving more and eating less. Often sooner rather than later, and then regain. Going on diet isn’t enough, a complete revision of life style is required. That is, a permanent change for a active and healthy way of life.
I applaud SSD’s comments on ‘active rest’. For example, commuting by bicycle, rather than car, can make a huge difference almost ‘for free’ for someone with a desk job. Dedicated exercise requires dedicated time and effort. Commuting to work, most people have to do this daily anyway. Depending on the distance, traffic etc, cycle commuting can give effective exercise twice a day with little or no time lost compared to sedentary sitting in a car.
This is not to say that the type of food wouldn’t matter. Sugar, and other short carbohydrates from processed food, are a significant reason for sharp rise in obesity. But so is the sedentary way of life. There’s no way going around that you’ll get fat if you eat more than you consume.
Food is enough for most people when it comes to weight loss and maintenance. The literature points in that direction, as does physiology and biochemistry of the human body. The fitness industry would naturally disagree.
Exercise is not for weight loss. The primary benefit of exercise is maintenance of muscle mass, which is correlated with a longer life likely because it keeps joints healthier and thus keeps people moving longer. Movement is required to return venous blood and thus lower the risk of an embolus. It’s no coincidence that people over 60 who break a die have a 50% mortality rate within a year.
So you’re saying that even if someone like Michael Felps who consumes massive amounts of calories through the course of his day didn’t exercise constantly as a result of his constant swim training wouldn’t put on a pound? As I said previously, I certainly lost weight in boot camp and despite what you suggest I was most certainly not starved, I ate 3 squares every day with the occasional high calorie MRE. Once I got out of boot camp I didn’t exercise nearly as much, since I was a Reservist and working was on my own initiative and never having been one for exercising on my own I gradually put the weight back on over the years.
I will agree that exercise alone won’t result in weight loss, but a healthy diet combined with exercise will. Over the past maybe 10 years or so I’ve cut my portions down a bit and drink a lot less soda (that alone helped a lot) and slimmed down some but once I started taking taekwondo in the past 2 – 3 years I’ve slimmed down more and probably put on a few pounds of muscle to boot. All this is without really sticking to any special diet, just limiting soda intake, and avoiding too much junk food.