

An hour of exercise per day needed to avoid weight gain - AndrewDucker
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8586767.stm

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AndrewDucker
Of course, what it actually says is "the kind of people who do lots of
exercise are less likely to gain weight", which isn't the same thing.

Personally, I can avoid weight gain if I just avoid sugar/heavily refined
carbs and watch my intake.

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frankus
That's exactly right. People whose fat metabolism is in working order tend to
have more energy, simply because their fat cells aren't soaking up the glucose
in their bloodstream and are able to release free fatty acids to power their
muscles on demand.

There's good evidence that while the equation:

    
    
        energy consumed - energy expended = energy stored (as fat)
    

is true, tinkering with the left hand side is likely to leave you hungry,
lethargic, or both.

If you can keep your insulin levels in check, you can manipulate the right
hand side in your favor, allowing you to eat less, have more energy, or both.

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Maven911
I don't know about all of you...but for me even 1 hour of exercise a day is a
high time commitment, especially when you have to look at the overhead (drive
to gym, get clothes, change clothes, drive back)...it can easily turn into 2
hours a day

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mrtron
I find the whole 'drive to the gym' concept kind of funny from a cynical
sense.

These folks are going to drive to the gym and then run on a treadmill facing a
brick wall?

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shard
My wife's previous gym was a 20 minute drive on the freeway, and her
neighborhood wasn't that safe. My neighborhood is fairly safe, but I still
wouldn't want to jog to the gym at 10PM. 10PM is a great time for me, the
crowds are much smaller than peak hours.

Secondly, my routine emphasizes weight training over aerobics, and I prefer to
retain my energy for the weights and jog afterwards. Jogging to the gym does
not fit my exercise routine.

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proee
Or just cut down on your calorie intake.... It's not rocket science.

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omgsean
I would go so far as to say that exercise is a red herring if your goal is
simply to decrease your mass. I would also go so far as to say that simply
decreasing your mass isn't a great goal to have.

~~~
proee
True, there's plenty of skinny drug-addicts out there.

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char
I don't understand why this article doesn't mention how much these women were
eating. From my understanding, the number of calories eaten is just as large
of a factor in weight regulation (if not more) as exercise.

~~~
mawhidby
The main thing is if calories eaten == calories burned, then you should
maintain a stable weight. Exercise helps in this equation because it raises
your metabolism (as well as other benefits), which in turn burns more
calories.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
There is an additional subtlety that may interest hackers. It is actually if
calories metabolized by the body == calories burned. Calories are mostly
fungible, but they are processed differently (by the liver or by the cells
themselves, for instance) and this has drastic effects on metabolic health.
For instance, fructose is processed by the liver and does not trigger the
satiety hormones as easily as glucose. So, while the total amount of energy
available is the same for calorically similar amounts of fructose and glucose,
the impact on fat storage and hunger is different.

For more about the biochemistry of metabolism see:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM>

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BoppreH
Misleading headline. Weight gain depends on how much calories you take and how
much is burned. This two cannot be separated as suggested.

And the research was merely statistical, not biological: the average middle
aged woman needs at least an hour a day to avoid weight gain. It might not
hold for different age and gender groups, so unless you are an average middle
aged woman, such a conclusion holds little weight with you.

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mawhidby
I'm not sure if this can be truly generalized to the whole population, since
this study was conducted on middle-aged women.

What the article (and perhaps the study) does not mention is the dietary
habits of the women over the 13 year span. Exercise alone does not define your
health, diet is very important, too.

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foulmouthboy
I'm absolutely positive that this can not be generalized to the whole
population. Furthermore, I am completely sure that this report has absolutely
nothing to do with HN's primary, secondary nor tertiary audience. The
submitter should be absolutely ashamed at himself for posting something that
should not come within miles of a site like this. It is not even fit for
Reddit.

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foulmouthboy
Really? There are that many 54 year old overweight women who read HN?

My apologies.

