Why weight loss is 100 percent about diet

Masterfile

Greetings from vacation. Allow me to regale you with tales of my exercising exploits from the last seven days:

• I ran 60 kilometres.
• I spent 10 hours in a sea kayak at a hard paddle.
• I even swam about three kilometres, which is more swimming than I’ve done in the previous half decade combined.

All that, and I’m gaining weight.

We’re at my parents’ summer place on the coast, and much fun is being had. We’ve got three great cooks in the house (me being one of them — well, I’m more of the “good” variety), and we’re all trying to outdo each other with nightly feasts when it’s our turn to cook.

There is also beer. Lots of beer. Remember, I’m on vacation.

Normally, I have what you could call “four-pack” abs, but as of today it’s more like a “two-pack.” Those little lines on my midsection that my wife likes so much are going away because of my increased caloric intake.

Take another look at all that exercise I did in the last seven days and tell me if you think physical activity can make up for eating too much. It can’t.

Many purveyors of bogus fitness products on TV would have you think otherwise. They use phrases like “Only 20 minutes, three times a week” to cajole you into making three easy payments of way too much money.

I’m not dissing exercise, as I see it as a critical component of weight loss. Specifically, I believe it is very important in terms of controlling ingestive behaviour. In other words, people who exercise a lot are more likely to eat a healthier and calorie-restricted diet and therefore be at a lower body weight. There are also the health benefits and positive changes in body composition (like a firmer butt, toned arms, etc.) to consider.

That said, exercise — even lots of it — doesn’t give you carte blanche to go hog wild on calorie intake.

Still, I’m on vacation, so maybe I’ll just work on burning it off when I get home.

Visit James at Body For Wife.