Why Do I Need to Exercise to Lose Weight?
Some people despise exercise so much, they'd rather be on a permanent diet than step foot on a treadmill. Many argue they can lose more weight by eating less and avoiding exercise altogether. But is it true? Do you lose more weight cutting calories, or burning calories?
If your goal is to lose weight and be healthy, the experts agree you must incorporate some form of exercise into your daily routine, not just cut down on the snacks. Of course, an ideal weight loss plan will incorporate both a low-fat diet and exercise - but in the battle between exercise and diet, exercise usually wins.
Diets Don't Work
A recent study led by Judy Cameron, Ph.D., senior scientist at Oregon National Primate Research Center and professor of behavioral neuroscience and obstetrics/gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University, found that how active you are is more important than how much you eat. After evaluating groups of active and sedentary monkeys, the research team found that the biggest indicator of weight loss was physical activity levels, not food consumption. Experts believe this may explain why diets so rarely succeed.
"I don't think most people who try to diet will be surprised," Cameron told WebMD. "The body immediately tries to compensate for calories you are not taking in by dropping your metabolic rate and lowering your activity level. There was no way to get around the fact that activity matters a great deal. Altogether, our feeling is that activity is very, very important in controlling body weight."
Kim Justice, the head fitness trainer at Wellspring Camp in New York - one of the world's most effective weight loss camps for girls ages 12 and up - explains that more muscle means more calories burned. Since seven to 10 extra calories are burned with each pound of muscle you gain, Wellspring programs are founded on the belief that lasting change requires a multi-tiered approach - more physical activity, a low-fat diet, greater self-awareness, and a willingness to reach into the core of the underlying emotional issues.
"When most people diet or attend a fat camp, they starve themselves of essential nutrients to the point that the body begins breaking down muscle, not fat. When they go back to eating regularly again, they gain even more weight because their metabolism has slowed and they carry less muscle mass," states Justice. "There's no question that exercise is at least half the picture when it comes to losing weight, along with a low-fat diet."
While some people resort to crash diets, swear off exercise altogether, or turn to bariatric surgery, Kristina Pecora Kelly, Psy.D, the Deputy Clinical Director of Wellspring Camp in New York, teaches young people that natural is better. "I'm a strong believer in a healthy lifestyle, and that behavioral change is the only way to achieve sustained weight loss," she says. "Since there are better, scientifically proven ways to lose weight, we try to steer our campers away from extreme measures that can be damaging to their growing bodies and toward the measures that have been proven to work."
Wellspring Camps are clinical weight loss programs that are backed by 30 years of scientific research and designed with a healthy lifestyle and long-term, sustainable weight loss in mind. At the same time campers make friends and learn that exercise can be fun, they receive weekly group and individual therapy from "behavioral coaches" who encourage them to identify their individual triggers for emotional eating, challenge self-defeating thoughts and behaviors, and discover alternative ways of coping.
"Most diets fail because people don't think of a diet as a long-term lifestyle change. They hold their breath until they lose the weight and then expect life to be somehow different when the diet 'ends.' In a sense, they're setting themselves up for failure," notes Kelly. "Wellspring isn't about diets - our campers eat regular foods that are prepared healthfully and in smaller portions. They exercise regularly, work through negative mindsets in therapy, keep self-monitoring journals, and make long-term changes they feel good about."
Thin, But Unhealthy
Physical activity does things to our bodies and minds that a change of diet alone could never do. For starters, exercise can improve your mood; stimulate brain chemicals that reduce stress, depression, and anxiety; combat chronic diseases; strengthen your heart and lungs; improve posture and flexibility; help you sleep better; and can make you feel more accomplished and more involved in the world around you. And, of course, exercise burns calories and builds muscle, which are essential components of any weight loss plan.
While it's true that some people can eat less and lose weight, being thin doesn't necessarily mean you're healthy. Research shows that overweight people who exercise can be healthier than thin people who are sedentary. In a recent study from the University of Michigan, roughly half of the overweight study participants had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels while the same number of thin people suffered from many of the risk factors associated with obesity. That equates to approximately 16 million thin people in the study who were at risk for heart problems.
In previous studies, researchers have confirmed that people who do not exercise may be able to maintain their ideal weight, but they can still have dangerously high levels of fat around their internal organs. This "visceral fat" can be burned off through the combination of exercise and a low-fat diet, but not just diet alone.
The Trouble with Eating Less
For most people, "eating less" is easier said than done. Many people suffer from food addiction, where a simple change in diet cannot address the deep-rooted emotional issues that underlie the weight problem. Studies show that dietary changes may be successful for short-term weight loss, but can be harder to maintain than a workout regimen. It is a long-term endeavor to change old eating habits, and while that work is being done, a consistent exercise routine can help jumpstart the weight loss process.
According to Trent Shumway, the program supervisor at Wellspring Camp in Wisconsin - another of Wellspring's renowned weight loss camps for boys and girls ages 12 to 18 - most people use food as an emotional crutch or coping mechanism to avoid the real issues in their lives. "Only when people stop using food as a tool, but as something to sustain life will they genuinely overcome their addiction-like relationship with food."
Movement Is Life
Physical activity is particularly important for young people who are learning about their bodies and trying to set themselves on a course that leads to lasting mobility and good health. When it comes to overall well-being, looking good isn't the only goal - in order to lose weight and stay in top mental and physical condition, moderate daily exercise has to be part of your lifestyle.
"Movement is life. If you look around, everything that is alive is moving, even down to the cellular level," explains Laura Inscho, a yoga instructor at Wellspring Camp in New York. "As the saying goes, you either 'use it or lose it' and at Wellspring, we choose to use it."
Wellspring Camps and Academies
