In a recent “Time” magazine, August 17, 2009, an article titled “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin”, by John Cloud, outlines how people who regularly exericise are at significantly lower risk for multiple diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, among others but exercise is not necessarily the key to loosing weight. In an article from Columbia University, it was found a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body compared to two calories a day for a pound of fat. An article published in the Journal of Neurology in June 2009 found that older people who exercise at least once a week are 30% more likely to maintain cognitive function then those who exercise less.
A book published in 2007 titled “Good Calories Bad Calories: Fat Carbs and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health”, found the obese individual tend to expend more energy than lean people of comparable height and sex, which means their metabolism is typically burning off more calories rather than less. In short, they concluded it is what you eat not how hard you try to work it off that matters more in loosing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but do not reward the exercise by an increase in caloric intake. All of us should concentrate on understanding what we eat and how it affects us to improve our health.
