Revisiting self-defeating behavior

Last week, I wrote a post about self-defeating behavior, focusing on the fact that Americans' most frequent "moderate physical activity" actually consists of preparing themselves a meal. I was therefore amused to read this piece in The Observer, entitled "Why exercise won't make you thin". To summarize,

More and more research in both the UK and the US is emerging to show that exercise has a negligible impact on weight loss... The Mayo Clinic, a not-for-profit medical research establishment in the US, reports that, in general, studies "have demonstrated no or modest weight loss with exercise alone" and that "an exercise regimen… is unlikely to result in short-term weight loss beyond what is achieved with dietary change."

"It's simple maths," says Professor Paul Gately, of the Carnegie Weight Management institution in Leeds. "If you want to lose a pound of body fat, then that requires you to run from Leeds to Nottingham, but if you want to do it through diet, you just have to skip a meal for seven days." Both Jebb and Gately are keen to stress that there is plenty of evidence that exercise can add value to a diet: "It certainly does maximise the amount you lose as fat rather than tissue," Jebb points out. But Gately sums it up: "Most people, offered the choice, are going to go for the diet, because it's easier to achieve."

First of all, these kinds of conclusions (and headlines) are incredibly dangerous for the average reader, and border on irresponsible journalism. While "exercise alone" will rarely help you LOSE weight, it is absolutely essential for maintaining weight and preventing weight gain. Clearly, calorie ingestion is the biggest lever when it comes to effecting weight loss, especially since we all typically eat too much to begin with. You don't need to burn what you never ingested. If you're obese, start by eating less, not by walking on a treadmill.

But buried deep within The Observer's semi-sensational article is one of the more important points--that of the self-defeating behavior (emphasis mine).

In what has become a defining experiment at the University of Louisiana, led by Dr Timothy Church, hundreds of overweight women were put on exercise regimes for a six-month period...Against all the laws of natural justice, at the end of the study, there was no significant difference in weight loss between those who had exercised – some of them for several days a week – and those who hadn't...Some of the women even gained weight.

Church identified the problem and called it "compensation": those who exercised cancelled out the calories they had burned by eating more, generally as a form of self-reward. The post-workout pastry to celebrate a job well done – or even a few pieces of fruit to satisfy their stimulated appetites – undid their good work. In some cases, they were less physically active in their daily life as well.

This study (and its conclusion) seems to be MUCH more important than those on which The Observer chooses to focus. Exercise certainly isn't useless, as the headline of the article seems to want to indicate. It may not be as efficient as a diet in terms of losing weight, but it is certainly longer-lasting and absolutely essential as a prevention tool. But if you're using your exercise as an excuse to eat more terrible food, well you're just going to be treading water (or, doing this).

I really hope that people don't read articles like this and use it as fuel for their self-defeating behavior, missing the important points buried within. While headlines like these easily generate clicks and page-views, they only confuse the public as to what they should or shouldn't be doing to lead a healthy lifestyle. So seriously, people, go to the gym.

[The Guardian]