If I Knew Then…

Subtitled: The Bliss of Ignorance

If I knew then what I know now, I’d be far less happy & healthy today.

There is a belief floating about in some low-carb circles these days that suggests that exercise is not helpful for weight loss.  Five years ago, if you’d made that claim, you’d have been chastised and ridiculed on the same low-carb forums, but recently the idea was presented by Gary Taubes in his article for the NY Times, Does Exercise Really Make You Thinner?

Gary Taubes is a bit of a hero in low-carb circles because he wrote a book, Good Calories, Bad Calories  that reviews much of the science of weight loss and he comes to the conclusion that obesity & overweight are caused by excessive carbohydrate consumption and that a controlled carbohydrate diet is the best solution.  And everyone loves the man preaching to the choir, so we low-carbers tend to think he’s the bomb! And now, he suggests exercise isn’t helpful in weight loss, and people are listening.

Fortunately for me, I started exercising seriously before this article came out.  Back in 2004/2005, the exercise dark ages, when I was in the later stages of my weight loss and starting to find my way in maintenance, I finally adressed the issue of exercise.  As it was the dark ages, everyone was still pushing exercise all the time and buying into that belief, that exercise was essential, I decided it was time to start.  I was already walking sometimes for exercise, occasionally using my mini-trampoline, but I wasn’t disciplined enough to make myself do it regularly.  But be assured, I was doing it for the weight loss. No other reason. I was learning maintenance, but I wanted to be losing more weight, not maintaining. I was hoping exercise would help me pare off a few more pounds.

I was walking downtown with my soon to be husband and as we walked by the local running store, I asked if he’d be interested in taking a Learn to Run course.  Jim already exercised frequently, playing hockey a couple nights a week, and riding his bike or going for walks the other nights.  Jim, also oblivious of the useless nature of exercise, was always gently prodding me to do more, so he agreed to do the class with me.  I’ll confess, the only reason I chose to try running was because I figured that to get in enough exercise to be worthwhile, I’d have to walk an hour a day and I didn’t want to *waste* that much time.  I figured I could get the same benefits in thirty minutes of running. 

Well, about four years later, I’m addicted to running.  It took a while, but I grew to love it.  There are so many benefits to exercise for me.  I’ve been prone to depression in the past and I find that running keeps my mood up.  My general fitness level is better, I don’t get winded going up stairs or tired on long shopping trips.  It’s a great stress reliever.  I get to wear lots of cute running clothes.  I do get a runner’s high, that endorphin rush, sometimes that makes me feel on top of the world.  I’m assuming the other benefits of exercise, like better cardiovascular health, improved insulin sensitivity and retention of bone health are happening.  And, I get to eat more (and a few more carbs) than I would without burning off the extra energy running.   And most people that I’m aware of that have lost significant weight and kept it off exercise regularly.  Not all, but most.   

Did the exercise help me lose more weight. No, not really. I have to confess, Taubes is probably right. Running does increase my appetite a little. I didn’t gain from exercise, it was just weight neutral. But go back and read the previous paragraph. I got lots from exercise. In the end, any weight loss would have been icing on the cake, not the cake.

So, of course, this doesn’t negate, but rather supports the assertions in Gary Taubes’ article.  Exercise might not be helpful for weight loss necessarily, but I don’t believe it’s harmful to weight loss and there are lots of other benefits to exercise over and above weight loss.   And I’m glad that for those that can’t exercise, they can have the reassurance that their weight loss efforts are not in vain because of it.  I’m not even an exercise pusher, sometimes it requires all of our focus and determination to stay on track with our food choices, and adding an additional burden of starting a new exercise regime is just too much change all at once.  And I know there are plenty of people who will live happy & healthy lives never exercising a day in their life. 

I know exercise isn’t mandatory.  I just kind of miss the days when, in our ignorance, we pushed exercise to help people lose weight.  It might not have helped people lose weight really, but I think overall, for many people like me that were “tricked” into exercise thinking it would help us lose weight, it’s turned out to be a wonderful thing.