Stopping the Bleeding
"Obesity is the single greatest threat to public health in this century."
That was part of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Report out earlier this year that we talked about in a previous post.
But what if we looked at things differently…
…rather than focusing on obesity and weight loss, what if we first stopped the bleeding?
Stop weight GAIN in the first place before getting to the point where a person has to lose?
A report out recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that over 16 years, the 18,000+ women in their study gained an average of 20.5 lbs.
Here’s the problem with this — that’s not much more than gaining 1 lb each year — a weight gain no one would notice. But this seemingly small amount of weight gain obviously adds up and 20 lbs over time can ultimately cause disease.
The problem, though, is that this small weight gain would commonly be attributed to "aging" or a "slow metabolism" rather than seeing it for what it is…
…here’s what they found in the study:
The women who gained that weight were not as physically active as those who didn’t.
In this particular study, those who cycled or walked briskly (imagine you are late for the bus) didn’t gain the weight.
Other research has shown similar findings — moderate to vigorous exercise helps with weight control.
And exercise is different than being busy — everyone is busy, few people are actually active, though.
We recommend aiming for at least 5 hours of movement each week …
…and definitely step up the intensity. A Sunday stroll is surely better than sitting on the couch, but some intensity is a good thing occasionally too. So do both — a Sunday (or any day of the week) stroll and some higher intensity exercise in there too will do wonders.
While this particular study focused on women, I’d be shocked if the results for men were any different.
Move more. Move often. This seemingly small weight gain year after year will quickly catch up with you!
