Low-Calorie Myth Number Three: Fat People Are Lazy

It's fairly common to assume that overweight people would lose their fat if they just moved around more. This is one way to explain why overweight people often eat less than their thinner neighbors. Maybe fat people eat less, but they sit around on their butts all day so they still eat more calories than they burn.

Or so the theory goes.

This myth ignores the fact that many overweight people have manual jobs that require them to work hard for many hours every day. However, it is true that many overweight people move around less than they did before they gained weight, and they may participate in fewer strenuous activities than they did before they put on their extra pounds.

The starvation studies we read about earlier show us that people eating less then they need for fuel and maintenance will slow down to protect their body's limited resources. But what if someone isn't really dieting, but still doesn't move around much. Will some exercise cause the weight to come off?

A number of studies have been done since the 1960's, when exercise became more popular as a way to lose weight. One recent review of the research data found that:

"Prospective studies with physical activity ... gave inconsistent results regarding the effects of increased physical activity on weight change.. [T]he role of prescribed physical activity in prevention of weight gain remains modest."

A lot of exercise seems to help men lose a few pounds (but not many), and it helps women stop gaining pounds. The results varied among different studies, but when taken together, they were disappointing. Many experts are still convinced that exercise will cause weight loss, but that people just aren't exercising enough. If an hour of strenuous exercise a day doesn't help much, then maybe 90 minutes would be better.

Or - maybe we should listen to common sense and remember that the more we exercise, the more we eat. We may get more fit, and have better muscles and nicer bodies, but exercise can't be counted on to help you lose your excess weight.

We should also listen to the scientists who have shown that obesity is caused by a hormone imbalance, brought about eating the wrong kind of food. A resulting hormone imbalance causes individual cells in the body to go hungry even while the patient is putting on more fat. Because the cells aren't getting the fuel they need for their maintenance, the whole body slows down to preserve energy.

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