2013 is going to controversial

*This post may contain affiliate links. See the disclosure policy for more information.

Last week, my son & I took our dog Mojo for an early morning walk.  On our way back we stopped at the nearby dog park to let Mojo off the lead and let him have a run around.  While he was doing that I posted the following 2 sentence post on Facebook. “Great to see so many people out walking this morning. It’s a pity they believe that they will lose weight doing it.”

Little did I know that it was going to stir up one hell of a hornets’ nest.

So without further ado, here’s my response.

First of all, let’s look at the whole calories in calories out argument that our beloved western medical fraternity preach.  Based on years of scientific research, the powers that be will have you believe that our current obesity epidemic is as a result of people consuming more calories than they burn.  Quoting Dr Robert Lustig in his recent YouTube video, “Sugar the bitter truth” the human race has become a bunch of gluttonous sloths.  We simply eat too much and we don’t exercise enough.  (This is not true by the way.  He was simply making a point) and so the answer to the obesity epidemic is to eat less and move more.  I don’t believe for one minute that the human race is a bunch of gluttonous sloths at all but at some point we have to accept responsibility for our predicament and do something about it.

The Real Truth About Sugar: Dr. Robert Lustig’s

 

This message was first preached in the 1950’s when Ansell Keys convinced the developed western world with his ridiculous proposition that eating fat made you fat.  So here we are, 63 years later and hows that simple solution working for us?   Ahh doh, it isn’t.  Why?  2 reasons, firstly it’s got nothing to do with the fat (don’t get me started on that) and secondly the calories in vs calories out makes the assumption (another ridiculous one I might add) that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.  Please, give me more credit.  Hands up if you think 100 calories derived from a can of coke are exactly the same as 100 calories derived from a bunch of fresh vegetables?  Of course they’re not, but the whole preposterous argument is that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.  What a load of rubbish.

Here’s an admission.  Over the Christmas holidays I gained about 3.5 kgs.  Not a bad effort for 16 days off.  So, what did I change?  Firstly I stopped training.  (Did my energy output fall? No, I took up another way of energy output)  Secondly, I drank beer.  Not lots, just a few cans A DAY for 16 DAYS. Did my calorie input increase?  Probably not, I just substituted one form of calorie (fruit & veg for another)  Thirdly, I ate shit.  Chocolates, ice cream, cakes, biscuits, weet bix and bread.  All the things I never (in the case of chocolate hardly ever) eat.

So in closer examination, did I increase my calorie consumption? I doubt it.  Did I decrease my calorie usage? Absolutely.  How?  I’ll explain in a minute.

Even though I stopped training, I walked every single day.  Miles and miles.  Walked the dog, walked to fishing, walked to the beach, walked to the shops.  You name it, we walked it.  Every single day.  I had no intention of walking to keep my weight down because I knew (as hopefully you’ll believe by the end of this) that it would make no effect on my metabolism.  You see, and this is the real kicker, when I stopped training, and began to eat rubbish, my metabolism plummeted.   It slowed so much that I was tired all the time. I slept in, slept during the day, stayed up all hours of the night.  I did all those things that I know I shouldn’t.  All signs of a lethargic metabolism.

So the whole calories in vs calories out equation IS TRUE, but the way it’s preached is wholly and solely stuffed up.

I’ve been back at work 4 days.  I’ve trained 4 times since returning to work.  (Each workout is about 45 mins) My eating has cleaned up, no more chocolate, biscuits, cakes, lollies, beer, but more importantly, it has INCREASED! While I am literally eating more food now that I’m back training, my total calorie consumption has increased, NOT decreased.  My incidental daily movement (walking) has plummeted and yet I’ve lost 1 kg this week.  (Phew!!)  Why? Because my metabolism is getting back on track.  I am burning more calories than I am consuming but not during my exercise sessions, but OVER the whole 24 hr period.  Oh and by the way, I’m tired at night and wake up starving.  Too great signs that my metabolism is getting back into high gear.

Remember, the post that started all this?  It said, and I quote, “It’s a pity they believe they will lose weight doing it.”

Here’s where the boffins have got it all wrong.  In order to increase your calories burned, or as the boffins say, energy output they simply say to move more, exercise more, train more.   Well simply moving does nothing to your metabolism.  Yes you’ll burn calories during the actual movement but as soon as you stop so too does your metabolism.  If fat loss is your primary aim, then simply exercising to burn calories is a complete waste of time.  For if that were the case, I would have to exercise ALL DAY to keep my weight stable due to the sheer quantity of calories I consume.

Let me try and explain it another way.  Imagine one of those indoor cycles.  Get on the bike and pedal at a slow constant speed.  Because of the fixed nature of the pedal to the wheel, when you stop pedalling the wheel continues to go round for a little while, but not for long.  It’ll stop shortly after you stop pedalling.  If you sprinted on that bike and then stopped pedalling, the wheel would continue spinning for ages after you stopped.

Your metabolism can be like the free spinning wheel.  Take your metabolism for a walk and nothing will happen to it.  It will rise slightly while walking but slow back down as soon as you stop.  Take the same metabolism for a sprint and it keeps burning way after you stop, meaning you elevate your metabolism post exercise (for up to as much as 72 hrs) BURNING MORE CALORIES than if you simply walked.

FOOTNOTE: The 2 best ways to increasing your metabolism from an exercise point of view are: High Intensity Interval Training (i.e. sprints) and heavy lifting.

Walking does NOT increase metabolism.  In fact it lulls those doing it into a false sense of security that they will lose their weight by walking.  In 3 months time, when the scales haven’t shifted and the weather turns cold, guess what? They’ll stop walking and blame all those people who have said that walking is a great way to lose weight.  They’ll add yet another hurdle into their next journey.  I’ve tried walking and it doesn’t work.

And that’s the key to INCREASING YOUR CALORIC BURN over a 24 – 72 hr period.  So yes, calories in versus calories out is true, just stop preaching it as if it’s that simple.  It’s taken me almost 1,700 words to try and explain it simply and I’m not yet finished.

OK, so point 2.  I’ve been accused of bashing.  Bashing those starting on a healthy journey, bashing those I saw out walking this morning.  Let’s refresh our memory.  I said, “Great to see so many people out walking this morning.”

Please, for the love of me, where in that sentence do I bash?

I go on to say, “It’s a pity they believe they will lose weight doing it.”  Again I ask where do I bash?  It truly is a pity that they believe they will lose weight.

Yes people walk to exercise their animals.  Yes people walk because it was a nice summer’s morning this morning. (By the way it wasn’t a nice day here this morning; it was dark and overcast with a hint of a storm) Yes people walk to clear their heads.  Yes people walk to lubricate stiff joints.  I agree that people walk for different reasons.  And the reasons I’ve just mentioned here are all great reasons.  But falsely believing that doing it will help them lose weight is not only a shame, it’s a damn tragedy.  Just like believing that you can get your fitness results in 28 days, 6 weeks or even 12 weeks.  (That shits me as well so don’t get me started on that)

The people I saw this morning; I don’t know why they were out walking, I didn’t stop them and ask.  But given that some were carrying little dumb bells and all were walking at a brisk pace, I am willing to bet my private parts that they were out walking because they, like millions of others around the western world believe that it was helping them lose weight.  Yes it’s a start, I’m not denying that.  Will they lose weight?  Maybe a little.  Is it the best way to lose weight?  Absolutely NOT!!!  It does NOT increase metabolism.

The third point I want to mention here is genes.  Not the blue ones you wear, but the 60 or so million you inherited from your biological parents.  The ones that dictated your hair colour, eye colour, skin colour.  The same ones that decided whether you would be short, or tall, muscular, lean or skinny, have big ears or small ones, fat nose or skinny one.  I’m talking about those sorts of genes.

Over the past 20 years, (mostly thanks to the improved power of the computer processor) the human gene pool has been completely mapped.  We now know what role certain genes play in all sorts of areas, like our attempts to lose body fat.

2 genes in particular, Beta-2 Adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) & Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated receptor gamma-2 (PPARy2) affect body fat metabolism.  If these genes function normally then you would burn body fat as an energy source reasonably efficiently and a simple gene test can look for variations in your genes to determine if your genes work according to the way in which they were supposed to.

With these 2 genes alone, 70% of the world’s population have varied genes, meaning that they DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT utilise body fat as an energy source as well as they should.  That means for every 10 people I see walking on a treadmill or walking outside, 7 of them ARE NOT burning body fat.  7 of them.  Can you now see why I am so against walking as a means of losing body fat?  It’s just not the BEST way.

My fourth and final point I want to make is this:  If fat loss is your goal then all the exercise in the world is never going to out do a shitty diet.  If you want to lose fat, you cannot avoid the fact that what you stick in your mouth is AT LEAST 70% of the whole equation.  That means that exercise is only 20% and the remaining 10% is everything else you do.

So, that’s my response.  I make no apology if I upset anyone.  I do thank you though, if I did upset you enough to prompt you to voice your opinion.  Frank open and honest discussions is what this is all about.  My only regret is that i didn’t post the comment on my business page.  You will never be mocked on my Facebook or blog if you voice your  opinion, so long as you attack the message and not the messenger.  To those that attacked the messenger, 15 yrs in the Police have toughened my exterior just a tad.  You cannot say anything I haven’t already heard.