Exercise for Weight Management? An Expert on the Bottom Line

Does exercise help you lose weight and keep it off? Or should we confine expectations of physical activity to direct health-related benefits such as improvements in blood pressure and insulin resistance that can help control diabetes and reduce risk of heart disease and cancer?

In this, part two of my interview with Barry Braun, PhD, he shares a few points that he considers the bottom line. As Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the university’s Energy Metabolism Lab, Dr. Braun has conducted extensive research in this area. He offers several considerations well-worth your attention.

After you watch the video, read on for some practical implications. Please join in discussion of how his points reflect your life experience.

Some notes on Dr. Braun’s points in this section of our conversation:

Watch how you fuel for being active.

It’s not clear whether starting exercise when you’re lacking adequate fuel makes overeating after exercise more likely.  Other research has already shown that if you’re dehydrated or low on fuel you are likely to “run out of steam” and get less of a workout in the same amount of time than if you had eaten adequately a few hours ahead of time to fuel your body properly.

Watch out, though! If you eat too much before exercise hoping to fuel up you might end up putting in more calories than you’ll use in activity.  That will have the same weight loss-blocking effect as seen in people who over-compensate with reward eating after exercise.

It’s about timing your eating and making choices that will sustain your activity, not about adding in extra food.

What’s your reward for being active?

For people like Dr. Braun who love the physical activity they do, the exercise IS the reward.

It’s not so easy for others.

Here are a few suggestions, based on my personal experience and that of the clients with whom I’ve worked over the years:

• Don’t make yourself so miserable exercising that you need a reward or will put off doing it again soon. Go at a pace and intensity that leaves you feeling energized, not exhausted, when you’re done.
• Find a form of activity that you enjoy – or can learn to enjoy.  Experiment. Some people love walking, others swimming, dancing or tennis.  I love tae kwon do, though if you’d have asked me years ago if I thought I’d like it, I would have laughed at the thought, since I am not an aggressive person and don’t like fights.
• The same form of activity can be fun or boring depending on the circumstance.  Think about what you find satisfying.  Do you like to be outdoors or safely inside? Do you relish quiet time to think or “zone out”, private time to listen to music or a recorded book, or social time to catch up with friends?  Walking, for example, can be done in ways that meet any of those criteria. It’s often not just finding the right activity, but setting up the right circumstances that make the difference in our enjoyment.

Physical activity brings heath benefits even if you don’t get enough to bring weight loss

If you’re not physically active daily or nearly every day now, revise your expectations.  Start small and add at least 10 or 15 minutes of walking or other moderate activity into your daily routine.  Find something to which you can tie it by taking your walk or turning on music and dancing immediately after you get up, after breakfast, at lunch, after dinner or at some other specific time.  Gradually tack on extra time or find another spot in the day for a separate 10-15 minute block.

This amount of activity may not lead to weight loss.  So what? Research is very clear that each time you do it, you are having metabolic effects that improve your health.  Besides, if the activity is enjoyable and a stress reliever, even if it doesn’t burn enough calories to promote weight loss, if it results in less emotional or stress eating, that could be a huge step for weight loss.

Once you’ve got the new activity habit established, aim to increase the total time you spend being active further for maximum help with reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.  Regardless of how long that takes to establish, keep reminding yourself how important it is to take good care of yourself.

Let’s talk! What’s been your experience? Does physical activity help control your appetite or send it astray? What ways have you found to make activity rewarding in itself?

Check back for the final portion of my interview with Dr. Braun for his insights about sitting time and appetite.

References

Dr. Braun was one of the authors of this position statement. Colberg SR,et al.  Exercise and type 2 diabetes: the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association: joint position statement. Diabetes Care. 2010 Dec;33(12):e147-67

Braun, B. Active Voice: Understanding Physical Activity Guidelines and Weight Loss. Sports Medicine Bulletin. Amer College of Sports Medicine.