Update readers responses to The Weekend Australian's article: Why exercise doesn't work

I did not read the article, but discouraging people to exercise purely for aesthetics is so frustrating. Did he mention that we not only exercise purely for weight control, but for cardio health, bone density and so much more. I think it is quite negligent to write this sort of rubbish.
Nikki Garland

I read the WeekendAus article and found it very depressing! Esp the study that took a group of people and trained them for a marathon and they didn’t lose any weight! I do agree with their point about the “energy in – energy out = weight” equation being too simplistic tho – I have seen some of family members eat sparingly and move a lot and weigh a lot more than other of my family members who eat more and exercise much less. But the one point I think the article missed was that weight per se isn’t the only (or most important) thing – they completely neglected to look at body measurements and I wonder whether exercise changes these, even if it doesn’t reduce weight. That has certainly been my experience.

Kirrilie

Susie,
Just one observation. As a long distance runner, I note that after a very long run or a hard one, I may not feel hungry for hours. I eat anyway but exercise doesn’t necessarily increase appetite.
Now, on Sunday I went for a 2 hour run at 6.20am. Afterward I “reluctantly” had 2 small bagels with sour cream and smoked salmon, a little fruit, can of coke, cup cake, 3 cups of tea. I didn’t feel hungry again until 2.00pm. Had a light lunch ( Jap restaurant) and even lighter dinner (sardines on toast and a bit of cheese) I feel fine and have very little body fat, as all long distance runners do. Yet, there is still fat! I believe a small amount is necessary for long distance running...there by function, not intention.

People need less food than they think and exercise is not a bad thing - for any reason. I think we should eat small, exercise big.

When I went to hospital recently for a foot operation, I had wires coming off me everywhere, checking the condition of my heart. The Doctor declared he’d like to have my heart. I’ll be 55 y.o. this month.
Dennis Wylie

I saw the article and was a bit annoyed. It never mentioned that there are some like me who really get a buzz from exercise. It also failed to mention that for your own well-being doing something is good. To me the article tried to say that exercise has little bearing on weight loss when it is known that any thing that puts the energy equation in a debit position even a little bit is better than nothing at all. I thought that the Lance Armstrong physiology thing was interesting, if this is the case then why aren't we reading about this in the fitness mags. It was implied that you had to run or cycle heaps to burn sufficient weight, when we know that a balanced combo of aerobic activity and weights ( not necessarily the bodybuilder type program) will significantly help.....and also make you feel good. From my experience once you lift the feel good factor the rest can fall into place even if it does do slowly. Well that's my beef about the article. Thanks Virginia

Thanks for your articles. I enjoy reading them.
I didn’t read the Weekend Australian and I agree with you regarding it. Moderation in everything and yes, if training for a triathalon then that’s a different story. Apples for apples.
As far as daylight saving is concerned, Qld is too close to the equator for it to be of any advantage to us, but as it is we do have the choice to get up an hour early and have our walk in the cool of the morning in summer whereas with D.S. after work in the afternoon/evening it is still quite warm for comfortable walking.
With daylight saving we do not have that choice if we work and are controlled by the clock.
Keep up the good work Susie.

Regards,

Bob.

Hi Suzie, Regarding your comments about the article, my personal experience is that I actually feel like eating less when I exercise. And when I do eat I feel like eating more healthy choices of food like salads and fruit and drinking plenty of water. Apart from physically feeling that way I am psychologically more conscious of what I am eating so that I don't undo all the good work I have just done!
Cheers,
Popi Zappia