Reply to: Is exercise the key to cutting obesity?

[Willapp]

I'd be very interested in an app like that, but how can I make it work with restaurant and homemade food?
Can I estimate based on weight and type of food, for example 400g of chicken breast?

Yeah it's a bit more complicated if you don't have access to a barcode, but actually I think their data is crowd-sourced so you just search for the item by name and if someone else has already added it, you'll see it in the results and can just select it and add it to your meal. If not you can add new items providing you have access to the nutritional info (e.g. off the restaurant website) then others will benefit from the data. It also remembers your history so it's quick to add items you've eaten recently too.

Only thing so far the barcode scanner didn't get a match for was an Easter egg I bought a few weeks back.

In fact the most interesting part of the app for me is that it shows graphs of the macro breakdown so you can see carbs, fat and protein both in real terms and as a % of your consumed calories. If you're targeting a particular macro split (40/30/30 cabs/protein/fat is fairly typical, or 40/40/20 for a high-protein, low fat diet) the app will show you how close you're getting and you can adjust the food you eat accordingly.

The only caveat with the crowd-sourced aspect to the data is that there are sometimes multiple results for the same item and they don't always have the exact same values - also being a global app some foods like McDonalds there are differences between the UK menu and elsewhere, so look for the ones that are tagged as UK.

[yasockie]

a mobile app (MyFitnessPal) as you can just scan barcodes and it tracks your daily intake

I'd be very interested in an app like that, but how can I make it work with restaurant and homemade food?
Can I estimate based on weight and type of food, for example 400g of chicken breast?

[yasockie]

To look like Jake Gyleenhaal, all you need to do is 6 hours of training and 2000 situps a days, for a year and you're good to go. According to the article, no special diet was required.
Obviously, if after the year you go back to sitting in front of a computer and not exercising and eating what you want, I'd say no point in going through the torture.

[Willapp]

The key to consuming fewer calories is to spread out consumption more evenly. Most people tend to have a light/no breakfast, lighter lunch and then massive dinners. This uneven distribution means you're more likely to store the excess calories from dinner as fat.

It's been said already that the worst culprits are the high sugar snacks that make you feel full only for a short while and give you an energy spike followed by a crash shortly afterwards. People then repeat and ride the sugar waves all day. Things like Starbucks coffees (with or without flavour syrups) contain way more calories than most people realise.

I've never been a calorie counter but a friend persuaded me to try a mobile app (MyFitnessPal) as you can just scan barcodes and it tracks your daily intake, and it's surprising where the extra calories come from and how easily you can cut them out once you know where the biggest savings can be made. I won't track it forever but it's been a helpful process to refine the diet a little without sacrificing all the good bits.

[VectraMan]

Right. But most fat people don't eat because they feel hungry. They eat because they can't think of anything else stimulating to do, and they enjoy the food.

Don't we all eat at more or less regular times three times a day? Not because we're hungry, but because that's the convention.

The only time I feel hungry is after meals. I don't know how that works.

[d000hg]

Right. But most fat people don't eat because they feel hungry. They eat because they can't think of anything else stimulating to do, and they enjoy the food.

I'm not sure that's true. It can become a default action but I think most 'feel peckish'. And booze is a double whammy as it makes you want to eat

Perhaps we're splitting hairs though.

[MyUserName]

Articles like this just give people false hope that one less Big Mac a week is going to make a perceptible difference to their obesity level. It won't.

It would still be a good idea though!

[kettlebellBA]

+1 for the diet is key (that is what you eat on an ongoing basis and not going on a diet)

Good exercise certainly helps in the war, but its quality over quantity

[Willapp]

Man this article really wound me up. I must confess I have a bit of an anti-fat (people) mentality. All I see with obese people is a woeful lack of self-control.

The only thing I agree with about the article is, yes if you have a bad diet then no amount of exercise protects you from heart disease, diabetes etc, so absolutely it's possible to be "fit" and "unhealthy" at the same time. Thinking that "being fit" and "healthy" are synonymous is a bad way to be.

That said, I 100% believe that the key to losing weight is exercise AND controlling calorie intake but that IT IS FAR EASIER to lose weight by doing more exercise than through diet alone! Why? Because if you drop your calorie intake it affects your energy levels, ergo you are less likely to be active and will burn up fewer calories in the process. Result? You eat 200 calories less but burn 200 fewer calories = no weight loss.

On the other hand, eat fewer calories and do some exercise and it will boost your metabolism helping you to burn more calories. Increasing muscle mass also boosts your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) meaning you continue to burn calories at a higher rate even when not exercising. Combine with a calorie reduction and you will lose weight, guaranteed.

Articles like this just give people false hope that one less Big Mac a week is going to make a perceptible difference to their obesity level. It won't.

[SueEllen]

Right. But most fat people don't eat because they feel hungry. They eat because they can't think of anything else stimulating to do, and they enjoy the food.

Too large portions are probably equally common too. I.e. if you need to sit back and have a good rest after eating your dinner then you've probably stuffed yourself silly. Of course you still feel hungry after you finish for 10 minutes or so, especially if you eat fast like I do, but thin people experience that too.

I think that looking at obese people's eating habits (and of course i've not done some big study...) it's easy to see that they tend to be the ones who go to the vending machine when they;re bored at work, or get a takeaway to reward themselves for a tulipty day at work (or as a weekly weekend ritual - the reality is that a large dominos pizza every Friday night is enough to make you fat all else being equal), or those who don't eat crap & snacks, but plate up 4 sausages with their mash & veg for dinner because 2 looks too little - over years this adds up to stones and stones of excess weight.

None of those are really related to appetite except the last, and that's the same for everyone (i.e. giving it time to go down before deciding if you're satisfied or not).

There have actually been studies on why people over eat.

Unfortunately for some people if they get fat their body wants them to stay that way as fat releases hormones whose signals the brain ignores. So the trick is to stop children and young adults getting fat in the first place as they are less likely to be fat adults.

Also some people use food as a comfort including children. Again in the case of children the parents need to be taught to get them active and stop over feeding them.

[Zero Liability]

The thing with a lot of foods is they just spike your blood sugar levels and then leave you wanting more afterwards. Starchy foods, in particular, are not beneficial for curbing appetite cravings. Personally, I am partial to the primal diet, although I don't stick to it as much as I ought to do. Lots of protein treat replacements for someone who wants to rid of the worthless junk food, all the same.

As for exercise, it certainly helps keep weight off, just at a lower rate than dropping a 2000 calorie Dominos pizza would. Plus you get muscles, keep your skin healthy and it keeps your metabolism in tip top shape. It shouldn't be an either/or issue.

[SpontaneousOrder]

"genuine hunger" is misleading. If your brain tells you you're hungry, you are, regardless if that's a learned or an instinctive behaviour.

Right. But most fat people don't eat because they feel hungry. They eat because they can't think of anything else stimulating to do, and they enjoy the food.

Too large portions are probably equally common too. I.e. if you need to sit back and have a good rest after eating your dinner then you've probably stuffed yourself silly. Of course you still feel hungry after you finish for 10 minutes or so, especially if you eat fast like I do, but thin people experience that too.

I think that looking at obese people's eating habits (and of course i've not done some big study...) it's easy to see that they tend to be the ones who go to the vending machine when they;re bored at work, or get a takeaway to reward themselves for a tulipty day at work (or as a weekly weekend ritual - the reality is that a large dominos pizza every Friday night is enough to make you fat all else being equal), or those who don't eat crap & snacks, but plate up 4 sausages with their mash & veg for dinner because 2 looks too little - over years this adds up to stones and stones of excess weight.

None of those are really related to appetite except the last, and that's the same for everyone (i.e. giving it time to go down before deciding if you're satisfied or not).

[d000hg]

Appetite isn't the problem. Otherwise healthy people don't get obese because they are genuinely hungry.

"genuine hunger" is misleading. If your brain tells you you're hungry, you are, regardless if that's a learned or an instinctive behaviour.

[SpontaneousOrder]

I definitely eat too much. Not a great deal of rubbish, but I will typically finish my wife's meal if she leaves anything. And since having kids it's a nightmare!!!!

However, despite the fact that I probably weigh about 16.5 - 17 stone. I can run a marathon in around 4 hours.

I guess the point of that is that I'm overweight because I eat too much but I'm actually quite fit because I exercise pretty well.

Worth noting that the highest rate of heart attacks among 18-25 year old men (you can draw the parallel outside that gae range though) is among those in the armed forces (about 10 years old data). Because they are active they can eat crap without noticing that they are killing themselves.

I.e. fitness to run a marathon isn't necessarily the same as fitness to keep your heart beating for a few more decades.

Just sayin'

[SpontaneousOrder]

I say exercise is key! As it controls appetite.

Thoughts?

Appetite isn't the problem. Otherwise healthy people don't get obese because they are genuinely hungry.