Should Fat People Just Vomit For Weight Loss?

So should fat people just vomit to lose weight? That's what Kim Klaver asked after one commenter made the suggestion on this blog post . It came about because in the ER Fat Burn program people are losing weight without exercising.



Appalled that ER Fat Burn does not mandate exercise to lose weight, she asks the participants: "if losing weight is your only goal, why not eat whatever you want and then just go to the bathroom and stick your fingers down your throat."



This commenter is not alone in insisting that overweight people must exercise to lose weight. If they don't exercise, that means they're lazy. And they might as well do what desperate people do...become bulimic .



Another commenter to the same post wrote:



"Some trainers and weight-loss experts automatically equate weight with laziness. There's a real Puritan streak making itself known here:



Fat= lazy = bad.

Exercise = penance = redemption."



Seems intuitive, doesn't it? Even the Surgeon General and the USDA insist on "physical activity" to overcome the nation's obesity and overweight.



But is that right? It was also "obvious" once upon a time that the earth was flat.



Rigorous research surveys of the effects of exercise on weight loss, show that



"it takes far too much activity to burn up enough calories for a significant weight loss." -Feinstein, Journal of Chronic Disease (in Taubes, 2007 p. 260).

And



"Recent reports from the USDA have advocated ever more physical activity for adults -- now up to ninety minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise. They have done so precisely because the evidence in support of the [weight loss-exercise link] hypothesis is so unimpressive." -Taubes, 2007 p. 268.



One reason exercise doesn't work for weight loss: it works up an appetite. Are you one of those who after a good workout, stops at a Starbucks for that latte and sweet thing? I know I did.



Another reason: relatively few calories are burned up in exercise. Ever notice the tiny number of calories you burn after 30-40 minutes on the treadmill?



A scientist at the University of Michigan calculated that a 250-lb man would "have to climb 20 flights of stairs to rid himself of the energy contained in one slice of bread!" (Taubes, 2007, p 260)



What if exercise is not critical for weight loss? It may be good for circulation, energy, and general well being, but may be of limited value for weight loss.



What then?



One answer: Change what we eat and what we don't eat. That's the basis of the ER Fat Burn program. It teaches participants how to forage for real fat burning foods that match their body type and health conditions. So far, so good. See here and here.



Bottom line: test in your own body and see what works for you.



Reference: Good Calories Bad Calories, Gary Taubes, 2007.



Related posts:

She was afraid to sign up for ER weight loss

Diet shakes and pills not enough for weight loss

Eat fat to get skinny

Catch about ER Program

Accepting Food



Did the Surgeon General Get It Wrong About Weight? Free Report



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