Excercise will not make you thin.

Excercise vs. Diet

This may be controversial but after a certain age, excercise and activity will not make you thin.  This is important for me as a surgeon because after injury, so many patients make a renewed commitment to lead healthier and more active lifestyles.  This often begins with weight loss.  So a frustrating cycle begins with more activity to try to burn more calories and it leads to more injuries.

If a person runs a full 26 mile marathon, they will only burn 2600 calories.  That will easily be made up by the celebration Big Mac and French fries.  In fact, the Powerbar that’s consumed to prepare for a workout will have more calories than the workout will consume.

Running burns only 100 calories per mile

There has been much written about this.  The purpose of excercise it seems is to maintain a habit of activity which in the end will lead to a more active lifestyle which in the end will lead to great health.  None of this will however make you thin.

Only maintaining healthy eating habits will make you thin.

I have a few suggestions:

Don’t eat food that is white.  No pasta, no rice, no bread, no flour, no sugar.

Never skip breakfast.

Eat at least 5 small meals a day.  Always.

Eat at least 100 grams of protein a day! Always. (one chicken breast is 30 grams of protein)

Drink 2 gallons of water every day.  Check to make sure your urine is always clear.

All of these suggestions will minimize highly refined sugars which inappropriately stimulate insulin.  These sugars give you a false metabolic high and promote fat production.  Only protein provides the correct stimulus to build muscle, decrease fat, and tells the brain to stop desiring food. Protein may be the single most important substance in promoting weight loss. Breakfast and small regular meals prevent sensations of hunger and will help avoid binge eating.  It is hard to control eating if you are always hungry.  Finally, water will flush away all the by-products of fat breakdown and is an effective appetite suppressor.

These suggestions are not a diet but a reasonable approach to permanently changing our eating habits which will lead to a healthy lifestyle and weight control.

Never expect to lose more than 1 pound of weight per week.  To lose more than that will be at the cost of bone strength, muscle atrophy, and a large increase in the risk of injury and disease.

In two months, our annual Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Weight loss competition will begin.  Stay tuned for details and join our progress through this blog and our Facebook fan site at www.facebook.com/ofaccolumbus.