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> Optimizing eating habits (without causing starvation) is much easier than running an extra 10 miles on a treadmill. This disparity in effort is obvious if yo

> Optimizing eating habits (without causing starvation) is much easier than running an extra 10 miles on a treadmill. This disparity in effort is obvious if you ask obese people if it's easier to eat a glazed donut (consume 200 calories) or run 6 mph for 20 minutes (burns 200 calories). Anecdotally, I find that the initial bit of exercise makes the biggest impact. The added benefit of the "exercise first" approach is that after exercising, I find that I don't even want the donut. If I try to tame food first without exercising, I crave worse food which makes that effort considerably harder.

RyanMcGreal 11y ago
> The added benefit of the "exercise first" approach is that after exercising, I find that I don't even want the donut. Yes, this exactly! The real challenge of getting in shape isn't the physics or chemistry nearly so much as it is the psychology.
jasode 11y ago
>The added benefit of the "exercise first" approach is that after exercising, I find that I don't even want the donut. I'm guessing this approach is something like swapping dopamine triggers. You get a good rush from exercising such that you don't need a dopamine release from eating a donut. However, I still believe your and RyanMcGreal's anecdotes are the minority. Most obese people do not find exercise to be pleasurable. Getting sweaty is "work". For these people, if they exercise, they'll end up getting hungrier which triggers more eating and the end result is a weight change that nets to zero. In contrast to your scenario, instead of skipping the donut after exercise, they feel that they can "reward" themselves with a donut because they had the discipline to exercise! For most people, switching out bad food for good food such that they are satisfied without starving is a far easier and more realistic lifestyle adjustment. To be clear, I'm not suggesting people eat "less", but that they eat "differently". Drink a kale smoothie instead of a glass of sugar-laden orange juice, etc. Telling obese people that exercise will strengthen their heart is more truthful than selling it as a key to weight loss.

RyanMcGreal 11y ago

> The added benefit of the "exercise first" approach is that after exercising, I find that I don't even want the donut. Yes, this exactly! The real challenge of getting in shape isn't the physics or chemistry nearly so much as it is the psychology.

jasode 11y ago

>The added benefit of the "exercise first" approach is that after exercising, I find that I don't even want the donut. I'm guessing this approach is something like swapping dopamine triggers. You get a good rush from exercising such that you don't need a dopamine release from eating a donut. However, I still believe your and RyanMcGreal's anecdotes are the minority. Most obese people do not find exercise to be pleasurable. Getting sweaty is "work". For these people, if they exercise, they'll end up getting hungrier which triggers more eating and the end result is a weight change that nets to zero. In contrast to your scenario, instead of skipping the donut after exercise, they feel that they can "reward" themselves with a donut because they had the discipline to exercise! For most people, switching out bad food for good food such that they are satisfied without starving is a far easier and more realistic lifestyle adjustment. To be clear, I'm not suggesting people eat "less", but that they eat "differently". Drink a kale smoothie instead of a glass of sugar-laden orange juice, etc. Telling obese people that exercise will strengthen their heart is more truthful than selling it as a key to weight loss.