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There are several sayings in fitness circles that are similar to this: "You can't outrun your fork." Diet is the primary reason people are obese, not lack of ex

There are several sayings in fitness circles that are similar to this: "You can't outrun your fork." Diet is the primary reason people are obese, not lack of exercise.

peteretep 12y ago
I was about to post "can't outrun a fork" too. Hour of running five days a week burns only enough calories two account for two super-sized Big Mac meals.
- jeffdavis 12y ago
  The counterpoint would be that exercise changes your body in all kinds of ways, which might have a bigger overall effect. Not sure if it's true, but it's at least as scientific as "can't outrun your fork".
  - peteretep 12y ago
    I haven't seen much evidence that exercise Can significantly change your metabolic rate. I haven't bothered to check if there's scientific literature that proves ingesting calories is easier than burning them, but I think you'd struggle to find a scientist or sane person who doesn't feel that generally it's orders of magnitude easier.
- konstruktor 12y ago
  Assuming you are talking about 500kcal per exercise session: This results a total of 130000kcal per year, or the nutritional value of more than 16kg of fat. So how is your example an argument against outrunning your fork? If you enjoy both eating and exercise, this may as well be the way of least resistance.
  - skunkworks 12y ago
    Because your body will signal that it needs more calories, and then you'll eat more calories.
clarky07 12y ago
Yeah I've recently started counting calories without changing the amount I exercise and I'm finding it's not that hard to lose a little weight just by keeping the portion sizes down.
WildUtah 12y ago
"You can't outrun your fork." I can. People who can't outrun their forks aren't running hard enough. Hunting down a lot of calories and eating them is part of being a mammal. I bicycled across North America one fall on a mostly mountain route. Four times a day I ate full meals and added as many Dove bars as I could without being sick in between. I biked up and down hills with 30kg of gear all day. And I lost a lot of weight. Sure it hurts to work that hard, but it's supposed to hurt a little. Being comfortable all the time isn't part of being a mammal.
- lurknomore 12y ago
  The saying isn't meant as a formal proposition. It is a rhetorical device intended to highlight the difficulty of making changes to body composition without making changes to diet. Your average obese American isn't about to be cycling across a continent.
- mattlutze 12y ago
  It feels disingenuous to suggest the barrier to obese people not being obese is that they're not taking quarter-year bike trips across North America.
- rtb 12y ago
  I look forward to your enlightening anecdote based debunking of other sayings, such as that time you made a great broth despite too many cooks, or that time a gathering didn't get merrier with more people.
  - WildUtah 12y ago
    I'm a little too busy to entertain you with vignettes right now; I need to supervise this pot closely until it boils.
- chrisBob 12y ago
  I occasionally joke that I know the perfect diet: my wife and I went on a hard two week hike a few years ago. We both lost 10-15 lbs and neither of us had the weight to lose at the start. I make sure people know I am joking when I recommend it though: it would be a very bad idea for most people to try it, and that probably includes me. By the way, if anyone wants to attempt an unsupported hike of the John Muir trail, send me an email and I will be happy to give you some advice.
pizza234 12y ago
It's not so simple. State of fitness/wellness can be interpreted as a mindset. With this interpretation, exercising and eating adequately are very strictly related, I'd say they have the same root. But also from a more physical point of view, nutrition is also a function of exercise, since there are many needs of the body which are function of it. So it goes both ways, I wouldn't say one of them is primary.
- lurknomore 12y ago
  You are spouting nonsensical gobbledygook. To the extent you are making a coherent statement at all and that statement is that diet is not the primary mechanism whereby excessive fat is gained or lost, you are wrong. [1][2] [1] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise... [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406229/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406229/

There are several sayings in fitness circles that are similar to this: "You can't outrun your fork." Diet is the primary reason people are obese, not lack of exercise.

peteretep 12y ago

I was about to post "can't outrun a fork" too. Hour of running five days a week burns only enough calories two account for two super-sized Big Mac meals.

jeffdavis 12y ago
The counterpoint would be that exercise changes your body in all kinds of ways, which might have a bigger overall effect. Not sure if it's true, but it's at least as scientific as "can't outrun your fork".
- peteretep 12y ago
  I haven't seen much evidence that exercise Can significantly change your metabolic rate. I haven't bothered to check if there's scientific literature that proves ingesting calories is easier than burning them, but I think you'd struggle to find a scientist or sane person who doesn't feel that generally it's orders of magnitude easier.
konstruktor 12y ago
Assuming you are talking about 500kcal per exercise session: This results a total of 130000kcal per year, or the nutritional value of more than 16kg of fat. So how is your example an argument against outrunning your fork? If you enjoy both eating and exercise, this may as well be the way of least resistance.
- skunkworks 12y ago
  Because your body will signal that it needs more calories, and then you'll eat more calories.

clarky07 12y ago

Yeah I've recently started counting calories without changing the amount I exercise and I'm finding it's not that hard to lose a little weight just by keeping the portion sizes down.

WildUtah 12y ago

"You can't outrun your fork." I can. People who can't outrun their forks aren't running hard enough. Hunting down a lot of calories and eating them is part of being a mammal. I bicycled across North America one fall on a mostly mountain route. Four times a day I ate full meals and added as many Dove bars as I could without being sick in between. I biked up and down hills with 30kg of gear all day. And I lost a lot of weight. Sure it hurts to work that hard, but it's supposed to hurt a little. Being comfortable all the time isn't part of being a mammal.

lurknomore 12y ago
The saying isn't meant as a formal proposition. It is a rhetorical device intended to highlight the difficulty of making changes to body composition without making changes to diet. Your average obese American isn't about to be cycling across a continent.
mattlutze 12y ago
It feels disingenuous to suggest the barrier to obese people not being obese is that they're not taking quarter-year bike trips across North America.
rtb 12y ago
I look forward to your enlightening anecdote based debunking of other sayings, such as that time you made a great broth despite too many cooks, or that time a gathering didn't get merrier with more people.
- WildUtah 12y ago
  I'm a little too busy to entertain you with vignettes right now; I need to supervise this pot closely until it boils.
chrisBob 12y ago
I occasionally joke that I know the perfect diet: my wife and I went on a hard two week hike a few years ago. We both lost 10-15 lbs and neither of us had the weight to lose at the start. I make sure people know I am joking when I recommend it though: it would be a very bad idea for most people to try it, and that probably includes me. By the way, if anyone wants to attempt an unsupported hike of the John Muir trail, send me an email and I will be happy to give you some advice.

pizza234 12y ago

It's not so simple. State of fitness/wellness can be interpreted as a mindset. With this interpretation, exercising and eating adequately are very strictly related, I'd say they have the same root. But also from a more physical point of view, nutrition is also a function of exercise, since there are many needs of the body which are function of it. So it goes both ways, I wouldn't say one of them is primary.

lurknomore 12y ago
You are spouting nonsensical gobbledygook. To the extent you are making a coherent statement at all and that statement is that diet is not the primary mechanism whereby excessive fat is gained or lost, you are wrong. [1][2] [1] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise... [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406229/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406229/