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Calorie counting doesn't even work well in the short term. Metabolism drops dramatically at the cellular level on restricted calories. Insulin levels are the

Calorie counting doesn't even work well in the short term. Metabolism drops dramatically at the cellular level on restricted calories. Insulin levels are the key to fat catabolism/anabolism. Calories are secondary. You can get fatter in caloric deficit if you're just eating sugar, or injecting loads of insulin. The value of exercise for weight loss has little to do with burning calories. It's about hormones. Brief, intense exercise boosts growth hormone and testosterone, which make you shed fat independent of calories burned. Your body reconfigures. Note that endurance exercise doesn't really have this effect. Anaerobic exercise on an empty stomach directly burns fatty acids released from body fat. A quick lifting session (20m) while hungry followed by a one or two hour fast will burn a lot of fat. Aerobic exercise with a focus on calories is fairly useless, as you indicate. It simply burns down glycogen levels which are then replenished at the next meal with little impact on fat reserves, unless you go for a very long run or bike ride. But then this has the effect of dramatically boosting appetite, which can negate the effect.

radu_floricica 17y ago
I object that calorie counting doesn't work, especially coming from a summer of losing 6 kg with no exercise. Granted, I did pay attention to my insulin (lots of fat, no carbs for the first month or so). However what you say about anaerobic exercise sounds interesting. I'll google it more thoroughly when I have the time.
- cschneid 17y ago
  It makes sense if you think about it. The body is like "I need energy!" and your glycogen stores are like "sorry dude, all out", so it goes and robs the fat-convenience store for its twinkies. The issue is working out hard enough to take out all the glycogen stores, and not eating for a while (which just replenishes them). Note, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it sorta makes sense. Post any research you find here.
Locke1689 17y ago
As long as you're not doing anything drastic and your basal metabolism stays fairly constant, reducing your caloric intake works fine. Second law of thermodynamics.
- jerf 17y ago
  "As long as you're not doing anything drastic and your basal metabolism stays fairly constant, reducing your caloric intake works fine. " But that's the entire point. Reducing your caloric intake causes your metabolism to drop, for reasons that ought to be fairly obvious if you think about it. If you think about it, it also should become obvious why that's the only possible direction of causality, too.
  - Locke1689 17y ago
    It doesn't necessarily cause your basal metabolism to drop. I just confirmed this with two physicians and a nutrition student.

radu_floricica 17y ago

I object that calorie counting doesn't work, especially coming from a summer of losing 6 kg with no exercise. Granted, I did pay attention to my insulin (lots of fat, no carbs for the first month or so). However what you say about anaerobic exercise sounds interesting. I'll google it more thoroughly when I have the time.

cschneid 17y ago
It makes sense if you think about it. The body is like "I need energy!" and your glycogen stores are like "sorry dude, all out", so it goes and robs the fat-convenience store for its twinkies. The issue is working out hard enough to take out all the glycogen stores, and not eating for a while (which just replenishes them). Note, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but it sorta makes sense. Post any research you find here.

Locke1689 17y ago

As long as you're not doing anything drastic and your basal metabolism stays fairly constant, reducing your caloric intake works fine. Second law of thermodynamics.

jerf 17y ago
"As long as you're not doing anything drastic and your basal metabolism stays fairly constant, reducing your caloric intake works fine. " But that's the entire point. Reducing your caloric intake causes your metabolism to drop, for reasons that ought to be fairly obvious if you think about it. If you think about it, it also should become obvious why that's the only possible direction of causality, too.
- Locke1689 17y ago
  It doesn't necessarily cause your basal metabolism to drop. I just confirmed this with two physicians and a nutrition student.