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I found that in addition to avoiding certain foods, gaining muscles is a pretty effective way to increase your energy consumption in idle mode and thus lose wei

by emsy 11y ago

I found that in addition to avoiding certain foods, gaining muscles is a pretty effective way to increase your energy consumption in idle mode and thus lose weight quicker. Unfortunately, the article seems to target cardio exercises, which in my experience is a waste of time. I've always lost fat when I gained muscles without changing my diet that much. Anyone with similar findings?

walshemj 11y ago
yep when I had a 7 mile each way bike ride as part of my commute I lost a lot of weight quickly
austinjp 11y ago
High intensity interval exercise has repeatedly been shown to lead to increased metabolic rate for hours after exercise with minimal increase in hunger. You have to put on quite a lot of muscle to raise your resting metabolic rate, and this probably isn't practical for most people. Resistance training (weight lifting etc) can be a great way to do interval exercise and get a real sweat going. Kettle bells for instance are particularly in vogue, although there are plenty of other methods. Resistance training is great for many other reasons, and we should all be doing some. Increased strength and coordination is a solid investment in your future health. Lower intensity exercise (eg jogging) does unfortunately increase hunger, and it is far, far easier to 1000 calories than to "burn them off". Some people are simply predisposed to put on fat and retain it. Aesthetically this may not be what they wish for, and that can lead to desperate dieting and more exotic attempts at fat loss. It is entirely possible to be "fat but fit" so health measures other than estimating subcutaneous adipose tissue are necessary to understand your health. It is also possible to be "thin outside fat inside" ie to look thin but have terrible cardiovascular health. The summary is that most of us should probably eat more green veggies and more fibre but less overall, and do more exercise. Any specific formula for this is a distraction from the general message, but if it works for, good. On mobile, apologies for lack of references.
- tomp 11y ago
  > Some people are simply predisposed to put on fat and retain it. Aesthetically this may not be what they wish for, and that can lead to desperate dieting and more exotic attempts at fat loss. Can you provide references for this? I'm not sure about this one. I've read that in reality, most people have the same resting metabolic rate, i.e. we spend roughly the same amount of calories just to live. It's very possible that there are differences in the efficiency of our digestion systems, but I find it unlikely that the differences are that great (apart from specific foods, e.g. milk). So I'd say that most of the "predisposition" is purely mental.
  - austinjp 11y ago
    Sure. It's not "purely mental" for many people -- and even if it was, that doesn't mean we should disregard psychological causes of overeating, under-exercising, or body dysmorphia. Predisposition to fat gain may be due to maternal influences during gestation including malnutrition; genetic and epigenetic factors; sleep deprivation; poor coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety; childhood weight gain (hardly the fault of the child); complex glandular disorders such as polycystic ovarian syndrome; and many many other factors possibly including infection. Plus anecdotally we all know that some people simply put on muscle more than others. There will be plenty of research on this, I suggest trawling PubMed. The notion that some people are overweight or obese simply because their will power is less than others' simply doesn't fly any more. A handful of links below. Apologies for shoddy referencing style, on mobile. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23700512 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23700512 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21720205 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21720205 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24010762 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24010762 (rat model) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24425725 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24425725
    - tomp 11y ago
      > The notion that some people are overweight or obese simply because their will power is less than others' simply doesn't fly any more. What does, then? Definitely there are other ways of losing weight (surgery, drugs), and there exist a few people here and there that have actual health problems (i.e. their bodies are functioning incorrectly), but I think their numbers are greatly exaggerated. Even if it might be harder for some people to do so, most people can lose weight by being disciplined (i.e. by willpower). Unlike many other medical issues that a person cannot solve by themselves (or things that were considered medical issues in the past, e.g. being gay).
DanBC 11y ago
It's frustrating that the article discusses a bunch of different research and meta analysis and you counter that with your anecdote, especially since your first sentence ("avoiding certain foods") is supported by the research whereas the rest isn't.
- tomp 11y ago
  You mean this statement? > gaining muscles is a pretty effective way to increase your energy consumption in idle mode and thus lose weight quicker It's not counter to what the article describes; the article is just saying that most people will also increase their energy (food) intake along with an increase in their energy consumption, resulting in no net weight loss. It's perfectly possibly that grandparent's psychology doesn't make him/her eat more as a result of more muscle.
- emsy 11y ago
  I think you're right and in hindsight I should've formulated the comment differently, putting the focus on the fact that the article doesn't differentiate between cardio and weigth training.
interpol_p 11y ago
I have the opposite experience. I tend to lose weight when I do 30 mins - 1 hour of cardio per day.
hmate9 11y ago
I'd still always recommend cardio instead of weight training. Cardio is much more healthier than weight training. It has been shown plenty of times that running/walking regularly increases life expectency quite dramatically. I've yet to find an article that says the same thing about big biceps :)
- agumonkey 11y ago
  Having a strong core is a great thing (of course, self centered anecdotal revelation), no need to go into bodybuilding but I'd suggest anyone to strengthen and stretch every two days.
- tsomctl 11y ago
  Weight lifting doesn't necessarily increase life expectancy, but it does increase your quality of life, especially in later years. Basically, when you're old, weight lifting allows you to keep moving around and carrying stuff. While I agree having big biceps is mostly useless, core training (squats!) is extremely helpful for pretty much everyone.
- austinjp 11y ago
  Plenty of evidence that increased muscle strength protects against trauma such as falling in the elderly. Exercise can help people maintain physical independence and hence keep them sociable, which potentially protects against life-limiting problems. With resistance training comes improved coordination (generally) which protects against balance issues. There is ambiguous evidence suggesting that resistance training protects against osteoporosis. This stuff mainly applies in the elderly, but the earlier in your adult life you start, the better you're likely to be (okay, ignoring injury, true -- but that may be balanced by issues later in life). Loss of muscle mass has a name: sarcopaenia/sarcopenia. Stick it into PubMed and look through the literature.
jroseattle 11y ago
> I've always lost fat when I gained muscles without changing my diet that much. The fat-burning aspect of muscle growth has been fundamental for me. 45 minutes of weight-lifting has had a far greater effect on fat reduction than 90 minutes of cardio. I don't know that I can say it's "weight-lifting" vs. "cardio", but rather the specifics of what those entail. I do free weights, and feel like I work my body out better than the cardio work that I've done. But I'm with you in that respect -- building muscle is effective for fat loss for me, and I achieve that better through weight-lifting vs. cardio.

by emsy 11y ago

walshemj 11y ago

yep when I had a 7 mile each way bike ride as part of my commute I lost a lot of weight quickly

austinjp 11y ago

High intensity interval exercise has repeatedly been shown to lead to increased metabolic rate for hours after exercise with minimal increase in hunger. You have to put on quite a lot of muscle to raise your resting metabolic rate, and this probably isn't practical for most people. Resistance training (weight lifting etc) can be a great way to do interval exercise and get a real sweat going. Kettle bells for instance are particularly in vogue, although there are plenty of other methods. Resistance training is great for many other reasons, and we should all be doing some. Increased strength and coordination is a solid investment in your future health. Lower intensity exercise (eg jogging) does unfortunately increase hunger, and it is far, far easier to 1000 calories than to "burn them off". Some people are simply predisposed to put on fat and retain it. Aesthetically this may not be what they wish for, and that can lead to desperate dieting and more exotic attempts at fat loss. It is entirely possible to be "fat but fit" so health measures other than estimating subcutaneous adipose tissue are necessary to understand your health. It is also possible to be "thin outside fat inside" ie to look thin but have terrible cardiovascular health. The summary is that most of us should probably eat more green veggies and more fibre but less overall, and do more exercise. Any specific formula for this is a distraction from the general message, but if it works for, good. On mobile, apologies for lack of references.

tomp 11y ago
> Some people are simply predisposed to put on fat and retain it. Aesthetically this may not be what they wish for, and that can lead to desperate dieting and more exotic attempts at fat loss. Can you provide references for this? I'm not sure about this one. I've read that in reality, most people have the same resting metabolic rate, i.e. we spend roughly the same amount of calories just to live. It's very possible that there are differences in the efficiency of our digestion systems, but I find it unlikely that the differences are that great (apart from specific foods, e.g. milk). So I'd say that most of the "predisposition" is purely mental.
- austinjp 11y ago
  Sure. It's not "purely mental" for many people -- and even if it was, that doesn't mean we should disregard psychological causes of overeating, under-exercising, or body dysmorphia. Predisposition to fat gain may be due to maternal influences during gestation including malnutrition; genetic and epigenetic factors; sleep deprivation; poor coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety; childhood weight gain (hardly the fault of the child); complex glandular disorders such as polycystic ovarian syndrome; and many many other factors possibly including infection. Plus anecdotally we all know that some people simply put on muscle more than others. There will be plenty of research on this, I suggest trawling PubMed. The notion that some people are overweight or obese simply because their will power is less than others' simply doesn't fly any more. A handful of links below. Apologies for shoddy referencing style, on mobile. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23700512 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23700512 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21720205 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21720205 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24010762 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24010762 (rat model) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24425725 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24425725
  - tomp 11y ago
    > The notion that some people are overweight or obese simply because their will power is less than others' simply doesn't fly any more. What does, then? Definitely there are other ways of losing weight (surgery, drugs), and there exist a few people here and there that have actual health problems (i.e. their bodies are functioning incorrectly), but I think their numbers are greatly exaggerated. Even if it might be harder for some people to do so, most people can lose weight by being disciplined (i.e. by willpower). Unlike many other medical issues that a person cannot solve by themselves (or things that were considered medical issues in the past, e.g. being gay).

DanBC 11y ago

It's frustrating that the article discusses a bunch of different research and meta analysis and you counter that with your anecdote, especially since your first sentence ("avoiding certain foods") is supported by the research whereas the rest isn't.

tomp 11y ago
You mean this statement? > gaining muscles is a pretty effective way to increase your energy consumption in idle mode and thus lose weight quicker It's not counter to what the article describes; the article is just saying that most people will also increase their energy (food) intake along with an increase in their energy consumption, resulting in no net weight loss. It's perfectly possibly that grandparent's psychology doesn't make him/her eat more as a result of more muscle.
emsy 11y ago
I think you're right and in hindsight I should've formulated the comment differently, putting the focus on the fact that the article doesn't differentiate between cardio and weigth training.

interpol_p 11y ago

I have the opposite experience. I tend to lose weight when I do 30 mins - 1 hour of cardio per day.

hmate9 11y ago

I'd still always recommend cardio instead of weight training. Cardio is much more healthier than weight training. It has been shown plenty of times that running/walking regularly increases life expectency quite dramatically. I've yet to find an article that says the same thing about big biceps :)

agumonkey 11y ago
Having a strong core is a great thing (of course, self centered anecdotal revelation), no need to go into bodybuilding but I'd suggest anyone to strengthen and stretch every two days.
tsomctl 11y ago
Weight lifting doesn't necessarily increase life expectancy, but it does increase your quality of life, especially in later years. Basically, when you're old, weight lifting allows you to keep moving around and carrying stuff. While I agree having big biceps is mostly useless, core training (squats!) is extremely helpful for pretty much everyone.
austinjp 11y ago
Plenty of evidence that increased muscle strength protects against trauma such as falling in the elderly. Exercise can help people maintain physical independence and hence keep them sociable, which potentially protects against life-limiting problems. With resistance training comes improved coordination (generally) which protects against balance issues. There is ambiguous evidence suggesting that resistance training protects against osteoporosis. This stuff mainly applies in the elderly, but the earlier in your adult life you start, the better you're likely to be (okay, ignoring injury, true -- but that may be balanced by issues later in life). Loss of muscle mass has a name: sarcopaenia/sarcopenia. Stick it into PubMed and look through the literature.

jroseattle 11y ago

> I've always lost fat when I gained muscles without changing my diet that much. The fat-burning aspect of muscle growth has been fundamental for me. 45 minutes of weight-lifting has had a far greater effect on fat reduction than 90 minutes of cardio. I don't know that I can say it's "weight-lifting" vs. "cardio", but rather the specifics of what those entail. I do free weights, and feel like I work my body out better than the cardio work that I've done. But I'm with you in that respect -- building muscle is effective for fat loss for me, and I achieve that better through weight-lifting vs. cardio.