“I love to eat food-simply cannot diet. Can I not just do exercise and lose weight?”
No. You cannot exercise and lose weight. Exercise will not reduce you. According to Dr. O.P. Kapoor, Honorary Professor of Medicine J.J. Group of Hospitals Bombay ” Routine exercises do not lead to weight loss, only very heavy exercises lead to weight loss. But heavy exercises can prove dangerous in an obese person whose body is already over burdened with excess weight. Doctors constantly warn their obese patients against heavy exercise. Certainly there is no need for strenuous calisthenics. A moderate amount of exercise is both necessary and beneficial.
But, I feel light and energetic after a brisk walk. Is this not due to weight loss?
Any person, obese or not who takes up ‘mild to moderate activity, for example a brisk walk within his individual physical capacity’ feels light and energetic. This is because breathing in such activities becomes more fuller and deeper and results in increased intake of oxygen. Glucose in the body ‘burns fully’ in the presence of adequate oxygen, resulting in a normal physiological process known as oxidation, to liberate energy as per the following reaction :
Glucose + Adequate Oxygen Complete Oxidation Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy
C6 H12O6 + O2 ——–> 6C02 + 6H20 + 673 Kg/cals.
A person therefore feels energetic. In addition mild to moderate activity leads to a release of a substance called ‘Endorphin’, which is a morphine-like substance, that gives a “peep” or a light and healthy feeling. These feelings described as “light” ,”healthy” and “energetic” are often wrongly interpreted as due to weight loss. It at all any weight loss occurs, in some people after mild or moderate activity, then most certainly it is due to a lot of sweating and water loss and not due to fat loss.
Persons who make loud claims that it is only through brisk walking that they lost weight, are known to simultaneously follow self-styled diets and that too most often on the sly so as to authenticate their claim. Remember it is the diet and not the brisk walking that has led to their weight loss. But such unscientific self-styled diets lead to unhealthy weight loss most commonly muscle loss and consequent loss of body vitality. Such an unfortunate individual is at loss to understand why he feels more and more tired and exhausted to walk the same distance despite the weight loss. I repeat routine exercises such as brisk walks by themselves do not lead to weight loss (fat loss).
You may spend endless hours taking brisk walks at fancy Jogger’s parks, wearing out the soles of your sports shoes, take morning or evening walks around garden paths, walk the complete stretch of your favorite beach, and yet you will not shed off excess fat. Because to shed off excess fat you require expert medical guidance to treat you of your underlying cause of obesity and modification of your food habits toward intelligent, scientific and life time of sensible eating to meet the nutritional requirements to keep up the vitality of your body. Brisk walking only then contributes towards this basic scientific and positive approach to healthy and permanent weight loss.