Just my two cents ... the reason I exercise has nothing to do with weight
loss (I tend toward the slender side anyway) - rather all the other
benefits like improved cardio-vascular health, strength, edurance, etc.  I
could name all the other benefits associated with exercise (specifically I
like to lift weights and bike) but I'm sure someone will find a study that
will disprove whatever I name.  Mainly, I feel great afterwards and
definitely feel high as a kite.  It's better than a martini.

Eating less, and more of high-quality foods, seems like a good idea for
people who want to lose weight, but I bet you those same people would
benefit from a fair amount of exercise as well.  Of course, everyone can.

At the same time, exercise would require intake of more calories, wouldn't
it?  If you have excess fat, is that used as energy when exercising?

Now I'm curious ...

And I went OT:  OT.  Sorry for that.  :)


John Testa
SLPS Homewood
708-647-4346
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                      Mark Wonsil
                      <[log in to unmask]        To:       [log in to unmask]
                      m>                       cc:
                      Sent by: HP-3000         Subject:  [HP3000-L] OT: The Physics Diet
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                      11/12/2004 08:23
                      AM
                      Please respond to
                      Mark Wonsil






http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/11/wo_muller111204.asp?p=0

Physics can sometimes cut through the mess of complex problems with a
simple
conservation law. A year ago, in my column "The Physics Diet," I applied
conservation of energy to the problem of obesity. I argued that exercise
burns so few calories that it cannot be a major way of losing weight.

...

My conclusion from this survey: thin people actually eat less. I've
verified
this by watching them. If they order a burger, they get it without the
shake, and they leave the fries on their plate.
...

The Physics diet:
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/03/11/wo_muller111403.asp?p=0

Here's an old joke. The dairy industry hires a physicist to improve milk
production. After several weeks, he's ready to lecture about his progress.
He draws a circle on the blackboard and says, "Consider a spherical cow.."

I've told this joke many times, but nobody ever laughs-except other
physicists. For the rest of you, I should explain that it is
self-deprecating humor. It makes fun of our penchant for
oversimplification.

This month I want to talk about diet and exercise for weight loss, and I'm
going to oversimplify on purpose. Consider a spherical physicist..

Most dieters are so concerned about second-order effects, such as daily
fluctuations in weight and changes in metabolism, that they lose track of
the first law of thermodynamics: conservation of energy.

Want to lose a pound of fat? You can work it off by hiking to the top of a
2,500-story building. Or by running 60 miles. Or by spending 7 hours
cleaning animal stalls. (It is amazing what scientists have actually
measured. This last example is tabulated in the book Exercise Physiology by
G. Brooks and T. Fahey.)

Exercise is a very difficult way to lose weight. Here's a rule of thumb:
exercise very hard for one hour (swimming, running, or racquetball)- and
you'll lose about one ounce of fat. Light exercise for an hour (gardening,
baseball, or golf) will lose you a third of an ounce.  That number is small
because fat is a very energy-dense substance: it packs about 4,000 food
calories per pound, the same as gasoline, and 15 times as much as in TNT.

If you run for an hour, you'll lose that ounce of fat and also a pound or
two of water. By the next day, when you've replenished the water, you might
think, "the weight came right back!" But you'd be wrong-you really did lose
an ounce. It is hard to notice, unless you keep running every day for a
month or more, and don't reward yourself after each run with a cookie.

There is a much easier way to lose weight, as we can learn from the first
law of thermodynamics. Eat less.

A reasonable daily diet for an adult is 2,000 food calories. That's 8.36
megajoules per day, or about 100 joules per second-in other words, 100
watts.  Most of that ends up as heat, so you warm a room as much as a
bright
light bulb. Cut your consumption by 600 calories per day and you'll lose a
pound of fat every week. Most diet experts consider that a reasonable goal.
Don't drop below 1,000 calories per day, or you might get lethargic. But at
1,400 calories per day, you can easily maintain an active life.

Of course, there is a catch. You'll be hungry.
...

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