Interesting point. I have been doing tae kwon do for 3 years. It is a very vigourous workout. At the same time, I was doing Weight Watchers. I lost maybe 5 pounds. I cut out carbs on January 3, 2012 and have lost 33 pounds. I think Taubes point is valid , that it is not simply an issue of “eat less, exercise more.” The chemical impact of what we eat on our bodies is important. The normal diet of American is heavily carbohydrate. Even Weight Watchers reduces fat but not carbs. The day’s calorie intake is reduced, but it is still proportinally high in carbs. That is why I wasn’t losing weight. Perhaps I am more Insulin sensitive or something but removing carbs has worked for me.
Good for you but don't cut out carbs or go low carb...
The general accepted rule of thumb is 40% protein, 40% good carbs and 20% good fats per day.
Everybody’s body is different, your metabolism is different, how efficiently you process different foods is different, how ready your body is to burn calories from your stored fat is different, what kind of exercise your body is most responsive to is different. Which is why all the programs should come with the old car commercial asterisk “your millage may vary”. A lot of people have a lot of success on WW, some their body just doesn’t handle things the way they structured things. It does seem to work better for women. That’s why my biggest piece of advice to people trying to drop pounds is “know who you are”, not only do you need to figure out how your body interacts with food and exercise, you gotta figure out how your brain does it. When I was constructing my “program” there were certain things I wasn’t willing to do, high on the list was beer, bread and greasy meats, I was willing to cut back on all of them but I wasn’t willing to give them up, I like them too much a life without them would be punishment, I refused to be punished for getting healthier. I’m also way too lazy to count stuff, points, carbs, calories, not happening. So I constructed a system with less of everything except fresh fruits and vegetables and exercise, burned off 70 pounds and have kept it off. Lots of portion control, lots of “no I had Lukes last week better get the salad”, lots of gym and trail time. You found the gap between you and WW, that’s perfect.
The metabolic effect of an hour of cardio is 3-4 hours while an hour lifting hard is 8-10 hours.
Increased muscle increases testosterone. You will also find out once you lose your weight your testosterone will increase somewhat which will help keep the weight off as excess fat decreases testosterone production.
Cardio is very important for cardiovascular and joint health and you need to do it also and I try to do it 5-6 days per week.
I am not trying to be a smart ass (for once); I am interested in the facts.
trailhkr1: Specifically, which nutrients or effects on the body are characteristic of carbohydrates which are not characteristic of fats and would account for this?
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lawdave: Have you been consuming fewer than 130 grams of carbohydrates per day and for how long? Does your brain function properly? (Okay, that last one was a little smart ass, but I'm truly interested in your story.)