I’m 60 years old and I have seen the exercise guidelines change so many times. Like fashion, the now thing is often the now thing of 25 or 50 years ago.
If you watch the Biggest Loser on TV you see the wonderful fully equipped gym and the personal trainer yelling at the participants to work harder.
My question has always been, if after the show is over and they go back to a normal life that does not have time for hours in a gym - does the weight creep back on?
The human body and mind has a set point for what it perceives as healthy weight. That concept goes in and out of fashion. It is believed that the set point holds us on a plateau in weight loss until something, usually exercise, allows it to lower the number.
The set point is a primitive carryover from days of famine and feast. It moves the metabolism rate to allow for a different food intake without losing the fat reserve.
The set point actually has little to do with the health of the body unless that set point is in place for a slender muscular frame. For most of us that set point is a little or a lot higher allowing for massive amounts of fat storage.
Changing the set point requires a significant increase in exercise and as well as a change in food intake. You have to stop giving the body fats to store.
Let’s say that you are within 10 pounds of your ideal weight. Do you do more exercise or cut down on calories? Do you do both?
Age is factor in this equation. Ten pounds when you are 20 is a different animal when you are 50.  It is a fact of life in the modern world in an affluent nation that the older you get the less active you are. The 20 year old has a bigger supply of muscles than the 50 year old has - generally.
The more muscle you have the more calories are required to fuel them. The 20 year old would do well to cut out fatty foods and the 50 year old would do well to add 20 minutes of weights to each days activities.
Disease starts to rear its head when the body begins to breakdown. Keeping your muscles lean and strong keeps your posture in alignment allowing all the digestive systems to function properly. Muscles burn up that excess fat from the daily candy bar.
A day that includes a couple of glasses of plain filtered water, 20 minutes of strength training and a mile walk is a day that satisfies the metabolism and the set point.
The latest guide - balance your energy expenditure and your calorie intake within 500 calories to maintain your set point. Expend more than intake - lose weight —- take in more and gain weight.
Seems I’ve heard that somewhere before.
Sharon
