An article posted recently at Today.com reports that “overweight teens actually eat fewer calories daily on average than their trimmer counterparts” according to a new study. The article goes on to explain “For older children and teenagers, increasing involvement in physical activitymay be more important to weight and health than is their child’s diet.” While I agree that diet alone will not lead to a successful fitness routine I do have some disputes to this claim.
There is one major factor disrupting this study, although the teenager who are at a healthy weight are eating more calories I can guarantee they are burning more than they consume. The simple science is if you burn more calories than consumed you will lose weight, the teens that are obese but are eating fewer calories are simply not burning the amount the healthy teens are through physical activity.
Calories burned as energy not calories eaten is what will determine appetite, hunger and how much someone eats. Calories entering the mouth and stomach do not control food intake but its how the body disposes of these calories either into your fat storage cells or into your muscles for burning that will control the food intake.
A lot of people think that high fat diets make you gain weight. This is not the case. Lower fat foods can leave you feeling full for a lesser amount of time and in return you eat more. Where as eating higher fat foods make you full longer. Think about eating a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut Butter has higher fats but chances are you wont be hungry 2 hours later where as eating a turkey sandwich plain on bread would leave you still feeling hungry and you would be more likely to snack quicker
One of the biggest problems some people may encounter is the belief that if you run and run and run, the body you want will be at waiting for you at the finish line. While aerobic exercise is great for helping lose and control weight, it can only do so much. Running is a repetitive, low – tension exercise that is incapable of sculpting and increasing muscle. The most effective weight loss and body – sculpting workout is without doubt strength/resistance training.
Strength training builds muscle: the stronger you are, the more muscles you’ll have. Strength training is not bodybuilding however: building muscle is a byproduct of exercising, not its goal. Strength training also burns calories, keeps your metabolic rate high under strict dieting and tends to make you stick to your diet better. More benefits to strength training are increased endurance, bone density & testosterone levels. It strengthens your joints, lowers cholesterol & improves your sleep. You’ll notice nutrition is important to get results in strength training. All leads to a healthier body & lifestyle.
While the article has some valid points such as caloric intake alone is not a sufficient explanation for weight loss, but there are some holes in their argument. The plain truth is that when more calories are burned than consumed you will lose weight, but the key is calories burned meaning that physical activity is essential.
