You Can't Outrun Your Fork: Exercise Myths Debunked

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey everyone, welcome to Season 2 of the Dr Jewel's
Plant-Based Podcast, where wediscuss everything from
plant-based nutrition to themain pillars of lifestyle
medicine.
Yo, plant-based buddies,welcome back to another episode.
Today we're going to be talkingabout exercise and weight loss,

(00:31):
a topic that's loaded withmyths and half-truths and
Instagram slogans.
Now, if you've ever heardsomeone say you just need to
move more to lose weight, orever heard someone say you just
need to move more to lose weight, or abs are made in the gym or

(00:53):
abs are made in the kitchen,you'll see that there's still a
lot of confusion out there onwhat's true and what's not.
So today we're going to breakthose down and I'm going to
explain what the science reallysays about how movement impacts
your weight, from the caloriesyou burn to the appetite.
That changes to long-termweight maintenance.
Now, spoiler alert exercise isamazing for you, but maybe not

(01:20):
for the reasons you think, andmaybe it's not that great for
weight loss.
Let's start by talking aboutwhy exercise isn't the magic

(01:41):
bullet for weight loss.
The magic bullet for weightloss.
So the elephant in the room isthat exercise alone is not a
guaranteed way of losing weight.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I love exercise, I train, Icompete, I move every single day
and it's one of the mostpowerful things you can do for

(02:04):
your health single day and it'sone of the most powerful things
you can do for your healthperiod.
But if we're talking strictlyabout the number on the scale,
the research is pretty clearDiet changes are going to have a
much bigger impact on yourweight than exercise alone.
Now why, you may ask.

(02:25):
Well, because it's far easierto eat 500 calories than it is
to burn 500 calories.
That muffin that you eat withyour coffee, that's about 400
calories and you can eat that inliterally two minutes.
But to burn all that sameamount of calories jogging,

(02:48):
you'd need to run for almost 45minutes.
Now, our bodies are clever.
When you burn more caloriesthrough movement, your body may
even nudge you to eat more andto move less during the rest of
the day, a concept that's calledcompensatory behavior.

(03:10):
Basically, if you run a 10k inthe morning, you're less likely
to want to move around or go doyour grocery and you're more
likely to sit on your couch forthe rest of the day.
And you're more likely to siton your couch for the rest of
the day, meaning that you'reprobably going to be hungrier
later, but not just hungrieryou're going to move less and

(03:31):
burn less calories to compensate.
So, yes, exercise does burncalories, but the net effect
isn't always as dramatic aspeople hope when it comes to fat
loss.

(03:54):
Now you may be thinking ifexercise isn't that great for
weight loss, why bother?
Well, even if exercise is notthe best way to lose weight,
it's a phenomenal way tomaintain weight loss.
In other words, it's one of thebest tools that you can use to
help keep weight off once you'velost it.
Exercise has a bunch of otherbenefits and, honestly, they

(04:18):
blow the scale out of the water.
It helps preserve muscle masswhen you're losing weight.
That keeps your basal metabolicrate, or your metabolism,
higher, meaning that with moremuscle mass, you burn more
calories at rest, and so weightmaintenance becomes easier.
It also improves insulinsensitivity, which means that

(04:42):
your body is going to be able tohandle carbs more effectively.
It also helps to regulate moodand manage stress, and, as most
people know, stress eating is areal thing.
So if your mood is better,you're going to be more
resilient when it comes tomanaging cravings, and exercise

(05:05):
also improves the quality ofyour sleep and, as we've also
already discussed in a previouspodcast episode.
Sleep will directly impacthormones like leptin, ghrelin,
cortisol hormones that directlyimpact your appetite and support

(05:27):
weight management by keepinghunger hormones in check.
In short, exercise changes yourhealth, your strength and your
energy in ways the scale couldnever measure.
But calorie deficits bymanaging nutrition is probably

(05:50):
the best lever that you can pullto lose weight more efficiently
, but also in a healthier way.
So if we try to get practicalwhen we talk about exercise for
weight management, the two bigcategories of exercise are
cardio or resistance training.

(06:12):
Now, cardio, we're talkingabout running, cycling, swimming
, rowing burns more caloriesduring the activity itself and
is great for heart health andendurance and creating an
immediate calorie deficit.
Now, some people would say thatcardio makes you live longer

(06:36):
and resistance training makesyou live better, but we don't
need to be choosing between oneor the other.
Strength training, like liftingweights and doing bodyweight
exercises or resistance bands,burns fewer calories during the
workout itself, but it helpsbuild more muscle, and more

(07:00):
muscle means that you're burningmore calories at rest.
Your resting metabolism ishigher, so you're burning more
calories throughout the day,even when you're just sitting on
your couch watching Netflix.
Now the sweet spot is to do abit of both Do cardio for your

(07:22):
heart and strength for yourmuscles, and a variety of
movements to just keep thingsinteresting and sustainable.
People always ask me what's thebest exercise, and the answer
is simple the best exercise foryou is the one that you enjoy
the most and are much more ableto sustain over the long term.

(07:45):
Now, if you only do cardio,maybe you risk losing more
muscle mass along with the fatthat you're losing, but if you
only lift, you might not begetting the same cardiovascular
benefits that are offered withcardio.
So try to combine both andsimply go get the best of both

(08:09):
worlds.
Now in terms of exercise, howmuch do you really need?
If we talk numbers, the WorldHealth Organization or WHO
recommends at least 150 minutesof moderate intensity aerobic

(08:30):
exercise a week, or 75 minutesof vigorous activity plus muscle
strengthening activities on twoor more days.
That means that if you're doing, example, 30 minutes of cardio,
you would do 30 minutes ofcardio five days a week, plus
strength training two or moredays per week.

(08:51):
Now these can be done on thesame day if that's easier.
Basically, do the activitiesthat you enjoy, but try to have
a balanced mix of cardioactivities and strength training
.
Now, if your goal is bothweight loss and maintenance,

(09:12):
research would suggest that youmight benefit from a little bit
more exercise, maybe even closerto 250 to 300 minutes of
moderate exercise per week.
But the most important thing isthat if that number sounds
overwhelming, start smaller.
Exercise is dose dependent.

(09:32):
You'll get benefits from doingvery little.
You'll simply just get morebenefits by doing more, and even
10 minute bouts of movementwill add up and consistency will
always beat intensity.
But here's something that mostpeople don't expect Exercise is

(09:54):
not just great for muscle, greatfor heart health.
It can also change yourappetite, and not always in the
way you think.
Now, for a lot of people,especially in the early stages
of exercising, it can suppresshunger for a few hours after
your workout.
That's great, but for a lot ofother people, it can actually

(10:18):
make them hungrier, sometimesenough to completely annihilate
the calorie deficit that theywere in.
So, basically, the hungerincrease from the exercise is
making you consume more caloriesthan you previously burned
during the workout.
And this is exactly whyexercise and nutrition need to

(10:44):
be partners, because if yourgoal is fat loss, you need to
pair a smart eating plan withconsistent movement.
That's the most effectivestrategy.
Just simply think of it liketwo different gears that are
working together.
If you take one of those away,the whole machine slows down.

(11:08):
Now, the most important thingwhen you're exercising and
aiming for a calorie deficit inorder to lose weight, and
specifically fat, is to protectmuscle mass.
People who work out a lot andwho don't eat a lot and induce
very large calorie deficits thatcould be over 500 calories per
day they start risking losingmuscle mass.

(11:31):
Now, if you lose a lot ofmuscle mass, the loss of lean
tissue will lower your BMR, yourbasal metabolic rate, and that
means that if you lose a lot ofweight and a lot of that weight
is muscle mass.
At rest, you're burning lesscalories.
Now this is one of the fearsthat we're seeing with people

(11:52):
that are embarking on theseweight loss drugs.
They're magnificent People gettheir life back, they protect
their heart, protect the kidneys, reduce diabetes and, for a lot
of people, they help them loseweight when everything else
failed.
But there's a catch.
If people are losing 20 to 25%of their weight within a year to

(12:15):
18 months, a considerableamount of muscle mass is lost
during that time.
And if that happens and yourbasal metabolic rate or your BMR
the amount of calories you burnthroughout the day goes down,
it may be more difficult to stayin a calorie deficit if you

(12:37):
come off of these medications.
So that's always something tokeep in mind.
That's why I encourage mypatients to, with any weight
loss diet, to increase theamount of protein.
It promotes satiety.
It's the macronutrient that hasthe highest thermogenic effect
of food, meaning that you'reburning a lot more calories

(13:00):
simply by processing theproteins for absorption and for
use that you would with carbs orfat.
So that helps promote satiety,fullness and weight loss as well
, but it also helps you maintainyour muscle mass, protect your
muscle mass.
Most patients that are incalorie deficits using cardio or

(13:22):
strength training to protectmuscle mass.
I do encourage them to aim from1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per
kilograms of body weight.
For most people, that'ssomething between 20 to 40 grams
of protein at each of the threemeals and one or two of your

(13:42):
snacks.
Now there's another player inthis game of weight loss,
something that we call NEATNon-Exercise Activity
Thermogenesis.
That's all of the movement thatyou do outside of formal
exercise Walking the dog,cleaning the house or even

(14:02):
fidgeting at your desk and forsome people, neat can actually
account for hundreds of calories.
Sometimes people burn morecalories with NEAT than they do
with the calorie burn from theworkout itself.
People who move a lot duringthe day tend to find that their

(14:23):
weight management is easier evenwithout hitting the gym every
single day.
So, yes, working out andexercise it matters, but so does
taking the stairs or parkingfarther from the store, just
moving more in everyday life,because these calories they
absolutely accumulate, and formost people they do account for

(14:46):
more calories burned than formalworkouts.
Now it's also important to talkabout a few of the mistakes that
people make and a few quicktraps that people need to avoid.
Number one is overestimatingthe calories you burn.

(15:07):
Now, fitness trackers are great, but they can overestimate
calories burned by 20 to 50percent.
Some people.
What they do is they go ontheir treadmill for an hour and
it says I burned 700 calorieswhen in reality, you just burned
300.
You just burned 300.

(15:31):
What happens then is thatpeople tend to be a little bit
more generous with theircalories at their next meal,
saying I can afford to eat morebecause I just burned so much
calories.
Now, that's a common trap thatpeople need to be mindful of.
These trackers, specificallythe trackers that are wearables
or, even worse, the trackersthat are built into cardio
machines, for example, arenotoriously not precise and that

(15:58):
often leads to reward eating.
The concept of I worked out, soI earned this mindset can undo
the whole calorie deficit fromyour workout and for some people
, when you combine that with theincrease in appetite, it
actually tips them over thebalance and they eat too many
calories and they end up noteven losing any weight.

(16:21):
And there are actually reportedcases of people who exercise
and end up gaining weightbecause they eat unhealthy,
calorie dense foods, because ofthe increase in hunger that they
have through exercising.
And also the most commonmistake and a very important one

(16:41):
is simple Going too hard toosoon.
People are burning out orgetting injured just because
they're ego lifting or egorunning.
It's much better to go slow andto sustain over the long term
than to try to break personalbest or Olympic records during
your first few months of workingout.

(17:01):
The goal is to focus onbuilding habits that you can
maintain for years, not justover weeks Right on Now.
It's very important torecognize that exercise is great
, but on its own it's not asilver bullet for weight loss,
but it's a critical piece of thelong-term puzzle.

(17:24):
Exercise is great forregulating hormones and
regulating appetite andimproving sleep and resilience,
stress management and all ofthese things play a very
important role in anyone'sweight loss journey.
Now, if you pair that withhealthy eating, you've got a

(17:45):
very powerful one-two punch.
You need to think of exerciseless as a way of punishing
yourself for eating and more asa way of building a stronger,
healthier and more energeticbody.
We get to exercise.
It is a privilege moving ourbody, but if you're starting

(18:08):
from scratch.
My advice is simple Picksomething you actually enjoy
Walking, dancing, hiking,lifting, swimming, jogging.
I do calisthenics, I do rockclimbing, I run, I bike, I row,
I lift.
I love all forms of movementand that's why I'm able to do it

(18:31):
consistently.
If my shoulder hurts from alifting session, well I run, and
if my ankle hurts from arunning session, well I do
something else.
And this way I'm capable ofdoing it consistently, and
that's why, over the last 20years of working out at least
five or six days per week, I'vebeen able to add great variety

(18:56):
to my workouts.
So to keep them fun.
Now your body will thank you,not just in the changes in your
weight, but with better mood,better energy, better sleep and,
basically, better resilienceagainst chronic diseases.
Right on.
Thanks so much, friends.
If this helped you rethink howexercise will fit in your life

(19:20):
and with your weight goals,share it with someone who's been
grinding away on a treadmillwondering why the scale isn't
budging.
Check out my website or all myresources to find out more.
Thanks for tuning in.
We'll see you in the nextepisode.
Peace, hey, everyone.

(19:45):
Go check out my website,plantbaseddoctorjulescom to find
free downloadable resources andremember that you can find me
on Facebook and Instagram at DrJules Cormier, and on YouTube at
Plant Based Dr Jules.

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