This report was released early in the year but I’m just discovering it now. I’m listening to the very large PDF with the android app @voice and android’s built in text-to-speech while I walk, do cardio, commute, etc. My conclusion so far, activity/exercise is at least as important as diet.
So far this report has NOTHING to say about competitive athletes. I’m tired of hearing about them.
Download the report here. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/report.aspx
Then why did I continue to gain weight while eating high carb and exercising? Then went on low carb, reduced amount of exercise, and lost 30 pounds? Then further reduced exercise, started fasting and lost another 20 pounds?
Those reports are written by people who want you to exercise. (And I like to exercise, I just think it’s about 5 % as effective as diet for weight loss.)
Dieting does not preserve muscle mass. Diet alone does not strengthen the heart or bone or connective tissues. Diet alone won’t extend independance in old age.
Most of the people who will get medical care for most metabolic disease will be on medicare meaning the tax payer foots the bill. If that gets out of hand it represents a national security threat.
It seems to me It’s our patriotic duty to be healthy and that includes exercise.
Mostly I agree with you about exercise being a small percentage of successful weight loss, but “exercise” can mean many things, and the standard advice about exercise is about as good as the standard advice about diet. Folks who do good resistance training and some form of high-intensity training do generally find that it’s an important component of fat loss (not as important as diet, but a good 20% of the equation).
I wanted to get rid of 25 pounds of fat and preserve and hopefully increase muscle mass. I’m biased because losing the weight took may be 3 months and that was a while back. Now I want to be as healthy and fit, in that order, and look the part. Sufficient physical activity is a necessary part of that. Since we aren’t hunter gathers or subsistance farmers we need something else to generate some vigorous activity. The word we use for that is exercise.
I found a chart in the report that persuades me I’m doing more aerobic work than needed for health but everybody has their own situation. I walk to strengthen a left hip that’s slightly weaker than the right side. I do steady state cardio because I don’t trust just walking to cover everything. I lift for a bunch of reasons unrelated to health. If I end up cutting back the cardio and walking there’s more energy for lifting.
BTW, from what I can peice together “moderate” walking is more than 100 steps per minute at a heart rate more than 50% of age adjusted max heart rate. “Vigorous” is getting heart rate to 70% or higher. The recommendation is do 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous or any combination to get the most cardio vascular benefit for the least effort. Raising that to 300/150 has less but still meaningful benefits. Then there is a small benefit up to 600/300 minutes. After that the curve is flat and beyond about1100 the risks start to increase. Presumably if diet is also reformed there would be yet more risk reduction. How particular diets and activities might work together is yet another question. I’m doing both but need to settle them down for optimal benefit, what ever that turns out to be.
Mic - I have been active my whole life - God forbid I slow down at sixty. My neighbor, who sometimes is more Keto than me, is 70 years old, and can’t walk around the block without getting winded and having to sit down for an hour. I do not ever want that to happen to me. Yes, Keto has trimmed me down, but I am still working on the fit part. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Huh - rats, I thought I was the new TJ on that one. But seriously, I see women five years older than me who are starting to have mobility issues. My usual routine is my husband and I go for a fast, long walk for an hour a few times a week. Five pound weights a few times a week. And the gardening thing - major squats. Turning 60 was not exactly a party, but as I look around, between my activity and keto, I think I stand a great chance of aging well.
There can be no new TJ while TJ lives in our hearts #ketophilosophy
I hate parties, and I ignore birthdays, so I too will not be partying when I reach 60 
So many thoughts…so little time. All these younger men…That’s okay, I promise to catch you off guard tomorrow…
When I was in my 40s I lost 35 pounds (about 5 pounds a month) through strenuous exercise alone. I ate anything and everything.
I still exercise, but I can no longer do what I did then; there are too many weak links in the chain (e.g., knees, internal organs). At age 65, losing weight through diet is easier.
Here is a chart from the report. Most of the benefits come from 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. If you’re doing more than 600/300 minutes it’s for some purpose other than health.
My walking+cardio+lifting is adding up to 900/450 minutes per week. That’s more than current research finds is necessary except I love all the extra calories I get to eat.
