Fine! I’ve buckled. I know I need to exercise to lose my extra weight, but what’s the minimum I should do to lose weight? I don’t enjoy it, and I find people who obsess about healthy eating annoying.
This is a quintessentially SA question. What is the absolute least I need to do to be compliant?
How long do I really need to pause at a broken traffic light or four-way stop? You need to stop. Can I do 69km/h in a 60 zone and not be fined? It isn’t a game of gotcha. After winning the hot-mic championships with the finance minister, Edward Kieswetter is surely going to crack down on the other local favourite: what’s the least amount of tax I can declare to remain beneath the radar?
You haven’t buckled. You’re begrudgingly looking for an easy solution. It’s the SA way — you’re vehemently against training (VAT). It will bite you in the long run. Here’s the most important thing you’ll read all week: it is nowhere near as easy to lose the weight as it is to put it on. The one requires no effort and the other, if you’re overweight, requires a lifestyle change. Yes, you can “shed” some kilos, but they’ll be back quicker than the homeless folk directing traffic every time the traffic lights mysteriously stop working.
Here’s the bad news. You can exercise as much as you want and still not lose weight. You could gain some lean muscle, you could change shape even, you could become fitter, you could become happier. But unless you understand that your kitchen (and every kitchen in every restaurant, and takeout and grocery store) is more important than the daily dog park visit when it comes to losing weight, you won’t lose anything substantial over the long term.
Hormones are like the government. A vision for growth is one thing. But if the fundamentals, the regulations, are designed for a stagnant, bloated state, then a stagnant, boated state it will be. If you exercise every day but eat the types of food that cause insulin spikes, inflammation and even more hormonal imbalances, then your body will keep doing what it has been doing, you’re likely to gain weight, you may have blood pressure issues, and possibly even head down the road of various lifestyle diseases.
On the other hand, cutting sugar and most processed foods, managing portions and shopping around the perimeter of supermarkets will make a world of difference. That’s not even meal prepping or counting calories; it’s changing the regulations that determine the environment inside your body.
Then you can worry about how much exercise is needed to actually lose weight. A study published last year in Jama Network Open, ironically on one of the days people eat the worst food, the Day of Goodwill in SA and Boxing Day in others, has the answer.
“Aerobic Exercise and Weight Loss in Adults: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis” analysed 16 published trials that measured the effects of exercise on weight loss, waist circumference and body fat. This equates to about 7,000 overweight or obese adults. Sounds like the Rand Show.
The authors say that losing 5% of total body weight in three months is clinically important. That means a 5kg loss in three months if you weigh 100kg. Not as fast as you’d hoped? Well, lose 10 in a month and it will be back plus interest the following month.
The answer?
“Engaging in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per week was associated with modest reductions in body weight, waist circumference and body fat measures among adults with overweight or obesity. However, aerobic training exceeding 150 minutes per week at moderate intensity or greater may be needed to achieve clinically important reductions.”
That’s a minimum of 30 minutes five times a week at moderate intensity or higher. Don’t shoot the messenger. It isn’t as easy ordering a pie, but once the excess weight is off, it’s far easier to maintain if you’ve changed your lifestyle accordingly.
This may seem daunting — especially if exercise is uncomfortable or you genuinely don’t enjoy it. Try finding an activity you enjoy. Go see an expert who is empathetic and kind. Who knows? When you start seeing results, you may end up looking forward to your daily exercise.
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