The Exercise Myth

Are the benefits of exercise overblown? Susan B. Roberts, author of the hot new book The Instinct Diet, says that when it comes to losing weight, the treadmill gets you nowhere fast.

(By Susan B. Roberts, The Daily Beast) - The way people talk about going—or not going—to the gym to lose weight, the $4.7 billion fitness industry could rebrand itself the “guilt industry,” because that’s what many of us seem to get most from it. The drumbeat of get moving to lose weight has gotten so loud that almost everyone blames his or her weight problem on not spending enough time at the gym. The result is enough shame to wallow in for a lifetime.

It’s easy to see how we’ve arrived at this spot. Not only do gyms promote themselves as a great way to lose weight, reality shows like The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Fit Club add to the drumbeat by using exercise as entertainment. And we’re so eager to get help, we listen: The notion of going to the gym—burning, say, 500 calories a session, six days a week, and thereby eliminating 3,000 calories (or about a pound of body fat) in a single week—is very appealing. Just think: Lose 50 pounds plus get great abs over the course of a single year, all without dieting!