A recent article in the International Journal of Obesity by Dr. David Katz entitled Unfattening our Children: Forks over Feet (Int J Obesity 2011; 35: 33-37) concluded that when it comes to weight loss, diet plays a more important role than exercise.
To directly quote Dr. Katz’s conclusion: “Feet and forks are master levers of medical destiny. Diet and physical activity patterns exert powerful influences on weight and health. There can be no choosing between them when it comes to overall health: physical activity is the vital, conditioning work of the human machine, diet is its fuel. But forced to choose a side of the energy balance equation to favor in weight control, it is forks over feet for fundamental reasons of modern living. One may readily out-eat even somewhat extraordinary levels of physical activity, but most will find it very difficult to out-exercise even fairly ordinary levels of dietary intake.”
If you would like to read the full article, which I strongly suggest you do, visit:
http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v35/n1/full/ijo2010218a.html
Dr. Katz’s article confirmed what I reported in Promiscuous Eating: Understanding and Ending Our Self-Destructive Relationship with Food. The following paragraph is a verbatim excerpt from pages 117-118 from the chapter entitled “Raw Facts and Truths”:
As important as exercise is, calorie restriction is the most efficient means of achieving weight loss: exercising restraint over eating trumps exercising our bodies in terms of weight loss. This is not to denigrate exercise in any way, as getting moving and active is a fundamental part of any weight loss regimen. Exercise is incredibly important to our health, fitness and well being and can aid the process of weight loss. There are a host of compelling reasons to exercise, including the following: augmented caloric expenditure; aerobic and cardiovascular fitness; improved strength, physical conditioning and self-image; and a productive means of dealing with many of the emotions that drive eating. Ironically, though, burning calories via exercise will leave many of us with a vigorous appetite that can be potentially detrimental to a weight loss program. As important as exercise is, it is not very efficient in terms of weight loss. It takes a great deal of effort to burn a lot of calories and the resultant increased hunger can often negate the effort. For example, I can run for 30 minutes at a good clip and burn 300 calories. By the same token, I could consume 300 calories in two minutes by eating a few cookies. When it comes down to degrees of ease, it is a lot easier to take calories in by eating than it is to expend calories by exercising. Therefore, as important as exercise is, with respect to weight loss, a reduction in caloric intake is of paramount importance and is more efficient than exercise.
The bottom line: If you want to drop the pounds, drop the fork…and the most efficient exercise vis-a-vis weight loss is to exercise restraint in terms of eating. It is simply very difficult to “out-exercise” dietary intake.
This is just a taste of what you will find in Promiscuous Eating: Understanding and Ending Our Self-Destructive Relationship with Food. The website for the book is: www.promiscuouseating.com. It provides information on the book, trailer, excerpts, ordering instructions, as well as links to a wealth of excellent resources on healthy living including my blog. Dr. Katz, a Yale University physician and editor-in-chief of Childhood Obesity and author of the aforementioned article, upon receiving a copy of Promiscuous Eating, commented: “I look forward to giving it the time that your book deserves.”
Promiscuous Eating is also for sale in my office at 20 Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, New Jersey; on Amazon/Kindle; in BookCourt in Brooklyn, New York; and in The Lobby Corner Shop and Tomorrow’s Children Foundation at the Don Imus/WFAN building, both on campus at Hackensack University Medical Center. Other platforms are being developed so that the ebook will soon be available on Apple, Sony and Nook devices.
Our Greatest Wealth Is Health 
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