John Cloud's recent Times cover story article on exercise has certainly gotten a lot of attention. It makes the case for exercise NOT contributing to weight loss in any significant way. Go figure. All of us preaching that a consistent regimen of exercise with proper eating habits lead to improved weight management and improved overall health all for naught...

Of course, when something attacks common sense we have to question it. Could conventional wisdom be wrong. Are we really wasting time exercising if it leads to nothing?

His argument is simple; when you exercise you reward yourself by eating more and eating junk and therefore don't really lose much weight. You will lose some but not enough to satisfy his requirement. Of course, there isn't a single person in the know that will suggest you can eat whatever you want after a workout but his argument is sound.

If you workout + you reward yourself by eating a lot of pleasure food after, you will not lose weight... Duh!

If we said it once, we've said it a million times: 70% of the battle to weight management is diet. NO MATTER HOW HARD YOUR WORKOUT, IF YOU DON'T EAT WELL YOU WILL NOT MANAGE YOUR WEIGHT.

Regardless, I hope this doesn't set the stage for future Times cover stories: an era of obvious fact. Next month on in the Times, SPECIAL REPORT: Walking with Your Shoelaces Untied INCREASES the Chance of Tripping.

Just in case you haven't read the article, here it is:

Link to Times Article

Also, here is an interesting rebuttal written by Christopher Nogiec (fact based):

Link to Rebuttal