LINK: A huge article on how the body wants to regain lost weight

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html

While researchers have known for decades that the body undergoes various metabolic and hormonal changes while it’s losing weight, the Australian team detected something new. A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state. Their still-plump bodies were acting as if they were starving and were working overtime to regain the pounds they lost. 

Link: For some men, staying in shape may override body weight

(Health.com) -- Men who carry around a few extra pounds may be able to offset the health risks of being overweight by staying -- or getting -- in shape, even if they don't manage to shed those pounds, a new study suggests.

"Fitness over time may be more important than fatness, when it comes to survival," says Marc Gillinov, M.D., a heart surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, who was not involved in the study. "But it is a package deal. You have to focus on both."

...Read More Here (CNN)

Losing Weight is Futile: Experts

There have been a lot of studies in the news the last few years that seem to say that dieting/weight-loss is futile. Scientists now know that the body works against us after weight loss to regain the weight. It sends hormones out to tell us we're hungry when we're not and it works way more efficiently than it did before. We turn from Hummers into Hybrids, to use a car analogy. It's a cruel fact of nature of which there is no medical way thus far to address it.

The solution? Some say you have to do what you did to lose weight all the time. If that means you were  hungry all the time when you lost weight then you have to be hungry all the time for the rest of your life to maintain it. Yay!

I'm not sure what I think about my own situation. I have no specific weight loss goals at the moment other than to become as athletic as I comfortably can. I'm not crazy about being 100 plus pounds over the BMI obesity threshold (one that is now being questioned by the likes of Dr. Sharma and others) and I would also like to buy clothing at a regular store and not have my joints stressed by everyday living. I know I could do more athletically if I didn't have a hundred and fifty pound back pack on me all the time.

I'm starting to truly believe that a very overweight person can be healthy if they're fit. Recent studies have shown that the fat around our organs (visceral fat) is reduced with exercise even when overall weight is not. This is further evidence that exercise is the cure for obesity.

On the one hand, the body works against us after weight loss, but on the other it works with us after exercise. It builds muscle, endurance, reduces visceral fat and our cardiovascular system becomes more efficient. This happens in everyone and it's foolproof, unlike weight loss.

Get as fit as you can. Near as I can tell, it's the only solution. As long as you're making improvements to your fitness, you cannot fail. This is one area where your body is on your side.

An Update on that 100 year old Marathon Runner

Fauja Singh, 100, became the oldest person to run a marathon this weekend in Toronto. (Chris Young/Canadian Press via CBC)

These are the kind of stories that remind me not to doubt what is possible with changing my body. I used to think 44 was too old to get fit. This guy is running a marathon at a hundred years old and he only took up running at the age of 80! It's never too late! He runs 16 KM per day. That seems unimaginable to me at almost any age, yet I know I'm wrong. 

• Centenarian set to become world's oldest marathoner (CTV.ca)

There's a few more tidbits in this story, including the information that he is grieving the loss of his wife and one of his sons. He used running very late in life to treat his depression.

He ended up completing it in 8.5 hours. He managed the full marathon, 42+ KM. It would be an amazing achievement just to stand up for 8.5 hours even at my age. He completed a marathon 3 hours faster when he was 90.

This story, this inspirational man, should reset everything you think about physical activity.

I kept thinking, "What if he drops dead during the race?" But what a way to go. I don't think I know anyone who wouldn't want to go out that way--running a marathon at age 100.

Now for gosh sake, take a good hard look at yourself and tell me why you can't go for a little walk around the block.