Exercise turns off excessive hunger….

Today's post: Friday, 8-29-2008

Some really fat people think it’s genetic. Recent research shows that some of them may be correct.

It seems that some people have only have one of the two genes that keep BDNF at high enough levels to provide normal appetite control instead of having two as most people do. So, in both lab animals and people that heredity usually produces obesity. They tend to be hungry for more calories than they burn up – all the time.

But there are two facts the researchers didn’t mention.

1. There is a second cause of low levels of BDNF. It’s reliably lower in people with sedentary jobs who never exercise.

2. And, for both groups there IS a way to boost levels of BDNF.

Recent research found that people who exercise regularly grow new brain cells. And, the reason for this is that ample levels of BDNF cause this to happen while regular exercise increases or releases BDNF.

In addition, regular exercise helps people to endure more stress without reacting to it and to deal with it better if they do react to it.

Since perceived stress tends to make people hungry for foods high in sugar and refined carbs, that means exercise helps control excessive hunger caused by stress also.

But there’s more. Regular exercise also results in you burning a lot more calories regardless of what you eat.

So, if you do eat a bit more or have trouble eating less, IF YOU EXERCISE, you can still lose fat and keep it off without getting too hungry because you literally can eat more & stay trim.

There are three ways exercise can have this effect.:

The first is that no matter how mild the intensity, if you get about 3500 calories of exercise total each week, that’s 500 more calories a day you are burning compared to being totally sedentary.

The second is that people who exercise both increase their muscle mass over time and tend not to lose any if they diet and as they get older. Since muscle burns calories, and far more than fat does, even at rest, this means that people who exercise also burn more calories even when they are not exercising.

Progressive strength training does this best. And, due to the faster paced parts, interval cardio also does this to some degree.

The third way is that progressive strength training and interval cardio both turn up your metabolism significantly. And, this boost means you burn more calories often for over 10 hours after you stop exercising.

If you add up these effects, it’s pretty clear why people who exercise regularly lose more fat, lose more of the weight they lose as fat, and tend to keep off the fat they lose.

>>> So, if you are fatter than you’d like or have lost fat you’d like to keep off and don’t exercise yet, think up some ways you could start exercising soon. And, include both easy things like talking short walks when safe & you can fit it into your schedule and include thinking up or researching some ways you could learn to do progressive strength training and interval cardio.

The reason for this is simple. Knowing the benefits of exercise won’t help you keep off excess fat if you don’t exercise.

But if you actually exercise even if you know less about the benefits of exercise, you GET to enjoy the benefits.