My wife goes to the gym and always complains that she can barely lose any pounds. True, but she’s fitter, stronger, and looks better. Works the same with me.

Oh brother.

Men have a distinct advantage over women when it comes to weight control.

Men can readily add muscle, while women have to really work at it

The average female, according to one statistic I’ve encountered, never gains any more muscle mass than she had when she was 14, while men gain mass well into their 20s — and this is without even trying. Men on the other hand, can easily add still more mass, while women usually have a serious upper bound well below that of men. There’s a reason the Corey Eversons of the world are unusual.

This is particularly relevant to weight control. Every pound of muscle burns around 500 calories a week doing nothing. So if you add 15 pounds of muscle (not all that tough, for guys, fairly tough for women), that’s an additional 500×15, or 7500 additional calories a week you can eat and not gain another pound. That’s like 3-5 serious MEALS, or one hell of a mass of random snacks. And it doesn’t take that much work for a guy to maintain that once he’s put it on, maybe 30-45 mins a week, an hour tops.

Or you can directly burn it off aerobically, which takes more than 15-odd minutes each time, just to kick start your body into aerobic, “fat-burning” mode. And if you take a couple weeks off, due to vacation time or illness, you lose a LOT of your built-up propensity to do aerobic exercise (it’s very expensive, physically, to maintain, and humans don’t do it if there is no demand. You can go from endless treadmill shape, taking like 6-8 months to get into, to barely able to run for 15 mins nonstop in only 2 months)

So guys have both options, whereas women really only have the latter. It’s one of the few arenas in modern life where guys have it great compared to women.

All in all, the point of exercise is to NOT increase your intake substantially — and either way, you have to resist your cravings, it’s just that one — exercise — allows you to eat more as long as it’s not a LOT more, while you lose weight.

I’ve also seen arguments that what really happens is your body has its own idea of what your “ideal fat-weight” should be, and this is controlled by a number of factors. Age is clearly one factor. Lifestyle in general is another. How much you eat as a whole can shift it upwards (hence grossly obese people, who have usually made the mental flaw of either punishing themselves or rewarding themselves with food), and exercise can trend it downwards (since “lean” is the usual goal, not actual absolute pounds). If you don’t make an effort to shift it, and continue working to keep it shifted, it will gravitate to that level.

Our current society tends to obsess over fat-weight, which is a reversal of the natural process. Since we’re designed to store food for lean times (they happen so regularly until recently) it’s a lot easier to put the pounds on than to take them off. There are some health benefits to having low fat, but the cost in terms of time-to-maintain might be a net loss. After all — suppose you add a year to your life by being lean, but spend two years actual, real time at the gym? Is that a gain or a loss or not? Did you enjoy being at the gym? Did you enjoy the feeling you had outside of the gym that it gave you? Our society arrogantly pre-supposes the answers are “yes”, when, in fact, they often are not. Did you miss the potato chips, the ice cream, and the Coca Colas? I bet you did.

Eww. I’ll stick with the cheeseburger and fries, thanks.

(8^D

when i would walk 30 miles on a weekend i would eat a lot more. i haven’t done that since i got married, and so now i eat very little compared to that.

i am 6’3″ and currently around 200-220
my highest weight at that height was 255
my lowest weight 130

I am 48 later this year, and am on no medications. I am rarely sick. though now having problems sleeping and lots of stress from work. not good, but not much i can do about it.

no particular regimen.. my camera stuff is heavy, i carry it, and walk long distances when i can. its the exercise that you can generally do for a lifetime. low impact, and taking pictures and such is a lot better than being on a treadmill walking towards yourself but never arriving, for a half hour a day at several hundred a month.

not as safe “but who wants to live forever?” – Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph “Dan” Daly (twice received medal of honor!) or if you prefer music – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L8-FTvSVxs

When the forces that be dont hold me down, i spend a lot of my time living… doing lots of things in which ONE would be enough for most people…

Perpetual Motion cause “Rust never sleeps”!!!

The meaning of the phrase “Rust Never Sleeps” is quite ambiguous. Some consider the term to be a metaphor for artistic vitality. In other words, by staying the same, one is vulnerable to the corrosive effects of aging and obsolescence. By moving forward and innovating, one can try and stay ahead of the relentless onslaught of time, remain vital and “rust free”.

or if you like Broadway theater..

Here is a secret I never have told
Maybe you’ll understand why
I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young till I die

No Time At All – Pippin – Martha Raye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIfAGN6o3Jg

i warn..
“To the Virgins, to make much of Time!!!” 🙂

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying….

My biggest appetite problem comes on hard workout days at about 5pm. We normally eat around six, but my body needs something earlier. Celery, sauerkraut, a small piece of cheese, or a few almonds/macadamia nut are how I bridge the gap.

Yes, I’m a bit of a crank when it comes to watching my diet.