America's lack of fitness

Time Magazine's June 6 issue features a couple of stories on the physical health of Americans. And I hate to say it, but they paint a sad picture.

The old energy-balance equation--calories in should equal calories out--is seriously out of whack, as the rising rates of obesity in the U.S. and other developed nations prove. For much of the past decade, public-health officials, doctors and the popular press (including this magazine) have focused on the intake side of the equation. We're eating too much fat, too many carbs, too much altogether. But the problem is just as grave on the output side. We are not burning enough calories or moving our bodies enough to maintain good health. "We have two epidemics in this country. One is obesity, the other is physical inactivity," laments Dr. Tim Church, medical director of the Cooper Institute, a fitness research center in Dallas. "One is a topic of cocktail conversation and the focus of bestselling books. The other is ignored."

Now, I'm not in the habit of counting calories, but I know that I couldn't possibly be burning the same amount of calories I take in every day. There's just simply no way: the average daily intake for a man my size (6'1, 165 lbs.) is something like 2,500 calories, right? 30 minutes of vigorous excericise couldn't possibly burn more than 600-700 of those calories. Assuming I workout maybe 4 times a week, that still leaves a significant amount left over. So why am I not fat? The fact of the matter is, in my opinion, as long as you stay on a regular exercise schedule and limit the number of extra, unwanted calories like sugars and fats, you should be fine. I mean, really, is that so hard?

It's true that exercise is the side of the equation that is always ignored in terms of weight loss. People got all excited over the Atkins thing because it seemed like you didn't need exercise in order for it to work. Just cut out all the carbs from your diet and your body will slowly eat away at the rest, right? That may have worked for some, but that still doesn't excuse you from the crucial health benefits that exercise provides. Americans always seem to prefer taking the easy way out. But at this rate of obesity and inactivity, this is one shortcut we can't continue to afford taking. I sure as hell ain't...