YOUR BEST LIFE
Can Exercise Make up for a Poor Diet?
In this column, I have dedicated many words toward convincing readers that exercise is critical to optimum health. Only a few weeks ago I dedicated the entire article to listing some of the numerous benefits. While every one of those benefits is valid, there is something that exercise cannot do. Exercise cannot make up for a poor diet. Although exercise can help offset unhealthy eating by burning more calories than a sedentary lifestyle would, healthy eating will help you achieve your BEST results. An unhealthy diet will undermine your efforts toward better health by making you feel lethargic, and it can cause a variety of health problems.
An unhealthy diet does not include all the nutrients your body needs and often does include foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients. A poor diet is often high in bad fats (trans and saturated), which can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and heart attacks. Fried foods, prepackaged snack foods, red meat, high-fat dairy products and baked desserts often contain bad fats. Foods that are high in added sugar – such as soda, desserts and some snack foods and cereals – add extra calories to your diet without many nutrients.
You may be able to burn SOME of the extra calories from an unhealthy diet by exercising, but usually not enough to make up the difference. The amount of calories you burn exercising depends on your body weight, the length of time you exercise, and the type and intensity of the exercise. Obviously, if you do high-intensity exercise such as fast running, for instance, you will burn more calories than you would walking. However, those two pieces of cheesecake you just ate in 10 minutes might take the average person an hour and a half – running at 6 miles an hour(!) – to burn off!
And regardless of the time needed to burn all those excess calories, a poor diet is really a “double whammy”. It will typically contain too many calories IN ADDITION TO being low in nutritional value, which causes the body to perform poorly. To look and feel your best, eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients. Your body needs enough carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to function properly. Good lean protein choices include skinless chicken and turkey, fish, low or fat free dairy, and egg whites. Complex carbs like whole oats, brown rice, dry beans, and vegetables are much better for us than the processed flours in most packaged foods. And healthy fats like those found in olive oil, seeds, nuts, avocados, and ocean fish are actually healthy for the heart … just the opposite of the saturated ones!
The JRMC Wellness Centers, located in Pine Bluff and White Hall, offer a variety of fitness options for all ages and interests. Free weights, machines, cardio equipment, personal trainers and a full schedule of Les Mills classes are available at both facilities. For more information call the Pine Bluff (541-7890) or White Hall (850-8000) facility.