Simply Natural Ideas: Exercise Can Make You Fat!

19 January 2012 One Comment

By Rochelle Hanson

Exercise can make you fat?
What on earth, Rochelle?
I thought you were supposed to be smart.

Are you one of the many people who made New Year’s Resolutions to sell your soul to the gym? Do you exercise 3-5 times a week because you think it’s going to help you lose weight and improve your overall health? Before you force yourself to do another mile on that treadmill, please read this article. The truth is, exercise can actually make you fat.

Now don’t get me wrong. Not all forms of exercise are bad. And if you’re exercising regularly, I’m happy that you’re trying to do the right thing. We’ve all been told that exercise is good for us. I applaud you for making an effort.

On a personal level, something inside me has always been opposed to exercise. I’ve never really liked it. Somehow the idea of forcing myself to spend time locked up in a room with oversized machines and heavy weights as I breathe in other people’s sweat is just not appealing to me. I’m sure you can imagine the expression of awestruck joy and sweet pleasure that came over my face when I found out that exercise can make you fat.

But Rochelle, I like exercise.
I love that runner’s high I get from working out really hard!
How on earth can you say that exercise makes you fat?!?!?!

“The truth is, all of that exercise is doing more than making you high. It’s exacerbating the burnout or your cortisol receptors. Running is a fear response. In the real world, it means something is after you; at least that’s what your body and brain think.” -T.S.Wiley, LIGHTS OUT

Too much exercise leads to too much cortisol. Cortisol is the stress hormone your body produces in order to get your blood sugar flowing to provide you with energy. Chronic exercise is interpreted by the brain and body as chronic stress. We all know that chronic stress is no good, but think about this additional angle.

“In this chronic state, not only are you keeping your blood sugar up, taxing your insulin response system with cortisol’s blood sugar mobilizing effects, you are actually becoming insulin-resistant as you exercise too.” -T.S. Wiley, LIGHTS OUT

Interesting isn’t it.

I wonder how come that information isn’t in the fine print of your annual contract at the gym? Haha. Maybe it is. Who reads the fine print anyway?

OK, so let’s be realistic now. Most of us live sedentary lifestyles and could do with a good kick in the pants to get off our butts and start moving. But for the people who work out a lot, how much exercise is too much exercise?

According to T.S Wiley, if you exercise vigorously once every ten days or so, your body will interpret this as a natural episodic cortisol response. If you’re working out really hard more than once a week, the high cortisol levels your body experiences will be interpreted as chronic stress.

Wiley’s not the only one talking about this.

Watch this video of a random fat burning guy I found on YouTube.

So instead of pushing yourself to follow a strict intensive exercise regime, why not do something more natural? Eat healthy foods. Go for a walk, try rebounding, or when the weather changes maybe you can make plans to go swimming or take a peaceful morning bike ride once in a while. Whether you take this article as good news or bad news, the fact still remains, exercise can make you fat!

Rochelle Hanson is the author of the free ebook, Breaking Cravings. She is currently enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is studying to become a Health Coach. Rochelle offers practical tips on natural health and wellness both in this column and on her blog Simply Natural Ideas. Write to [email protected] for a free health consultation or connect with her on Facebook.