Energy expenditure
It’s important to realise why the expression used throughout TheSlimSchool programme - is ‘energy expenditure’ and ‘movement’ rather than ‘sports’ or ‘exercise’.
Energy expenditure is the Cinderella of weight loss regimes. Why ‘Cinderella’ you may ask, when the recommendation for brisk walking or exercise 30 minutes to 1 hour a day is included in every diet description?
To start with, it looks like ‘brisk walking’ is the only option there is – but dancing, skiing, rock climbing and gardening are surely much more fun? If you think, you may be too old for those, then this link to a 70-year-old figure skater may make you think again.
Our society and media focus on ‘exercising’, defined as spending a dedicated chunk of time carrying out a specifically-designed set of movements, wearing a special set of clothes, using special equipment. Sports in this form has become, for many of us, the only form of movement we can think of.
This is not to say that exercising in a gym does not help. Yet if you’ve never exercised much, the chances are that you will fail to hit the gym four times a week. Fortunately, a lot of research has been done as to when, how and for how long to exercise for the most efficient results. Not all types of exercise were created equal. Did you know that, according to studies, exercising in the morning before breakfast seems to be the optimum time for fat loss efforts? However, which is better: 5 minutes’ intense exercise or a 30 minute walk? Is it better to build muscle stamina or to concentrate on aerobic exercise? TheSlimSchool programme will show you how to structure exercise in a way that less time is needed, whilst contribution to fat loss is maximised.
More important than exercise is all the movement you can get during the rest of the day. Unfortunately nowadays, energy expenditure beyond our basic metabolic rate has become quasi-optional. You do not even have to get out of your car to fill up your tank: a friendly attendant will do that for you. Meals are often no longer eaten at the table, but slouched on the sofa. Maybe your washing machine nowadays can also function as a dryer, so there’s no need to remove the laundry until the entire washing and drying cycle is complete.
Our bodies have been perfected throughout the millennia to run, climb and crawl, and to withstand physical hardship. Now we have taken the hardship away. If you look at a toddler or any other young mammal, their days are spent running, jumping and discovering. One study showed that some people use 500-1000 kcal (2000-4000 kJ) during a day for spontaneous locomotion. However, physically inert people drastically lose their spontaneous locomotion and their muscle mass as they age.
Ever-reduced movement, leading to gradual loss of muscle mass, turns into a vicious circle and is one of the main reasons why it is more difficult to lose our fat deposits as we age. At TheSlimSchool we'll help you to move more during the day and to enjoy it.
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