Dear John Cloud of Time Magazine...

Dear John Cloud,


Upon just recently reading your article in Time Magazine entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html), I wanted to give you a sincere reply as this is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. Whether or not your article was made deliberately to cause a stir of controversy, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just can’t find it within myself to stay quiet any longer.


Being in the fitness industry prior to going to school, having went to school to become a personal trainer, having worked with and having been mentored by some of the most recognized, decorated, successful, and educated professionals in the world, having trained clients of my own, and being loyal to training myself, I can tell you first hand that if there is anything I have learned about the state of today’s people, it’s that, collectively,they need to move a LOT more and eat a LOT less.


Having introduced myself, I would therefore like to ask you what your contribution to the fitness industry has been as far as education, hands-on experience, professionalism, as well as your own training? I ask this for a number of reasons, the first being to get to know you a little better and second being I don’t believe you have had any formal training nor do I believe that you understand the science underlying the art of weight loss and of the body itself. How do I know this? Well, for one; you inquired in your article about whether, “…exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”. If you would have done just a little bit more research, you would have found, Mr. Cloud, that it is impossible for muscle to turn to fat, or vice versa, as fat and muscle are two entirely different types of tissue. Everyone has both fat cells and muscle cells, and it isn’t a matter of transforming one into the other, but it is a matter of shrinking and growing these different tissue types to transform your body composition. This is something that can be accomplished by both moving your body and by feeding your body not only the right amount of food, but the right types of food. I was embarrassed reading your article for your own sake and am just sick that you would impede on an industry you have no business being involved in.


What many people fail to realize is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just a term used synonymously with a quick-fix without effort, rather it is a combined effort of being healthy from the inside-out; from your brain and how you feel mentally, to your mouth and digestive system and what you are putting in it each day, to your body and how your training program is designed to help benefit your specific and individual needs physically. Being ‘healthy’ is not in style just for bikini or wedding season. Rather, it is a life-long commitment just like a marriage or any other lasting relationship between two people. It is something you need to be dedicated to and something that can’t be accomplished without all the correct elements in place. As a country, fitness and wellness has become completely commercialized and so many of us are deceived into thinking that if we all eat a certain (and similar) way and if we all move in a certain (or similar) way then we will see fast (and similar) progress in ‘6 minutes or less!’. Folks... this isn’t reality and the truth is that each of our bodies are as individual as our fingerprints in what we need to attain our own optimal health. Our features inside are as unique as the features we possess on the outside, and although you touched on this briefly, Mr. Cloud, I don’t believe you and I are delivering the same message to the public on the specifics of this topic.


Just as each human body is as one-of-a-kind as our own fingerprints, so are our specific needs for our specific fitness, wellness and health goals. You mention how vigorous exercise may not be for everyone, and certainly this is a valid and respectable point to mention as you are correct in your statement. Depending on your specific goals, vigorous exercise may NOT be the best possible answer for your body and for attaining these goals, especially if you have any contraindications permitting you from performing high intensity training or if you just simply don't need it for your personal needs. To optimize weight loss in a healthy and efficient manner, you have to incorporate not JUST clean eating or JUST exercise or JUST having a clean mental plate, but all three of these aspects meshed together to create a combined effort of life-long commitment. What controls the body controls the mind, and what controls the mind controls the body. Exercise is not a cure for negative eating habits and patterns. You can train all you want, but if you aren’t receiving the proper nutrients needed for your body to function correctly, you are still going to either plateau, maintain, or (most often) gain weight. With all the junk and processed food we have at our disposal these days, it’s no wonder people aren’t losing weight! The simple science of weight loss first involves a caloric deficit combined with movement. The calories you are expending each day, or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), have, have, HAVE to be more than what you are taking in through food, or reaching your fitness goals of weight loss will be next to impossible.


In your article, you mentioned how obese people actually burn more calories per day than an average person who isn’t overweight might burn. Reverting back to TDEE… A person’s total daily energy expenditure is the sum of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you expend processing and digesting the food you consume, and the calories burned through activity level. The first two variables aren’t subject to too much manipulation as they are, on average, pretty standard in people of similar weight and size. Energy expenditure through physical activity (or lack of, in many cases) is extremely variable and the generally the easiest controlled of the three components that make up TDEE. Scientifically speaking, heavier people burn more calories than lighter people when doing the same work as it takes more energy to fuel and move a heavier body, no matter WHAT the activity may be. This doesn’t cultivate that overweight and obese people are ‘exercising’ any more than average or lighter people, this is just a variable that is proportionate to body weight and size. So, you were essentially correct in your 'findings', Mr. Cloud, but your presentation on the matter was vague and you used this to take advantage of your audience in misguiding them by not explaining the science behind your observation and claim.


‘Exercise’ in itself is a term in which people, like yourself, cringe upon hearing. The word itself is partly deceiving because it has been used synonymously with training in a gym or something similar, and not everyone enjoys training in that environment. It creates a narrow pathway and a sour taste in the mouth of most people and they aren’t able to open their eyes a broader standpoint that all this word essentially is referring to is ‘movement’. As a population, we in no way, shape, or form move as much as we once did. Humans report (as you mentioned) that they are moving ‘more than ever’ and that they are meeting the recommended daily guidelines established by such organizations as ACSM, NSCA and many other accredited organizations. The fact of the matter, plain and simple, is that as life and technology fuse together, we are not moving like our ancestors did, and people tend to over-report their activity levels to begin with. You claim you would be better off not going to the gym and taking up leisure activities and incorporating short bursts of activity into your day whether it be taking the stairs, walking more, etc. Have you actually TRIED doing this or incorporating this into your life? Unless we miraculously have technology stripped from our everyday lives (right down to our vehicles), we will never again, as a human race, acquire the same energy output that our ancestors did way back when no matter HOW many stairs we climb or parking lots we walk. We are a population that is now accustomed to sitting whenever possible and getting up only to sit down once again. I mean, think about it… We (humans) are the only animals on the planet that have managed to change our environment. We have established a convenient world where food can be replenished and where we can rely on technology to do most of our dirty work for us. Sure, we can (and should!) incorporate other daily activities into our lives besides our daily workout at the gym. We should definitely take stairs and walk from here to there. But my point is that we just need to collectively get up and just move no matter where you are going or what you are doing! Every little bit of activity counts and the more calories we burn… the better.


Just as well, I mentioned above that exercise does NOT undue poor eating and nutrition habits. In your case, you claim that it’s because of exercise that you aren’t losing your gut. Have you thought about what your gut might look like if you were to stop exercising?... It appears you are in a maintenance stage as you aren’t gaining or losing any weight, but that you aren’t fusing together the proper elements of an all-around lifestyle change, including the mental, physical and emotional aspects. Clean eating is a tremendous part of weight loss, just as well as eating the right portion sizes, nutrients and nutrient timing, number of meals, and so on. Have you gone or considered seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist? Part of the problem we are facing today is that we are stuffing our faces with processed garbage, artificial flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, white everything (table salt, sugar, flour, etc…), artificial sugars and sugar substitutes, non-organic food and food products plagued with hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, and the list goes on!!! What we fail to realize is that these substances weren’t made to be consumed by the human body and when we are constantly feeding ourselves these substances; our bodies aren't accustomed to digesting these substances and guess what? It stores them. That’s right. Many of them DON’T digest. Try that one on for size. In a world of processed everything and anything, we are basically the guinea pigs of these food companies luring us and feeding us this garbage. If you were to eat clean and keep up your weekly training regiment, I have no doubts that you would see more progress than you are now. Maybe start by asking yourself if you are eating good, quality food and if you are getting the proper nutrients, fiber and servings needed for weight loss to supplement your training. Are you drinking enough water and how many meals are you consuming? It also wouldn’t hurt to seek out advice from a professional who could analyze your dietary intake and give you some helpful suggestions on how to eat right.


Just as well, in your ‘findings’ you say that exercise induces appetite, when in fact just the opposite has been proven to be true (found in studies done by Les Mills, University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, NSCA, etc…). Exercise actually suppresses appetite hormones during and after training and can actually help lead to weight loss if managed properly. When managing your diet for weight loss, it is of dire importance that you are eating the right foods for your body and at the right times. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to lose weight the way you want and you aren’t going to see results even though you are training.


All in all, this article was extremely disappointing as the whole reason why our country and this world are in such a bad state is because of these same reasons you are advocating. As a country, we need to move more, eat better and be more cognizant of our mental state and how we are managing our stress and stress levels. We are no longer living like our ancestors and we have to (sadly) look and search for ways to incorporate activity into our lives and we also have to search high and low for good, quality food that we can feel safe about putting into our systems. Weight loss isn’t an easy task and there are many, many other elements involved in the process. As you can see, life without the caloric expenditure of the past and without clean eating has led us to become the most unhealthy country in the world. And decidedly so. If you look at less established, less industrialized and less commercialized countries where the people rely on the land and hard work through constant labor, they are far better off then we are. They are treating their bodies exactly as nature intended for them to. In America and in other advanced countries, we have the 'luxury' of sitting back and letting technology take the ropes for us in completing our daily tasks. We don’t use our minds or bodies as we used to, yet we eat more food then ever before. The body is very adaptable, but not very fast and efficient at evolving. It takes the human race over 100,000 years to evolve and we are forcing ourselves to go against the grain of Mother Nature by evolving in a way that we aren’t able to quite get a grasp on and handle efficiently.


We are more than capable of making changes, even if we start off small, and you, Mr. Cloud, are no different. Invest some time into learning more about the subject you are committing to sabotage and realize that you are taking the easy way out by looking for a quick fix. You have made yourself the poster-child for what's wrong with our country and the way we think (and what we THINK we know) about health. Dedicate your life to incorporating all aspects of health and fitness into each day with the help of qualified professionals, and you will begin to see the results you are lacking. Many people other than yourself simply aren’t educated on these subjects and therefore have troubles making decisions of their own as they have no prior knowledge to give them a solid base for their assumptions. Stand for something, Mr. Cloud, but stand for something that will help to benefit the world, not something that will give just another excuse to keep ‘sitting’ around waiting for something to happen. That solution will never and has never paid off and it’s not going to start now.


To help prevent a lot of these misconceptions Mr. Cloud so diligently reported on, Connect To Fitness is in the works of establishing a magazine made for and made by professionals and aspiring professionals who can deliver the knowledge they have attained through education, experience, hard work, and through their own misconceptions that have helped them to thrive in this industry. It is being created with the intentions to showcase and feature the best of the best in the Las Vegas Valley and will keep you up to date with a variety of subjects ranging from business to inspiration, to mental exercise to nutrition, to fitness and exercise. It will also spotlight different professionals and different facilities in the area that deserve recognition and will also include job postings and classifieds. We are currently looking to bring together a solid team and I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be happier with the select people who are already on board. You are definitely in for a treat and we want to reach out to you, Faithful Reader, in getting the word out about the opportunity to work with CTF in creating this valuable resource that will provide a wealth of knowledge to you and the public. Ideally, each professional will have a designated topic that they will be designated to report on for each issue, and they will be responsible for creating their articles and columns. CTF is going to work hard to bring you the best of the best with the promise to deliver legitimate, accurate and beneficial information from those who specialize in it. The featured professionals can benefit as well by getting their names out and by sharing their knowledge and experiences with those who desire to learn from those who know best. There is a need for quality information as millions of people read things like Time Magazine and receive deceitful information from people like Mr. Cloud. This needs to be prevented and the truth needs to be exposed.


Join us, Faithful Reader, as we take the next step in our journey to become a better organization for you and for the industry. Let’s help each other to build a solid foundation that can’t be touched and that we can rightfully call, Connect To Fitness. And Mr. Cloud, would you please take (another) seat, and quit your whining?


(If interested in contributing, please contact me directly on Blogspot, Facebook, Myspace, or by email: Epfitness@gmail.com or ConnectToFitness.gmail.com)


Until next week, Faithful Reader…


“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” –Buddah


“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” –Spanish proverb


“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” -Mark Twain