Diet Beats Exercise? What’s More Important?

A reader recently sent us the “For Losing Weight, Diet Beats Exercise” article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Erin Allday.  Erin did a nice job reporting the news, it was just the news that was stupid.  In this post, we’d like to take the opportunity to debunk some of this junk with some good old fashioned common sense.  You will notice that in Fantasy Healthball, exercise is the ONLY mandatory challenge in the bunch.  We have a great many health and diet related challenges, but exercise is the only mandatory challenge.  You won’t win much at Fantasy Healthball if you don’t exercise, and we think you won’t win much at life either.  As our reader said, “Being healthy is a whole body job.”  We couldnt’ have said it better. 

The article starts out by saying exercise is not a key ingredient to weight loss.  An excerpt:  ”Is exercise good? Absolutely. But not because it burns calories,” said Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF Children’s Hospital. “Diet is about weight. Exercise is about health.”

Fantasy Healthball:  Huh?  Say that again Doc?  “Diet is about weight and exercise is about health.”  Yeeeah, oookaaay, but isn’t weight about health?  Doesn’t being overweight or obese lead to tons of health problems?  We think this is less about splitting hairs and more about splitting an atom.  Diet and exercise need to go together.  Split them and bad things happen. 

An excerpt:  “Folks are getting a lot of mixed messages about exercise these days. Some studies say just 20 minutes a day of moderate exercise is fine, while others say people need an hour of vigorous exercise most days of the week.”

Fantasy Healthball:  Agreed. There are a lot of mixed messages.  We go with the Surgeon General.  But we also say do what you can.  If you do 20 minutes of moderate exercise each day that is good.  An hour of vigorous is great if you can work up to it.  You need to listen to your body and talk over your planned program with your doctor.  It is all about you and your body, not some overall standards.

An excerpt:  Exercise is great for maintaining weight, but it isn’t the best way to drop pounds. A person would have to burn off about 3,500 calories to lose just one pound.  “Running a mile is about 150 calories for a guy, so to burn a pound of fat, just with exercise, is almost running a marathon,” said Dr. Wayne Smith, co-director of the Medical Weight Management Program at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose.

Fantasy Healthball:  We are big fans of Kaiser, but we think this is a tad misleading.  Like an ocean is a tad wet.  3,500 calories is a pound.  Agreed.  But Rome was not built in a day and neither is weight loss.  Let’s talk about a week.  Losing a pound a week would be burning an extra 500 calories a day (check our math:  7 days x 500 calories/day = 3,500 calories to lose a pound).  Read this to see how it works.  And yes part of that should be exercise but part can be diet too.  You don’t have to get all 500 just in exercise.  Healthiest could be exercising and burning off 250 and reducing 250 calories from your daily intake.  Viola!  You are losing a pound a week and making your heart and body happy.  Superfast weight lost is usually not sustainable, we are going for a bit each week until you meet your goal and it becomes you new habits, your new way of life. 

 

Last excerpt:  On top of that, Smith said, while many people overestimate the calories they burn when they exercise, they also underestimate the calories they eat. People often think exercise gives them the freedom to eat what they want, weight-loss experts say.

Fantasy Healthball:  Good point doc.  Some do.  But our readers know you can’t sit pedaling a stationary bike while eating a banana split and hope to lose weight and build a strong healthy body.  For that, you need both diet AND exercise.  And you need a little motivation and inspiration.  Some competition is a great motivator.  That is where we come in.  – Jim Ballard

NFL Week One – Will you be 0-1 or 1-0? And the 5-step Diet Grief Process

So your first week of Fantasy Healthball (Monday through Saturday) is now behind you.  Your Scorecard for the week should have a little “2″ written in where you met the challenge for the week and a “0″ where you did not.  Add up all your points with any bonus points and get your total score for the week.  This is the score that you will now pit against your fantasy football opponent for the week.  Did you do enough to beat them?  You’ll know soon!

Meanwhile, let’s talk about your week.  Which 7 challenges did you pick?  What did you find hard?  Easy?  If you found some things hard, that is good – getting into great health is not going to come to you on a silver platter.  You need to follow our nutrition advice and exercise input and focus yourself to keep it up.  Even if you start out this week with a loss, you can bounce back next week with a win to move your record to 1-1.  Put together another good week and you are 2-1.  Once you start stringing some victories together, it gets easier and easier.  Questions?  Let us know.  You want to make good decisions during the week so that you have a good chance of scoring higher than your fantasy opponent and winning the week. 

Most of changing your habits and losing weight and getting into great shape is mental.  Fantasy Healthball helps you change your attitude by focusing your football passion into health passion.  But we know how emotional it can be and how years of poor health habits can’t be changed overnight like flicking a switch.  Many people go through steps similar to the 5 steps of grief process. 

1.  Denial - Not a problem for me.  I like being fat and happy. I’ll work this weight off later.  Being overweight is just me.  Besides, my spouse doesn’t mind.  It is no big deal.

2. Anger - Quit pressuring me, jerk!   I eat what I want when I want.  But how did I gain so much weight?  I’m mad at that person in the mirror, who is that?  It is not fair.  My life doesn’t allow me the time to exercise or think about nutrition. 

3.  Bargaining - When I hit 40 (or 50) years old I’ll start getting serious about health.  I’ll cut down on sodas but I will not give up my double mochas with whipped cream. 

4.  Depression – What’s the point?  I’ve never going to fit into those shorts from college anyway.  Eating better isn’t going to change the fact that there is a history of health problems in my family.

5.  Acceptance – I really can do this.  I can drop some pounds and get into healthier shape.  I do feel better when I’m not filling my body with junk.  I can feel good again. 

Where are you on the above?  No matter your stage, it is time to check us out and give it a try.  — Jim Ballard

Fantasy Healthball 2009 Season – DAY ONE!

And so it begins!!  NFL 2009.  Fantasy Healthball 2009.  As you may know from reading our website or this blog, we start our Healthball weeks on Mondays.   We track our health scores through Saturday and then watch the games on Sunday.  Did you do enough to rack up the win?  Did your NFL fantasy opponent take you this week?  Certainly your opponents threw well, ran well, kicked well, defended well, and scored some TDs.  But did you do enough during the week to take them?  To pound them into submission?  

Today is Labor Day and the first day of the 2009 Fantasy Healthball season.  I’ve chosen my 7 health challenges for the week and I’ll record Monday’s scores at the end of today.  By Sunday morning, I’ll know my score for the week.  

Not coincidentally, it is also draft day for Fantasy Healthball.  We just finished our draft and I ended up with these starters:

QB:  Aaron Rodgers

RB:  Matt Forte

RB:  Clinton Portis

WR:  Marques Colston

WR:  Terrell Owens

WR:  Vincent Jackson

TE:  Tony Gonzalez

D/ST:  Chicago Bears

K:  Ryan Longwell

These are the guys I’ll be marching out each week to take on my weekly opponent.  My opponent will try to crush them with his/her own fantasy team AND with his/her Healthball score.  Good luck on that, these guys mean business!  

There is still time to play Fantasy Healthball starting this week – OR, take this as a tune up week and start in earnest next Monday.  If you love football and want to improve your health, eat smarter, learn about health, lose some weight, etc, you will be very glad you found Fantasy Healthball!  – Jim Ballard

Top TE’s in New Cities – Fantasy Draft Files

 

Top TE’s in New Cities

The top two tight ends moving on to new teams are Tony Gonzalez (Falcons) and Kellen Winslow (Buccaneers).  Which one will benefit most from his new surroundings?  Which one will be the better choice in your upcoming fantasy draft?  We examine these two today.

Tony Gonzalez will definitely be enshrined in Canton one day as arguably the greatest receiving TE ever.  His receiving numbers have been terrific, year-in and year-out for more than a decade.  Now moving on to the resurgent Atlanta Falcons, Gonzalez figures to continue his track record of success.  The surrounding cast in Atlanta is a huge upgrade over the teammates he left behind in Kansas City.  Figure the Falcons to move the ball often enough to be firmly in the top half of the league in total offense and scoring.  

The drawback is the number of other terrific offensive players that will no doubt cut into some of the opportunities Gonzalez is used to seeing.  In KC, Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe were absolutely all they had for receiving options.  Now, he has to spread the wealth much more.  

The Roddy White contract holdout during this training camp is worth watching, but I fully expect Gonzalez to be a very safe pick in your draft.  Even with a few less catches, he will still be dangerous in the red-zone and expect QB Matt Ryan to find him at least as many as the 7 TD’s Gonzalez has averaged the past two seasons in KC.

If Tony Gonzalez is not the greatest receiving TE in the history of the game, then it may have been Kellen Winslow, Sr.  Unfortunately, that’s not the Kellen Winslow that will be suiting up in Tampa Bay this season.  His son, Kellen Winslow, is a terrific athlete in his own right, but has been a career disappointment to date.  Now with a fresh start back in the state of Florida where he played his college ball, the potential for a breakout season is there.  

However, the unsettled QB situation in Tampa, along with a new coaching staff and a new offensive scheme to learn, may be too much for Winslow to really post big numbers this season.  We say give Winslow one more season to prove he can be a Top-10 TE before we commit our fantasy season to him.  We’d steer clear of Winslow and let someone else roll the dice this season.

The top two fantasy football tight ends moving on to new teams are Tony Gonzalez (Falcons) and Kellen Winslow (Buccaneers).  Which one will benefit most from his new surroundings?  Which one will be the better choice in your 2009 fantasy draft?  We examine these two today.

Tony Gonzalez will definitely be enshrined in Canton one day as arguably the greatest receiving TE ever.  His receiving numbers have been terrific, year-in and year-out for more than a decade.  Now moving on to the resurgent Atlanta Falcons, Gonzalez figures to continue his track record of success.  The surrounding cast in Atlanta is a huge upgrade over the teammates he left behind in Kansas City.  Figure the Falcons to move the ball often enough to be firmly in the top half of the league in total offense and scoring.  

The drawback is the number of other terrific offensive players that will no doubt cut into some of the opportunities Gonzalez is used to seeing.  In KC, Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe were absolutely all they had for receiving options.  Now, he has to spread the wealth much more.  I fully expect Gonzalez to be a very safe pick in your draft.  Even with a few less catches, he will still be dangerous in the red-zone and expect QB Matt Ryan to find him at least as many as the 7 TD’s Gonzalez has averaged the past two seasons in KC.

If Tony Gonzalez is not the greatest receiving TE in the history of the game, then it may have been Kellen Winslow, Sr.  Unfortunately, that’s not the Kellen Winslow that will be suiting up in Tampa Bay this season.  His son, Kellen Winslow, is a terrific athlete in his own right, but has been a career disappointment to date.  Now with a fresh start back in the state of Florida where he played his college ball, the potential for a breakout season is there.  

However, the unsettled QB situation in Tampa, along with a new coaching staff and a new offensive scheme to learn, may be too much for Winslow to really post big numbers this season.  We say give Winslow one more season to prove he can be a Top-10 TE before we commit our fantasy season to him.  We’d steer clear of Winslow and let someone else roll the dice this season.  Both these guys will be ready for the season, will you be?  – Jeff Hagen

Play Fantasy Healthball with us – Get in great shape this fall/winter

Even if you weren’t one of the first to respond and join our custom league, you can still play Fantasy Healthball this 2009 NFL season with your friends or even by yourself.  Think about it.  It is easier to stay in shape in the summer time.  Days are longer, it stay light well into the evening (allowing for outdoor activities), the weather is nicer and inspiring to get outside, and the throngs of people outside in shorts and tank tops inspire you to fit into that old pair of shorts you love or that old bathing suit. 

But then winter comes.  Days are short.  It is dark by the time you get out of work.  It is cold or windy or rainy or all three.  Everyone is bundled up in layers of clothing, not a flat tummy in sight.  It is the time of year your brain might be telling you, “time to pack on some calories and get ready to hibernate until the thaw.” 

Well my friends, Fantasy Healthball is what separates us from the grizzly bears.  Our bodies do not need to pack on fat for the long winter.  Our bodies need just as much exercise and vitamins and minerals through nutrient rich food as we do in the summer time.  So play our game with us.  You are going to be watching football anyway, you might as well be getting into great shape as you are doing it!  Check out the “Start Playing” section of our website to learn all the details and then come back here for updates and advice.  By the way, this is a 2-way communication with our fans.  Send us an email or leave us a comment on our blog and we’ll get back to you. 

And now I must get back to preparing for our custom league draft on Monday.  You probably know Jeff is our fantasy guru, but here is how I have the top ten running backs ranked for this year’s draft as of right now.  I have Forte higher than most experts as he is going to be an even bigger catching threat with a first-year Cutler in addition to his usual awesome running.  And I have Frank Gore higher than most because he has never been more fired up in his career.  A hall of fame middle linebacker as a coach will do that for a guy. 

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Matt Forte
3. Michael Turner
4. Maurice Jones-Drew
5. Frank Gore
6. DeAngelo Williams
7. LaDainian Tomlinson
8. Brandon Jacobs
9. Brian Westbrook
10. Steven Jackson

How will you compare with the season of these guys?  Find out now.  — Jim Ballard