Does TV make you fat?
I’m back from an awesome weekend full of father’s day fun.
Lots of playing in the pool and spending time with family.
I was even allowed a little ‘kid free’ down time to catch up on some reading.
During this time I managed to read an article about how increased TV and computer time are making our society fat.
While reading this article I thought to myself “RIGHT ON – KILL YOUR TELEVISION!”
But then I stopped.
After all, the key to progress is to challenge the things we automatically assume to be true.
So do TV and computers make you fat?
Personally, I figure I only spend about 6 of my 16 awake hours NOT in-front of a computer.And this is on a good day.
Of those 6 hours some are spent driving (sitting), some eating (also sitting), and some playing with Brier and Ro (typically moving around, but it’s not like I’m doing wind sprints).
The point is I am in-front of a computer ALL the time.
If I’m not in-front of a computer then I am reading.
My success is based around me reading and keeping as up-to-date as possible. I have no choice but to read and write as much as possible (good thing I love it!)
So for me, TV or Computer time has not made me fat.
I know that other people who make livings on line also spend a great deal of time reading and writing. Craig Ballantyne, Vince Delmonte, John Barban, Joel Marion, these are all people who are probably in front of a computer as much or more than the average person, but each one of them is much leaner and more muscular than the active person. (just a random selection of people who have pictures available)
The difference?
These people have all been consistent with their workouts. They all weight train 2-5 times per week. AND, as an average they all eat less than the average person.
The bottom line – blaming TV and Computers for our obesity epidemic is easy (since it takes the blame off of eating and exercising) but its probably unfounded. My guess is, it IS a contributing factor (especially fast food commercials), but not a direct causal link.
There are people (like myself) who spend an EXCESSIVE amount of time in-front of a computer, that still maintain a lean body.
It is possible.
As always, the key to losing weight is to eat less and move more…and the moving more part does not mean you have to be active 10 hours every day! If your diet is in order, then you can lose weight and maintain a lean body without being obsessive about exercise, nor do you have to quit your day job.
BP
Couldn’t agree more Brad. When I was working in an 9-5 office environment, 90% of my co-workers would complain about being out of shape and blame their work environment, specifically sitting in front of a computer all day, as the reason for their bulges.
Funny how how the candy dish full of M&Ms and the vending machines were never blamed? Incredible…
It’s always too easy to blame external factors and not take personal responsibility. In my workplace, everyone is allowed an additional 30 min daily in addition to their 60 min lunch break in order to exercise. Is everyone lean and in top shape…hardly. They still complain about having “no time” to “fit in exercise”, and these are the same people who regularly purchase pop, chips, chocolate and other high fat & sugar snack foods in the canteen.
Hello Brad,
I look at your ETE program like a Ven Diagram where one side is for Muscle Gain and the other for Fat Loss regarding food and excercise, with the middle section being the coorelating impacting on both.
So, I go to the gym to build muscle and ESE to lose weight. I know that nutrition has an impact on muscle building and muscle building has an impact on weight loss, but where would you put cardio? Is it a necesssary component for weight loss or is it catabolic for muscle gain?
Should I concentrate on weight training, cardio, or both to lose weight while doing ESE?
I hope this makes sense without the diagram.
Thanks!
I agree, I think some people in some places have been becoming sedentary for a long time now. You can blame tv and computers, but people had desk jobs long before computers. And people listened to their favorite radio shows before there was tv. But food has become much more available. Agriculture, supermarkets give us the meat we once had to hunt and kill and convenience stores provide extremely calorically dense food just around the corner. And they just keep getting more dense and refined.
the pc is much better for me than tv. im easily influenced by madison avenue. all that food porn on tv gets my tastes buds going. i can only watch so many cheesy, goey pizza ads before i start to question my fast.
on the pc, i can focus on health, exercise, momentum. where the focus goes the energy flows, and progress shows. not sure where i read that but im certian it was online. lol.
Brad, here’s my current workout plan and diet.
I hit the gym 3 times a week: chest/back, shoulders/abs and arms. Fast twice a day and eat under maintenance the rest of the time. Hit cardio 3 – 4 times a week (10 mins hiit + 30 mins steady state), my workout consists of two 5×5 exercises and one 4×8 exercises (both strength and size) for each bodypart. Was just wondering though, as you had a bodybuilding background and so can now stay lean and don’t need anymore muscle, what advice would you give to someone who does not have enough muscle of their frame yet to stay around that weight and look good lean? I was thinking of dropping down to single digit bodyfat % and then try and add some muscle? What would you recommend? Does the workout plan look good too? Thanks.
Brad,
It seems for all the time I spend writing, talking, reading, and coaching about fitness I should get SOME crossover credit for “workout” time – and I know you must feel the same way! Truth is, we all need to take the time and if it isn’t built in (and especially if it’s built “out”) of our day, our workouts need to be even more rigorous and scheduled.
Yet as you point out, it is possible!
Lani
P.S. happy belated Father’s Day, the pic of you and baby on your posts at Twitter are just too too charming
Brad: This reminds of a study I read recently on a link between sitting time and mortality. Researchers concluded that there is a dose-response association between sitting time and mortality from all causes and cardiovascular disase, independent of leisure time physical activity. In addition to the promotion of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and a healthy weight, they discouraged sitting for extended periods! If anyone wants to look this study up here’s a link to the abstract: http://www.ms-se.com/pt/re/msse/abstract.00005768-200905000-00005.htm;jsessionid=KD6Zj3y2qyK7nxqyf1jJYrJT83Q2VSmp7XjvGFdJtNphKQLg2yXv!-847254088!181195628!8091!-1