What do you think is healthier?

Lowconfidence · 04-25-2009, 11:21 AM

Two options. Which one do you think is healthier?

1) Never participates in any physical activity. Eats well all the time and maintains a very good bodyweight.

2) Workouts and does cardio on a regular basis. Strength and cardiovascular are above average. Doesn't maintain good eating habits and is 20lbs over the suggested bodyweight.

COtuner · 04-25-2009, 11:27 AM

That depends on a lot of other factors. In case #1, is the person a high percentage of body fat despite the good weight? Are they active during the day by going places duringthe day, doing housework, etc etc? What is their genetic makeup and risk for disease? What environment do they live in? In case #2, where is the additional weight located? How poor are the eating habits? Do they have other bad habits? And the additional questions from #1.... all goes to say, it's not quite that simple.

velvette · 04-25-2009, 11:32 AM

I'd think #1 is better. food is more important than exercise for health overall.

Timebandit · 04-25-2009, 11:33 AM

I agree with the other poster. The answer is completely contextual.

In general (from what I've gathered), a little extra weight does not mean that much, if you are otherwise living a healthy lifestyle. Often however, extra weight is a symptom of a bad lifestyle (which is the main problem).

But again, there are so many variables involved, such as genetic markup, health in general etc.

alli · 04-25-2009, 11:35 AM

I used to work with a woman who was taking some sort of class on healthy eating & getting in shape. She said that they told her in the class it was better to eat less healthy and exercise than to eat very healthy but never exercise.

If you think about it, person #2 is probably getting the nutritional requirements they need along with the unhealthy food. As long as they have a clean health check (good cholesterol, blood pressure, no diabetes, good heart rate, strong bones & muscles etc) then really the 20lbs is just vanity.

Person #1, while eating healthy, is not doing anything to pump their heart rate, keep their cholesterol low, strengthen muscles & bones, etc. They could be fairly weak and have not have as much lung capacity as they should. So they might weigh less, but weight is not necessarily the strongest indicator of good health.

#2 is probably healthier. As long as the extra 20lbs isn't causing any negative effects on their health, they are definitely healthier.

Then again, weight is relative. 20lbs on a 5' 1" female is much more significant than on a 6'2" male.

dragon lady · 04-25-2009, 11:36 AM

#1 would be better as long as they get at least minimal exercise (walking around a mall for example). If all they do is lay in bed all day, then they are going to have problems.

#2 is going to run into a lot of problems in the future.

la'isla · 04-25-2009, 11:38 AM

it depends HOW badly person #2 eats. is it mcdonald's twice a week or is it 4 times a day? plus person #1 will still be walking and doing other things, even if s/he is not working out.

Crazyaboutdogs · 04-25-2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COtuner

That depends on a lot of other factors. In case #1, is the person a high percentage of body fat despite the good weight? Are they active during the day by going places duringthe day, doing housework, etc etc? What is their genetic makeup and risk for disease? What environment do they live in? In case #2, where is the additional weight located? How poor are the eating habits? Do they have other bad habits? And the additional questions from #1.... all goes to say, it's not quite that simple.

Yep, I agree. Genetic makeup, other habits and other environmental issues come into play as well. Even if a person eats healthy and works out doesn't necessarily mean they will be healthy. If that person chooses a lifestyle with lots of bar hopping and alcohol consumption, or having several sex partners over the course of 6 months or a year, while they may lower their risk of certain cancers and heart problems they may increase the risk of STDs and liver problems. Or...they may eat healthy and work out but then have all kinds of problems with knees, joints, hips etc...or if they text message all the time on these little tiny phones and blackberry's, down the road they might end up with problems with the joints in the thumb. There is more to being healthy than taking care of the heart...there are many many many things that can go wrong in the body despite your best efforts to eat healthy and exercise....and many people may focus heavily on one aspect of being healthy but totally neglect other aspects of what it takes to be healthy. Also, emotional health is just as important as physical health. You can have the perfect body and eat all things healthy, but if you are not emotionally healty and have all kinds of emotional hangups which cause problems for the people around you then that is not good either.

Nixee · 04-25-2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COtuner

That depends on a lot of other factors. In case #1, is the person a high percentage of body fat despite the good weight? Are they active during the day by going places duringthe day, doing housework, etc etc? What is their genetic makeup and risk for disease? What environment do they live in? In case #2, where is the additional weight located? How poor are the eating habits? Do they have other bad habits? And the additional questions from #1.... all goes to say, it's not quite that simple.

Completely agree with this. It isn't that simple.

However, generally speaking, exercise alone is not a substitute that allows you to eat poorly.

Overall, being well nourished and a proper weight (also assuming a good muscle/fat ratio) would seem a bit more healthful to me than the person who eats only junk and has excess fat.

dragon lady · 04-25-2009, 11:42 AM

Stress is another big part of it. Even if you eat well and exercise, if you are chronically stressed, you will run into a lot more health problems than someone who leads a more relaxed lifestyle. You probably won't live as long either.

04-25-2009, 11:21 AM	#1
Lowconfidence Offline Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ontario Gender: Male Posts: 645	What do you think is healthier? Two options. Which one do you think is healthier? 1) Never participates in any physical activity. Eats well all the time and maintains a very good bodyweight. 2) Workouts and does cardio on a regular basis. Strength and cardiovascular are above average. Doesn't maintain good eating habits and is 20lbs over the suggested bodyweight.

04-25-2009, 11:27 AM	#2
COtuner Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 4,102	That depends on a lot of other factors. In case #1, is the person a high percentage of body fat despite the good weight? Are they active during the day by going places duringthe day, doing housework, etc etc? What is their genetic makeup and risk for disease? What environment do they live in? In case #2, where is the additional weight located? How poor are the eating habits? Do they have other bad habits? And the additional questions from #1.... all goes to say, it's not quite that simple.

04-25-2009, 11:32 AM	#3
velvette Offline Silver Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 483	I'd think #1 is better. food is more important than exercise for health overall.

04-25-2009, 11:33 AM	#4
Timebandit Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Gender: Male Age: 36 Posts: 1,120	I agree with the other poster. The answer is completely contextual. In general (from what I've gathered), a little extra weight does not mean that much, if you are otherwise living a healthy lifestyle. Often however, extra weight is a symptom of a bad lifestyle (which is the main problem). But again, there are so many variables involved, such as genetic markup, health in general etc.

04-25-2009, 11:35 AM	#5
alli Online Platinum Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Gender: Female Age: 25 Posts: 2,363	I used to work with a woman who was taking some sort of class on healthy eating & getting in shape. She said that they told her in the class it was better to eat less healthy and exercise than to eat very healthy but never exercise. If you think about it, person #2 is probably getting the nutritional requirements they need along with the unhealthy food. As long as they have a clean health check (good cholesterol, blood pressure, no diabetes, good heart rate, strong bones & muscles etc) then really the 20lbs is just vanity. Person #1, while eating healthy, is not doing anything to pump their heart rate, keep their cholesterol low, strengthen muscles & bones, etc. They could be fairly weak and have not have as much lung capacity as they should. So they might weigh less, but weight is not necessarily the strongest indicator of good health. #2 is probably healthier. As long as the extra 20lbs isn't causing any negative effects on their health, they are definitely healthier. Then again, weight is relative. 20lbs on a 5' 1" female is much more significant than on a 6'2" male.

04-25-2009, 11:36 AM	#6
dragon lady Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Gender: Female Age: 23 Posts: 2,615	#1 would be better as long as they get at least minimal exercise (walking around a mall for example). If all they do is lay in bed all day, then they are going to have problems. #2 is going to run into a lot of problems in the future.

04-25-2009, 11:38 AM	#7
la'isla Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Canadian Gender: Female Posts: 2,306	it depends HOW badly person #2 eats. is it mcdonald's twice a week or is it 4 times a day? plus person #1 will still be walking and doing other things, even if s/he is not working out.

04-25-2009, 11:42 AM	#10
dragon lady Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Gender: Female Age: 23 Posts: 2,615	Stress is another big part of it. Even if you eat well and exercise, if you are chronically stressed, you will run into a lot more health problems than someone who leads a more relaxed lifestyle. You probably won't live as long either.