I’m going to steer away from food for a minute today and talk about exercise. My brother just sent me the following article from Yahoo Health.
Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workout
You knew it had to be coming. If there are pills for eating soon there had to be pills for exercise.
Actually, I am a little surprised that the exercise pills didn’t come first. I mean, most people actually like to eat, however, many people loath exercise.
Of course the pill hasn’t been tested in humans. If you are a mouse and dislike moving your bum, then you might be in luck. The pill not only caused increased calorie burn, but also some signs of increased endurance capacity.
Unfortunately no pill will ever match real exercise, just as no pill can match real food.
You can show me calorie burn and endurance, but what happens to decreased anxiety and depression, healthy bones, muscle development, and socialization.
Now I will be honest. I’m at one of those motivational lows at the current moment where I’m having a really difficult time getting my butt to the gym. Even at times like these, I still wouldn’t consider a pill.
In addition to the fact that I’d miss a ton of benefits, laziness bothers me. Pill = laziness for me in this case.
Even if you have trouble moving due to certain conditions like the article mentions, walking 5 minutes is more beneficial than nothing at all. It is more about behavior change than physical changes a lot of the time.
The best line is the last one in the article. “For the majority of people,” she said, “it would be better to do exercise than to take a pill.”
At least they made a point to say it. Maybe there is still hope.
