Cheat day

I found the gym.

Usually, it’s crowded with people, but since it’s Christmas Eve, it’s not just quiet but eerily so.

Hoo. Huh.”

I wondered if anyone was inside, so I went in, and Cha Ji-chan was doing squats alone.

They’ve put three large plates on one side, so it must be around 120 kg, but it’s amazing to see someone with such a small frame lift that weight so effortlessly.

“Hyung.”

“Uh, you’re here?”

“I’ll keep walking.”

“Okay.”Hoo-ook.”

The beginning is always a 20-minute walk.

After going through the grueling process of stretching, the main workout, and cool-down exercises, and then walking home, it will be much easier today since I said I would study.

With a light heart, I got on the treadmill and walked for a while when Chajichan approached.

“Isn’t it nice and quiet?”

“Right.” “Is it because it’s Ibra?”

“Maybe?” In the morning, there were some people, but they all went in early.

“How about you?” Aren’t you meeting anyone?

It’s strange that the most sociable person I know, Cha Ji-chan, is alone on Christmas Eve.

I feel burdened, wondering if you stayed behind to watch my workout.

“Today is leg day.”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

It’s a face that asks, “What’s the problem?”

“Disgusting.” Is exercise really that great?

“Sure.” If you keep doing it, you’ll end up like me.

“I don’t want to like it so much that I have to squat with 120kg on my back.”

“120 kg?”

“That.”

When Cha Ji-chan shifts his gaze from the barbell he was using, he suddenly gets angry.

“Hey, how is that 120?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Does the fortune really listen to your ancestors?”

That’s right. How much is the 봉?

“20 kg.”

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Just lifting the pole weighs 20 kg.

People who exercise without putting on the plate suddenly look amazing.

“Anyway, listen while walking.”

Cha Ji-chan increased the treadmill speed from 4 km/h to 6 km/h.

I was walking comfortably, but they are quick to notice.

I noticed that you don’t really understand dieting correctly. “Just eating less isn’t necessarily good.”

“Don’t you have to eat less and move more to lose weight?”

“How can I move a lot when I eat so little?”

“……So, isn’t it tough?”

“Of course it’s tough.” Trying to do something impossible.

“You’re the one who can’t explain it.” Or am I just not getting it? I don’t know what’s wrong.

“Think about it.” “Why did I gain weight?”

“Because I ate a lot.”

“What is the standard for eating a lot?”

“……Calories?”

“Okay.” There’s a concept of recommended calories, and since calories are listed for each food, people think that if they consume fewer calories, they will lose weight, but that’s wrong.

I nodded, thinking I would keep listening.

For example, you ate 2,000 kcal in a day and burned 2,000 kcal. But don’t you think that if you only eat 1,000 kcal, you’ll lose the remaining 1,000 kcal worth of weight?

“Yeah.”

It’s such an obvious thing to say.

“No.” Even if you reduce your food intake, you still need to burn 2,000 kcal for it to be possible.

“Isn’t it?”

If the intake calories decrease, the consumption calories also decrease. If I don’t eat, how can I move?

“Isn’t that why dieting is hard?”

Cha Ji-chan shook his head vigorously.

1 kg of fat is 7,800 kcal. According to the calorie diet theory, burning 7,800 kcal results in losing 1 kg of fat. But how many calories will I burn if I use this treadmill for an hour?

“I don’t know.”

A person weighing 70 kg burns about 300 kcal if they walk for an hour. It means that if you walk for 26 hours, you’ll lose 1 kg of fat. Since you weigh more, you can walk a bit less.

I turned my head and made eye contact with Cha Ji-chan.

It takes 26 hours of walking just to lose 1 kg.

It can’t get more hopeless than this.

“But this calculation is wrong.”

Cha Ji-chan took out his smartphone and showed it to me.

It’s an SBS special documentary.

“The rhythmic gymnast featured here only eats 643 kcal a day.” And I burn 1,755 kcal just through exercise. Since the basal metabolic rate is 1,320 kcal, the total consumption is 3,075 kcal, right?

“Yeah.”

“I consumed 643 kcal, so I’m at a deficit of 2,432 kcal for the day.”

“How come you’re so good at mental math?” A person who can’t even count because they’re in the humanities.

“You’re good at math.”

I can’t stand it anymore.

“This athlete has been doing this routine for six weeks.” 2,432 times 42 is 102,144 kcal burned, and according to the calorie diet theory, you should have lost about 13 kg.

I couldn’t verify it because I couldn’t do mental math, but I nodded anyway.

“But in reality, I’ve only lost 1.5 kg.” “Isn’t it strange?”1)

“Uh…….”

“Why didn’t it come off?”

“I don’t know.”

“There are various reasons.” This player was already too thin. In the first place, it’s impossible to accurately measure the calories the human body burns.

“In this documentary, they calculated it.”

“I guarantee you, it’s impossible.” The calories listed on food labels are approximate to begin with. Everything is wrong.

“…….”

“Anyway, putting other reasons aside, under normal circumstances, my basal metabolic rate has decreased, so I’ve only lost 1.5 kg instead of 13 kg.”

I heard that in order to lose weight, your basal metabolic rate needs to be high.

“Our body reduces its metabolism when we starve.” Even if you eat less, it’s the same.

“Why?”

“To live.”

“Since there’s nothing to eat, should we cut back on spending for now?”

“That’s right.” But there’s an order to it. Basal metabolic rate is an activity that directly affects life. So, if you reduce this, it becomes a threat to life. So when you starve or eat less, the first thing that decreases is your active metabolic rate.

“Oh, so it’s hard to move when you eat less.”

“Okay.” The reason you feel weak and don’t want to move when you skip meals. And if you don’t move, you’ll lose muscle mass, and if the state of starvation continues for a long time, your basal metabolic rate will eventually decrease. Even if you don’t do any activities, since there’s no food, your body gradually slows down its vital functions. No, it can’t help but decrease.

“I understand.”

“Okay.” So, what happens if I eat more in this state?

“Will I get healthy again?”

“Yoyo is coming.”

“……Why?”

“Since you’ve been starving, your body must need a lot of nutrients.”

“Yeah.”

So, even if I eat a little, I try to absorb as much as possible. In the past, even if a lot came in, I would absorb it moderately and discard the rest, but now I don’t have the luxury to do that.

“Wait a moment.” So, doesn’t everything you eat get digested?

“I think I’m starting to understand now.” 그래. Even if you eat 3,000 calories on a regular basis, you don’t absorb all 3,000 calories. For example, if you absorb only 60% under normal conditions, you absorb 80-90% when you’re starving.

“Ah.”

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“This is what we mean when we say someone has a body type that easily gains weight.”

“Wait a minute.” So, you’re saying that exercising is enough?

“I told you.” It lowers the basal metabolic rate. People who don’t know well obsessively stick to low-calorie diets and high-intensity workouts, but this will ruin their bodies. You’re thirsty, but can you keep running while ignoring that?

“I can’t.”

“Nutrients are the same.” If you’re lacking and your body is sending signals, what will happen if you ignore them and just keep exercising?

“What will happen?”

“I can’t do it.” “Someday, you’ll end up giving up.”

“Get your act together?”

“I told you.” This isn’t a matter of willpower. A state of nutrient deficiency is like being thirsty. Can you endure thirst with willpower?

I shook my head.

“People who say that those who can’t lose weight just lack willpower are ignorant.” You too. Dieting is not a matter of willpower. Are you doing it the right way? That’s important.”

“But it’s a bit strange.” Even if you’re thin, I have a lot of fat. “Isn’t it enough to get the energy we need from fat if we don’t eat much?”

“Did you deposit it somewhere?” “How to take it out and use it whenever needed.”

“Is that so?”

“Okay.” The human body isn’t that convenient. It’s not a machine.”

Nodded.

It does burn fat. But what did you say would happen if you eat less?

“They say your activity level decreases.”

“Okay.” Your activity level decreases, right? So, the decrease in basal metabolic rate and activity metabolic rate due to muscle loss occurs together. So what happens then?

“……Wait a minute.” “Please tidy up.”

Cha Ji-chan nodded.

“So if you starve yourself to lose weight, you can reach your goal.” 왜? I use my fat to lose weight. But because of that, my activity level decreases, so my metabolic rate drops. Since I’m losing muscle, my basal metabolic rate is also decreasing. In such a situation, if you reach a normal weight and then eat, it means you will gain more weight than before. “Is that what you mean?”

“That’s right.”

In summary, it means having the most unfair body in the world where you eat less but don’t lose weight.

“But the rhythmic gymnast here eats less but exercises a lot.”

Cha Ji-chan nodded.

“Can you do it like that person?”

“No.”

“And even if you do it like that, there are still problems.” Why did I only lose 1.5 kg in 6 weeks after going through all that? Isn’t it too inefficient to go that far?

As I listened to the explanation, I ended up exceeding the original 20 minutes I had planned to walk.

Looking at the 40 minutes recorded on the treadmill, it seems that walking 5 km during that time has had some effect.

It’s not extremely difficult.

I got off the treadmill, sat down on the floor, and wiped my sweat with my shirt.

“If you look at the documentary we watched earlier, there’s data comparing the daily calorie consumption of the Hadza people in Tanzania and Westerners.”

“Yeah.”

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The Hadza walk and run 10 kilometers every day while living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, while Westerners work in offices. Which one will burn more calories?

“Of course, it will be a self-sufficient community.”

No. There’s no difference.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it strange?”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

People who make a living by hunting must have an enormous amount of activity, yet they are the same as those who sit around.

It’s a completely absurd story.

“That makes sense.” Earlier, you said that if you eat less, your metabolism slows down, right?

“Yeah.”

“Our bodies naturally adapt to the given environment.” If I eat less, I try to use less, and if I move a lot, I try to eat more, or use a small amount of energy efficiently. So I always try to keep my body condition stable. They call this homeostasis.

“Yeah.”

“But the Haja tribe has a certain amount of food they eat each day, so their bodies have adapted to use less energy even when doing the same activities.”

“Please explain it a bit more clearly.”

“When you first walked home from Yeouido, how was it?”

“I felt like I was going to die.”

“Is it about 5~6 km?”

“Yeah.”

“But even now, I still walk 5 kilometers a day.” “Is it hard enough to kill you?”

“Uh.”

I felt it a little while ago, but it’s definitely become easier.

However, if I say it’s easy, they’ll just make me do something harder, so I can’t be honest about it.

“You’re kidding me.”

Cha Ji-chan mocked.

“If you exercise consistently, the muscles you use will develop, and you’ll become accustomed to the activity itself.” In short, it becomes easier. The body adapts to that activity.

“Yeah.”

“And even if you do the same exercise, the calories burned decrease.”

“So, are you saying that even though the Haja tribe people move a lot, their active metabolic rate is low?”

“That’s right.”

“……Then why do you exercise?”

“That’s right.” Now I can finally have a proper conversation. Well, until now, you thought you gained weight because of calories, right?

“Yeah.”

“No.” The reason for gaining weight is insulin.

It’s a good thing, isn’t it?

After being diagnosed with diabetes, I also learned about insulin.

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Insulin plays a role in lowering blood sugar levels, but if this insulin does not function properly, blood sugar levels rise, causing problems.

“If insulin is excessively secreted, the hormone destroys the lipolytic enzyme.” Fat is not broken down, and synthesis is promoted, so you gain weight.

“Ah.”

“But what causes insulin to be secreted?”

“High blood sugar.”

Correct. Insulin is secreted to control blood sugar levels. In other words, managing blood sugar itself is a way to lose weight.

Cha Ji-chan pointed at my belly fat.

“How do I lower my blood sugar?”

“Less.”

I was about to say that I’m eating less, but then I stopped.

“Eat unrefined food and exercise.”

“That’s right.” Calories don’t matter at all. Even if you eat 5,000 kcal a day, if your diet is mainly composed of carbohydrates that spike your blood sugar, you will gain weight. If you eat mainly fats or proteins, you won’t gain weight?”

“Because my blood sugar isn’t rising.” If blood sugar doesn’t rise, insulin secretion also decreases.

“Now we can finally communicate.” So, don’t mess around and just eat a moderate amount of rice, and eat as many fiber-rich vegetables and meat as you want. Exercise to increase muscle mass.

“Does dietary fiber interfere with glucose absorption?”

“That’s right.”

“When muscles grow, they use glucose before it goes into the bloodstream?”

“Go, go, go!”

Simply eating a lot or consuming many calories doesn’t make you gain weight—what a delightful piece of news this is!

It was so hard to resist hunger, but they say it doesn’t matter if you eat a lot as long as you change the type of food.

From tomorrow, I should eat a lot of meat.

Thank you. Now I really get it.

“This is nothing.”

“Then I’ll go.” “Have a great Christmas.”

“Where are you going?”

“Where are you going?” I should go home, right?

“You didn’t exercise, did you?”

I checked the watch.

“It’s already past 9 o’clock.” You should rest too, bro.

“What are you talking about, man?” Let’s start before our bodies cool down.

“……I walked for 40 minutes, you know?”

You did well. Since I’ve warmed up well, I can do a bit more today.

Cha Ji-chan laughed.

“Ugh.” It’s so annoying.

“Jingle Bells?”

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