So much for exercise?

How much exercise does it take to lose weight? Apparently a lot more than you previously believe. A new study just came out saying that daily, moderate exercise of 30 minutes doesn't do much to remove the bulge. OK. Let's think this through. A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories; so when you eat fewer calories than your body naturally burns, that amount adds up, and when it reaches 3,500, you lose one pound. Exercise accelerates that count. Now, 30 minutes of moderate exercise burns off about 6-7 calories a minute. That's about 200 calories -- not a lot, but it adds up. So, let's put this all together. If you burn off about 200 exercise calories a day but still eat, let's say, an entire pepperoni pizza for dinner, you're not going to lose weight. But if you cut calorie intake and exercise, the long term benefit will be a healthier, thinner you. So don't give up that treadmill. Just realize that exercise alone won't do the trick. Unless you run marathons.

Illustration by Duane Hoffmann / MSNBC

Three cheers for Fresh & Easy!

Back in my hometown of Norwalk, Calif., I dropped in on the new Fresh & Easy market a few blocks from my parents house. I've heard about the place, but had yet to visit.

Wow. What an improvement over regular supermarkets and that evil, elitist Trader Joe's. Fresh & Easy's concept is the return of the neighborhood market, and it works. The stores are smaller, but the selections of fresh, tasty foods is quite good and at excellent prices. Shopping there was actually an enjoyable experience.

Better yet, the F&E folks are opening these clean, easy-to-shop-in stores in lower income, minority neighborhoods like Norwalk and South Los Angeles, where normal grocers fear to go, or if they do, charge higher prices for food. Having access to quality, affordable food has always been a problem in poor, minority neighborhoods and a contributing factor toward the obesity epidemic in America today. So, from me, all hail Fresh & Easy! A special Nobel prize should be coming their way.

(F&E is only in Arizona, Nevada and Cali at this point, but we want to see them go nationwide. America needs this! Oh, did I mention they're British?)

The South rises again ... in weight

Our friends at the CDC report in their catchily titled publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that the South once again is America's most obese region. I quote:

By region, the prevalence of obesity was higher in the South (27.3%) and Midwest (26.5%) and lower in the Northeast (24.4%) and West (23.1%). State-specific obesity prevalence ranged from 18.7% to 32.0% and was <20%>30% in three states: Alabama (30.3%), Mississippi (32.0%), and Tennessee (30.1%). No state met the Healthy People 2010 target of 15%, and 30 states had obesity prevalence >25%.

It's not like they ran away with the title; we're only talking a few percentage points separating the regions. Among the most obese states, you can see that only three -- all in the South -- break the 30% barrier. Could be the food; could be the poverty; could be the culture. It's probably all three. I blame NASCAR. And the CDC, which is located in Atlanta. And Waffle Houses, which are pure evil.

Deeper into these stats, we can see that college-educated men and women are less obese. What's the tie? Folks with degrees earn more money, and thus can spend more on food. And healthy food costs more than fatty, calorie-rich food. When you're poor, you're not shopping at Whole Foods.

Here is how you do it

Forget about the Atkins diets and all those other gimmicks. This is how you lose weight and keep it off. Good job.

This is crap

So here's this story on CNN.com saying, "Low-carb diet beats other diets in study." You could say that the Atkins approach -- low carbs -- beat the low-fat approach, but I'm here to tell you this is a load of duck turd. Both of these diets will doom you to failure. You will lose weight with either, but unless you address the basic math of weight managment -- where combining calorie intake minus calorie expenditure (i.e. exercise) is compared to the base level of calories your body requires each day -- you will not reach a long-term healthy solution. And you'll get fat again. Listen people: It's not carbs, and it's not fats. It's calories. Do not take in more calories than your body needs. It's that simple. And when you exercise, you can take in even more calories. And that's good. Again, there are no quick fixes, no gimmicks. I bet you know that.

Chicken for breakfast?

It seems Time magazine is jumping on the healthy-eating bandwagon, which is a staple of editors looking for easy summer stories that allow them to take vacations. In the current issue, Joel Stein waxes philosophically about chicken for breakfast and why we eat the things we do each morning (which, by the way, are predominantly not good for you -- donuts, bacon, sugar-heavy cereals, three-egg omelets, etc.). Then, Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Fit Nation column delves into the primary reason people fall off the dietary wagon: bad food tastes good. No kidding. A solution? "When it's time for a diet, the first thing you want to do is hit the spice rack," he writes. Great idea, but honestly, how many of us know how to cook well with the abundance of spices available at the local market? To eat well, both for good health and good flavor, takes real effort. Every day. Every week. Yikes. It's like having a part-time job.

Illustration by Jack Gallagher for Time