DOUGHNUTS + EXERCISE = BIG, JITTERY DISAPPOINTMENT

I found a couple stories on Yahoo! this morning that I found interesting for different reasons. The first is about a food scientist in North Carolina who found a way to infuse doughnuts with caffiene. According to the article, each donut packs the eye-opening power of two cups of coffee. I'm a regular coffee drinker, so this "caffnut" (I just made that name up) means nothing to me, but I can understand how it might appeal to non-coffee drinkers. Although I'd like to see what would happen if someone wandered into the kitchen at work and accidentally ate one or two of these things with their double shot of espresso.

Eat enough doughnuts and this second story might apply to you. Researchers at some college found that dieting and exercise are equal when it comes to losing weight. In other words, a calorie lost by dieting is the same as a calorie burned by exercise. So while I'm reading this I immediately thought, "That's bullshit." After all, I you burn 100 calories while running, aren't you also adding muscle? And the more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns on a daily basis, right? So exercise is actually better...RIGHT? Seriously, please tell me that's still true. Well, according to these "researchers," my high school gym teacher and every trainer I've ever talked to is dead wrong because the next sentence in the article was:

"And their carefully controlled study added to evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight."

That news really sucks. If there's one thing that motivates me while I'm lifting weights (which I hate only slightly less than running), it's the thought that my futurely muscular body will be capable of consuming massive amounts of calories every day without risking my six pack. Stupid researchers.

By the way, the study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. I go to the book store all the time and read lots of magazines while drinking my coffee and I've never seen this "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" anywhere. Just saying.