Kunzang Namgyal
Mr.Ippolito
AP Biology- EF even
12 April 2018
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront.
This week I decided to review the NY times article “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss,” written by Gretchen Reynolds. Reynolds documented a new study published by the American Diabetes Association that showed evidence that exercise could not be the key to weight loss many imagine it to be. In most studies done on weight loss “the participants lost far less weight than would have been expected, mathematically, given how many additional calories they were burning with their workouts.” This study, led by Daniel Lark, a research fellow in molecular physiology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, supports a theory that changes in daily activity after beginning exercise could be the reason for this discrepancy. The researchers involved in this study used infrared light beams to track mice’s daily movement before and after they began exercising. The researchers first obtained control data by recording “baseline data about each mouse’s metabolism and nature peripatetic-ness” on four young, healthy, normal-weight male mice let loose in cages with running wheels. Many of the mice began running on the wheels for multiple hours each day, causing a spike in their daily energy expenditure. Surprisingly, they did not change their eating habits but instead changed the way in which they moved. “They stopped engaging in the kind of lengthy meanders that had been common before they began to run,” meaning that the mice became more sedentary during other parts of their day. Lark stated that “these changes in how they spent their time neatly managed to almost counteract the extra calorie costs from running.” Although the mice still showed a slight caloric deficit, this deficit could have been about 45 percent greater if they had maintained their daily behavior from before they began exercising.
This article is relevant to anyone who is attempting to lose weight for a multitude of reasons, including personal happiness, health issues, and personal wellbeing. Although this study has only been performed on mice, it still can serve as a guide to help people lose weight more efficiently by reminding anyone hoping to lose weight by exercising that “we [must] watch what we eat and try not to move less while we work out more.” People trying to lose weight must not only exercise and diet, but also must monitor their daily activity to ensure that they are still expending the same amount of energy daily that they previously would have in addition to their exercise.
Overall, this article was well-written and factual. Reynolds gave excellent background on the topic of weight-loss issues by highlighting previous studies, “In recent years, study after study examining exercise and weight loss among people and animals has concluded that, by itself, exercise is not an effective way to drop pounds.” By mentioning the conclusion found by these studies, Reynold seamlessly introduces the new study done at Vanderbilt that finds the reason for the seemingly ineffectiveness of exercise for weight loss. I do wish that Reynolds had gone into further detail on how this study could affect human weight loss plans, as she only briefly mentioned the implications this study could hold for humans.
Olivia Doyle
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
19 April 2018
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront.
This week I read my classmate Kunzang’s review of the article “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss”. The article discussed the change in daily behavior that happens when we exercise, resulting in less caloric deficit. Kunzang did a good job of including direct quotes from the article in describing the study and its results. This established the credibility of her review. Secondly, Kunzang adequately described the study done on the mice, including the details about why more exercise was not leading to weight loss in the mice. Lastly, Kunzang’s summary flows very smoothly and coherently, balancing both quotes and her own analysis of the data.
Although Kunzang’s review was very well-written, there were some areas which she could have improved on. For one, I think Kunzang should have discussed the connection to the mice study and how the results translate to humans in depth more. This would have heightened the interest of the reader, as it pertains to them personally. Additionally, I think Kunzang could have been more specific in her third paragraph when she discusses what the author could have improved on.
This article and Kunzang’s review was both interesting and informative. I never thought about the possible consequences of excessive exercise on our daily behaviors. I am interested to see if further research is done on the mice study, and if new results come out about its similarity to humans.
Jack Kochansky
ReplyDeleteAP Biology EF Even
Mr. Ippolito
19 April 2018
Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss
By Gretchen Reynolds
Reviewed by Kunzang Namgyal
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront.
This week, I decided to read Kunzang’s current event, which reviewed the article Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss by Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times. She did a great job in this review, which was well-written and relevant. First of all, she integrates the information from the study smoothly into her review, citing both the lead researcher and sponsoring university of the research. She also does a good job describing the relevance of the study to people all around the world. Many people struggle with finding ways to lose weight, and a finding like this could significantly impact dieters’ habits everywhere. Finally, Kunzang did a great job integrating quotes from the article and from the researchers in her review. This contributed to her writing and tied it together nicely.
However, while Kunzang’s review was very good, there were a few places where she could have made it even better. For example, it would have been nice if she had gone into a little more detail and suggestions for improvement for the article, as she only had one sentence on that. Also, while she includes lots of good quotes, it would have been even better if she had included more statistics to help us to understand the extent of the study’s implications. Overall, though, Kunzang did an amazing job on this current events review, and it was hard to find things for her to improve upon.
Even though we often think about exercise, we rarely think about how our activity while we are not exercising changes as a result of that. I had never considered that whether or not I run on a given day affects my activity level for the rest of the day, and it is an important consideration. Articles like this are important because they make us more aware of the little things in maintaining good health that we pay less attention to. Even though random meandering does not seem like much exercise, the cumulative effect adds up. It was very interesting to read a current events review about such a pertinent topic.
AP Bio
ReplyDeleteOlivia Scotti
4/19/18
Current Event # 21
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront.
There were many aspects of Kunzang’s review written well. One part of her review that I felt she did particularly well was her description of how exercise may not be key to weight loss. For instance she states how “ This study, led by Daniel Lark, a research fellow in molecular physiology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, supports a theory that changes in daily activity after beginning exercise could be the reason for this discrepancy.” Through this summary the reader is able to understand the main point of the article that is being reviewed. Another part of the review which was done well was the addition of quotes from research on this topic. For example, “The researchers first obtained control data by recording “baseline data about each mouse’s metabolism and nature peripatetic-ness” on four young, healthy, normal-weight male mice let loose in cages with running wheels.” Through this the reader understands what research was conducted. This is also allows the reader to understand the tone of the article through direct quotes from the passage. Another part of the review that was done well was her ability to describe how this discovery is beneficial to the rest of the world. For instance she states, “ Although this study has only been performed on mice, it still can serve as a guide to help people lose weight more efficiently by reminding anyone hoping to lose weight by exercising that “we [must] watch what we eat and try not to move less while we work out more.”” This strengthened her review because the reader was able to see how research is useful for a lot of the population.
Although there were many parts of Kunzang’s review written well there were areas for improvement. One part of her review which could have been improved was her critique paragraph. Although she did mention the negatives and positives of the article I wish she had been less general when stating her positives and gone into more detail. Through adding more specific details about the positives of the article the reader would have had a better understanding of the article. Another part of the article that could have been improved was if she added more details about the new discoveries that could occur from this study. Also this would help strengthen her description of the research as a whole.
Overall, I felt Kunzang’s wrote a strong review of this article which the reader could easily understand. Her review was written clearly and smoothly which allowed the reader to learn about the topic more easily and understand the research conducted. I enjoyed reading this review because I learned more about improving my health. Overall, I liked how she described the research that was done and the effects on the present world. Through her discussion of this article the reader got a better grasp on the topic and the importance of this new discovery.
Sarah Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Bio: Current Event Comment
19 April, 2018
Current Event #22
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-we
ight-loss.html?
This week, I read Kunzang’s review of The New York Times article titled, “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss” by Gretchen Reynolds. In particular, Kunzang did three things well in her response. Firstly, she did a great job describing the research done on mice to test the hypothesis about exercise. By doing this, Kunzang thoroughly summarized the original article and prepared her readers for the rest of her review. Secondly, she did a good job using quotes directly from the article and the researchers performing the study on exercise. This helped establish Kunzang’s credibility as a critic and author. Finally, she did a great job discussing the importance of this topic and the original article that she read and analyzed. By writing about the article’s significance, Kunzang helped her audience better understand her purpose in reviewing the original article.
Although she wrote an in-depth, thoughtful reflection, Kunzang could have improved upon two aspects of her review. Firstly, she could have provided her readers with a better critique of the original author and her article. In doing so, Kunzang would have better prepared her audience before they read the original article. Secondly, she could have alluded to or discussed future research that will be done relating to this topic. If she had done this, Kunzang would have given her readers better insight into the experiment process and would have answered any questions that her audience might have after reading her review.
I chose to read Kunzang’s response because the title of the article that she had read was very intriguing. Despite knowing that exercise alone is not the best method for weight loss, I had wondered what the other options were and how scientists had tested this hypothesis to discover these results. This review is a very important topic to discuss and to emphasize because it is crucial for people to understand how to lose weight in the most efficient and healthiest ways. I thoroughly enjoyed Kunzang’s reflection and learned more about exercise and the keys to losing weight appropriately.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKirsten Ircha 4/19/18
ReplyDeleteAP Biology E/F Even Current Event #22
Citation:
Reynolds, Gretchen. “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/well/move/why-exercise-alone-may-not-be-the-key-to-weight-loss.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront.
My fellow colleague Kunzang Namgyal wrote an insightful review on the article “Why Exercise Alone May Not Be the Key to Weight Loss,” by Gretchen Reynolds. To begin, Kunzang does a great job of summarizing the studies and key scientists spoken about in the article. This allows the review to feel more legitimate and supported by fact. Furthermore, by mentioning scientists and organizations that pertain to the topic, the review feels well thought-out and coherent. Additionally, Kunzang writes about a specific study at length, stating, “The researchers involved in this study used infrared light beams to track mice’s daily movement before and after they began exercising. The researchers first obtained control data by recording “baseline data about each mouse’s metabolism and nature peripatetic-ness” on four young, healthy, normal-weight male mice let loose in cages with running wheels.” By providing this information, the reader has a much better understanding of the studies themselves, along with the result of such studies. Without this information, the audience would not be able to understand what experiments led to the beliefs of the scientists. Lastly, Kunzang uses quotes taken directly from the article, such as when she states, “They stopped engaging in the kind of lengthy meanders that had been common before they began to run.” These quotes allow the review to feel very academic and well comprehended by Kunzang.
Although I enjoyed their review, a couple of areas could it be improved simply to make the piece much better. To begin, I feel that some of the sentences are very simple and noncomplex. This makes the review seem less academic and more casual. As this current event is more of a formal piece, I would like see Kunzang use a greater variety of sentence structure. This improvement could be made through peer editing to ensure that the piece has a better overall quality. Moreover, many of the grammar and word choices are quite simple throughout the piece. To improve this issue, Kunzang could use additional synonyms or different word choices to allow the piece to seem more advanced.
What shocks me most about the review is when Kunzang states, “Although the mice still showed a slight caloric deficit, this deficit could have been about 45 percent greater if they had maintained their daily behavior from before they began exercising.” This statement surprises me so much because I found it very relatable to my life. For instance, if I workout I often feel that I'm able to be lazy for the rest of the day. However, by not maintaining my regular level of activity, my workout essentially becomes worthless. This is the reality for many individuals and can be applicable to many lives. This issue is very interesting and will affect me as I will continue to follow updates on the problem in the future.