In one of the New York Times blogs, they reported on a study that sought to evaluate the effects of lean muscle mass on one's ability to fight cancer. Part of what fascinated me was that all of their participants were obese. Although they were all obese, they differed widely in how much lean muscle mass they had. The study found that having less muscle was associated with lower rates of survival.

Now, it's important to note that the study doesn't address things like whether adding muscle mass after a diagnosis can help. It doesn't address the mechanism at all for how increased muscle mass may be helping.

Still, it's one more piece of evidence that fitness is more important than fatness. Weight loss is so seldom permanent. Failure rates for most diets are estimated at around 95%. It's a better bet to go for the low hanging fruit first - increasing physical activity. Increased physical activity is also, of course, associated with lower body weight.

It's nice, knowing that running may be benefiting my health. It's not the reason I run, but it's still good to know. I don't really worry about my weight. If you put me in a race against myself, 15 years younger and 30 pounds lighter, it wouldn't even be close. The way I figure it, that means I'm doing just fine.