Do you lose weight faster if you exercise?

bethanyhiggins_xx

if I excercise and don't eat back my excercise calories will I lose weight faster than with just diet?

Thanks

Mycophilia

Yes, you are creating a larger calorie deficit.

oh_happy_day

Yes, and you'll like lose inches as well as lbs off the scale.

bethanyhiggins_xx

Thanks

Sued0nim

If you are following the MFP method you should eat back your exercise calories (well at least half of the MFP database / machine burns)

helenrosec1

You can lose weight without exercising though, say if you're injured and cannot exercise, as long as you're eating less calories than you're burning.

ariamythe

In addition to calorie deficit, there's also metabolic benefits to working out that improve weight loss and overall health; it's modest, but every bit helps .

999tigger

Yes because you are burning additional calories, all things being equal. The health benefits are more important and it takes a lot of exercise to burn 1lb of fat.

jamesha100

If you do eat back your exercise calories then be very wary of trusting the figures that MFP gives you as they always seem on the high side to me - not sure if anyone else feels this too? As a rule of thumb I divide the MFP calories by two if I am eating back the calories (which I rarely do)>

barbecuesauce

jamesha100 wrote: »

If you do eat back your exercise calories then be very wary of trusting the figures that MFP gives you as they always seem on the high side to me - not sure if anyone else feels this too? As a rule of thumb I divide the MFP calories by two if I am eating back the calories (which I rarely do)>

I think you should eat back at least some. I didn't eat back any and wound up exhausted and losing hair.

I ate 50% for a month. Lost faster than planned. I ate 100% for more than a month. Slowed down my loss, but still lost.

Result: I think I am about 75% as efficient at burning calories as MFP thinks I am. YMMV.

Machka9

Do you lose weight faster if you exercise? No.

But I lose weight a whole lot more comfortably.

Shreshy

Definitely , especially if you burn off more calories than you consume. I'm talking from experience.

professionalHobbyist

Exercise can help burn more calories as you know. So if you want some extra small amour of food, you can work it off. The key is small amount.

I like exercise for reshaping my body.

What do you want to look like?

Do you want shapely legs? A round shoulder cap? Those are muscles you add lifting a bit.

I was 125 lbs heavier and a lump. With diet to be in a calorie deficit and targeted muscle building I'm not a lump now.

Exercise is great! Strongly encourage sensible resistance training that your body is ready for.

Liftng4Lis

MFP is designed to eat back the exercise calories (most eat a portion of them). What's the rush? Wouldn't you rather maintain more muscle mass and have sustainability?

kshama2001

I exercise because I feel better physically, sleep better, and get more calories so I can eat the way I like and not feel deprived. Weight loss is a bonus.

lemurcat12

You should not aim for a weekly loss more than 1% of total weight (or 1-2 lbs/week) unless being monitored by a doctor. That's why MFP caps it at 2 lb/week and 1200. You also should not net (food-exercise) a crazy low number, again unless on a doctor monitored plan. That's why MFP is set up to have NET 1200 as the low.

If you aim for a moderate deficit and add exercise without eating it back (say 1 lb/week and a reasonable amount of exercise), it's a good way to increase your loss. If you do something extreme like 1200 or -2 lb/week and then exercise intensely it's a good way to hurt yourself, burn out, get into bingeing or go off plan, as well as to encourage losing more muscle than you need to. Going too low also makes it more likely that you will dampen your metabolism in the long term, according to at least one study I've seen.

On the other hand, if you have a choice between achieving the same deficit through eating less or a combination of eating less and exercise, there are tons of positives to the latter choice. I think exercise is really important to health and fitness if you are someone who has the physical capacity to include it (and doing what you can is always great, including increased walking).