Hello!! Thoughts on the 70% nutrition, 30% gym mentality??

lemurcat12

I think what people are saying is NOT that you can't create a deficit from working out (although at first when one could be losing, say, 2 lb/week, it is unlikely that the fitness level is such that one could get the whole deficit that way -- I currently am trying to do .5-1 lb/week with just exercise and it's harder than focusing on cutting calories was, as I tend to get hungrier when I have huge burns--like today when I biked 70 miles).

Instead, that even if you choose to get your burn from working out, that most people who have become overweight will ALSO have to do something to control intake. It might be cutting calories, it might simply be making sure you don't increase calories. It could be logging/weighing and could be portion control. But leaving out the intake side entirely usually means you don't lose (and this is why there are tons of stories of people gaining weight training for a marathon). Leaving out exercise -- while not desirable for most, IMO -- doesn't have the same effect.

That said, I don't understand the efforts to quantify it as 70% or 80% and psychologically I find exercise at least as important.

tomatoey

lemurcat12 wrote: »

That said, I don't understand the efforts to quantify it as 70% or 80% and psychologically I find exercise at least as important.

Same, I think it's reinforcing in a few ways

OldAssDude

Here is what the CDC says about exercise for a healthy weight...

cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

I guess they are wrong too.

stevencloser

bcalvanese wrote: »

Here is what the CDC says about exercise for a healthy weight...

cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

I guess they are wrong too.

Them saying "the only way to maintain weight loss is exercise" is actually just wrong, yes. Good catch on that.

gentlygently

Mmmm well this is exactly the kind of MFP postings that lead to me abandoning the main boards ages ago and only using a small interest group forum...! I won't be coming back again for a while, even if all this silly argument nonsense is so laughable.

Anyway - I just thought I'd tell you about a recent visit to the beach. Pretty much all the people up by the beach huts were doing BBQs and picnics and pretty much all were overweight. About 20 yards further walk into the sand there was less eating, and less obesity. Another 30 yards or so further into the beach towards the sea mainly slim people were playing beach ball games. No great big picnic coolers, may be just some sandwich bags. And a further 20 yards or so more of walking, and pretty much everyone actually playing in the sea was slim.

Not sure it tells us much causality wise - but it was striking. My interpretation was the fittest (both senses of the word) people were clearly doing both - fun excercise, and proportionate eating. Maybe the sea swimmers were big BBQ eaters too, just good at burning it off. Maybe they only had hummus sandwiches. Who knows....

I cannot imagine the OP is still around on this thread. But we all have to find the % excercise / food balance that works for us. What 'ratio' is going to depend on what and how much you like to eat, and what exercise you manage or even like to do....ie your own preferences and strengths / challenges. So we find our personal sustainable way of losing/maintaining.

555_FILK

mccindy72 wrote: »

555_FILK wrote: »

derekspiewak wrote: »

Eat to lose weight. Exercise to gain strength.

Trolly troll is trolling!

Eating adds weight. Exercise burns weight.

Weight gain happens in the kitchen.

#alltrue

Ah, not likely. Control over weight happens in the kitchen, as in what you put into your mouth. Exercise burns calories, but not enough to make any difference over bad habits.

No qualms there. Just trying to come up with some new axioms to counter the ones I don't like.