exercising doesn't promote weight loss??????

nevergiveup66

Im reading online that exercising doesn't actually promote weight loss. Is this true????? I really hope not.

myheartsabattleground

There's really no need to be dramatic about it.

It depends on the intensity. Are you casually jogging around the block a few times, or are you doing tabata / hiit ?

DawnieB1977

I hear a lot of people say 'exercise is for fitness, eating a deficit is for weight loss' but I personally lose weight much faster when I exercise. Plus exercise gives me a great shape, which eating less alone would not do.

Exercise also helps create a calorie deficit, although I don't think it burns as many calories as some people (I.e the MFP database) believe.

Sued0nim

Exercise has multiple benefits including calorie burn

But in an hour of moderately intense exercise you might burn 300-400 calories

If you then go out and eat 1500 calories no weight loss

If you exercise as part of a calorie controlled diet then weight loss, cardiovascular health and with progressive resistance amazing body composition

yarwell

nevergiveup66 wrote: »

Im reading online that exercising doesn't actually promote weight loss. Is this true????? I really hope not.

Can be the case, especially if like me you fall asleep after exercise and cancel out the additional energy use.

There aren't a huge number of studies supporting purely exercise as a weight loss strategy, it's usually an add-on to a dietary restriction as you can put a bigger hole in your intake than most people will add as exercise.

nevergiveup66

myheartsabattleground wrote: »

There's really no need to be dramatic about it.

It depends on the intensity. Are you casually jogging around the block a few times, or are you doing tabata / hiit ?

Actually there is because this Is surprising information.

Springfield1970

All that matters is a calorie deficit from your maintenance number. The skill is finding out that number and deciding how much of a deficit you need or can do.

You can create the deficit by eating less, exercising, or both.
I do both. But I weigh my food meticulously, know my exercise calorie burns and under rather than over estimate, and do it really slowly, like a pound a month.

I must add that if I'm not calorie counting and I am exercising, I get so hungry that I eat more than I need, so maybe that's where the rumour came from!

VeryKatie

In combination with eating well and calorie burn during exercise, it can definitely help with weight loss. It can help you eat more while losing weight because you're expending more calories.

When people say is doesn't promote it, I think they just mean it isn't strictly necessary. You can choose to eat less and sit on a couch or you can eat a bit more and exercise for a bit each day. Either way works. However, exercise helps prevent muscle loss (especially weight lifting) and can be beneficial for helping you stick to your calorie intake goals.

Exercise is also the only way to lose visceral fat, so I've read. That's the fat around your organs. That part might not be noticeable weight loss, but it is extremely important - since that's where a lot of the health issues associated with being overweight come from.

Exercise doesn't help "boost your metabolism" though. That part is myth. Nothing does that. I guess except hormone therapy if you have hormone issues.

snowflake930

You can certainly lose weight without exercising by eating less calories than you burn.

For some, myself included, I am a lot hungrier when I exercise and eat more than I do when I do not exercise.

However, exercise is beneficial to overall health.


The stats I have read are 80% calorie deficit, 10% exercise, and 10% heredity.

You can exercise all day, but if you eat more, or the same number of calories you burn, you will likely not lose weight and may gain weight.

lkpducky

rabbitjb wrote: »

If you exercise as part of a calorie controlled diet then weight loss, cardiovascular health and with progressive resistance amazing body composition

Exactly. If I were to lose weight with diet alone, I would go from large and round and plump to small and round and plump. The weight lost would include a high proportion of muscle.

WendyLaubach

I've been reading this line for years. I think what people mostly mean is that exercise won't produce weight loss if you're not controlling the calories you eat. Left to our natural devices, most of us would eat so much more in response to exercise that we'd gain net calories.

I've been here about three months. I'm extremely consistent in my calorie intake, but my exercise level has varied a lot, because on three separate occasions I've had to knock off from the gym for three unrelated medical reasons. I can tell you, the weeks when I'm burning more calories on the treadmill are the weeks I lose faster. On the other hand, I lose no matter what, because I've set my food calorie level fairly low and I never, ever exceed it. I also don't "eat my exercise calories back," whether they're low or high. I think that's really the whole trick, right there.

TeaBea

Exercise can help you lose weight. However, as Dawnie pointed out the calorie burn is often not as much as people think it is. Combine that with portion distortion that so many people have. Overweight people who are not measuring portion sizes are often eating more than they think.

Casually "watching" your weight by adding a measly 150 calorie burn, but then not measuring portions is not going to help anyone lose any weight.

enterdanger

WendyLaubach wrote: »

I've been reading this line for years. I think what people mostly mean is that exercise won't produce weight loss if you're not controlling the calories you eat. Left to our natural devices, most of us would eat so much more in response to exercise that we'd gain net calories.

I've been here about three months. I'm extremely consistent in my calorie intake, but my exercise level has varied a lot, because on three separate occasions I've had to knock off from the gym for three unrelated medical reasons. I can tell you, the weeks when I'm burning more calories on the treadmill are the weeks I lose faster. On the other hand, I lose no matter what, because I've set my food calorie level fairly low and I never, ever exceed it. I also don't "eat my exercise calories back," whether they're low or high. I think that's really the whole trick, right there.

this.

I'm on the opposite end of this. I exercise every day because I like it and it has become part of my routine. But last year I ate like crap for most of the year and gained 15lbs back inspite of 45-60 minutes of exercise daily. I gotta lay off the craft beer.

sladey_182

nevergiveup66 wrote: »

Im reading online that exercising doesn't actually promote weight loss. Is this true????? I really hope not.

For me. It doesn't matter what exercise I do; if I don't eat properly or at least count the calories and maintain a deficit. I won't lose weight

It's a balance. Don't panic. Use this app to guide what you are putting into your body and work hard through exercise both in the gym and on the pavements

EddieHaskell97

It burns calories. If you don't eat the calories you burned back, it helps promote weight loss and is a factor in it.

It you walk half a mile but then eat six Chipotle burritos, you'll get E.Coli and don't lose weight.

Burn more than you eat = net calorie deficit = lose weight.

Sharkbite2016

nevergiveup66 wrote: »

Im reading online that exercising doesn't actually promote weight loss. Is this true????? I really hope not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/upshot/to-lose-weight-eating-less-is-far-more-important-than-exercising-more.html?_r=0

Is very true. Who cares. Exercise does help with weight loss and their are a million benefits to it.

Rocknut53

Exercise is just part of the package. To me it creates a feeling of accomplishment to go along with the weight loss, I feel better both physically and mentally. Without the exercise, I'd just be sitting around feeling hungry and lazy.

GBrady43068

The other benefit with exercise re:weight loss is that lean muscle uses more energy just by existing. If you can add lean muscle via exercise, it will help with weight loss by asking the body for more fat to "eat" if there's no other energy source...or as long as you still have an overall calorie deficit in other words.

puffbrat

The general guidelines I have been seeing for a couple of years is that taken individually dieting is better for weight loss and exercise is better maintaining weight. However, dieting and exercise together are the best for weight loss. In the end, just do what works for you. If exercising helps you burn enough calories to be in a deficit, great.

cwolfman13

nevergiveup66 wrote: »

Im reading online that exercising doesn't actually promote weight loss. Is this true????? I really hope not.

You're interpreting this incorrectly. Exercise is for fitness and overall health and well being...it can make weight management easier, including weight loss, but in and of itself doesn't promote weight loss...if it did, all of us maintainers wouldn't be exercising.

The point of the things you are reading is that you can do all of the exercise in the world, but if your diet isn't aligned with your weight management goals, it doesn't really matter. You can exercise and still over eat and gain weight...you can exercise and maintain weight...you can exercise and lose weight...the difference between the three is how much you're eating.

There are tons of people I see everyday in the gym busting their *kitten*...they have been doing so for months...they really don't look any different. Why? Because yeah, they're exercising and have that part down...but their diet is for *kitten*.

Where weight management is concerned, your diet is far more important. The additional calories you burn during exercise is really pretty negligible compared to what you're burning throughout the day just being alive and doing your day to day unless you're an athlete or training like one. Additional energy expenditure is a nice bi-product, of exercise, but isn't the purpose of exercise.

jaynee7283

For me, since I started on January 3, I have noticed that the weeks I walk 18-20 miles I lose more weight than the weeks I walk 7-8 miles. The weeks I walk 7-8 miles I lose 1 lb, and the weeks I've walked 18+ miles I've lost 2 pounds. This is in addition to eating the recommended calories to lose weight for an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. I've lost 12 pounds thus far, and intend to continue to keep my weekly walking as a way to create a calorie deficit in addition to my lowered daily calorie intake.

ImWithHer

The more exercise you do, the more fit you'll be. If you incorporate weight-bearing exercise into your routine, you'll have less body fat and more lean muscle mass in your body. Muscles tend to burn more calories even at rest, not to mention moving around doing stuff. So the easy answer to your question is Eating is the best way to lose weight, but RIGHT way to answer your question is that exercising is the best way to be fit and keep the weight off and look good while doing so.

agirlcalledrinn

Anecdotes are not science, and the science says no. Exercise and fitness have many health benefits, but the difference between two groups in actual weight lost is negligible. I recommend this video from healthcare Triage for a better understanding of why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM and this one for why you should still do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFBBjynBpSw. Both are by Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS a Professor of Pediatrics and the Associate Dean for Research Mentoring at Indiana University School of Medicine.

meganmoore112

This is the study that all the most recent articles saying this are about:
cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8

It basically says that the amount of energy your body will burn plateaus at a certain point, and that continuing to do more and more high intensity exercise won't help you burn more calories. It also says, the "total energy expenditure was positively correlated with physical activity, but the relationship was markedly stronger over the lower range of physical activity."

ManiacalLaugh

I had a similar reaction when my trainer first told me, "Don't exercise for weight loss. Disassociate the two in your mind. I can give you 1,000 reasons to exercise, but weight loss will never be one of them."

It's actually really helped me. Not having to worry about the fact that skipping a workout is going to wreck my diet has been rather liberating. Oddly enough, I think I skip fewer workouts knowing this fact, too.

Christine_72

For me, exercising allows me to eat more. I prelog my food for the day every morning and 9 times out of 10 I'm in the red. So exercising puts me back in the green by the end of the day.

WishfulThinking0

Being healthy is more than just 'losing weight'.

Your overall health will benefit massively from doing regular exercise that suits you. It can help tone your body as you lose weight so you have overall better fitness. It's a no brainer for me.