Lose weight from exercising Alone
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Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
Bolded = nonsense!
I burn c. 3500 exercise calories a week in winter and far more in summer and I'm just an old fart who cycles, a long, long way from elite!
Yes OP if you eat at maintenance calories you can create a calorie deficit from exercise. Without calorie counting to ensure you actually do eat at non-exercise maintenance levels and don't compensate for your added exercise by eating more it may be hard but not impossible by any means.
Pre-calorie counting I could easily negate 8 hours of hard exercise a week by eating more, got fitter and stronger but stayed fat.1 -
Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
Bolded = nonsense!
I burn c. 3500 exercise calories a week in winter and far more in summer and I'm just an old fart who cycles, a long, long way from elite!
Yes OP if you eat at maintenance calories you can create a calorie deficit from exercise. Without calorie counting to ensure you actually do eat at non-exercise maintenance levels and don't compensate for your added exercise by eating more it may be hard but not impossible by any means.
Pre-calorie counting I could easily negate 8 hours of hard exercise a week by eating more, got fitter and stronger but stayed fat.
But don't forget that TO is apparently a woman. As a man you just burn more calories. Any calorie deficit from workout will be lower for a women due to: less muscle mass and possibly less weight/size. And one has to be able to work out that much! The calorie burn from just cycling around idly on an old Dutch granny bike even for an hour won't burn a lot of calories: just put a foot on the pedal and let gravity do its thing. Driving really hard, with mountains along the way does, but one needs to be able to do this.0 -
Probably. But it depends on how much over maintenance you are currently eating and how much exercise you'll be doing. Sometimes you don't have to do both parts of the "eat less move more". Sometimes one or the other will get it done.0
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If I don't change my diet and just add exercise a few days a week will I lose weight?
If you are currently maintaining your weight with your diet, you continue to eat the same amount and introduce exercise then yes, you will lose weight. How much weight you lose will be determined by the amount of calories you burn during your exercise sessions.
Most people opt for a combination of exercise and diet however I would imagine as it means more food than a diet only approach and less time devoted to exercise as an exercise only approach.0 -
Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
Bolded = nonsense!
I burn c. 3500 exercise calories a week in winter and far more in summer and I'm just an old fart who cycles, a long, long way from elite!
Yes OP if you eat at maintenance calories you can create a calorie deficit from exercise. Without calorie counting to ensure you actually do eat at non-exercise maintenance levels and don't compensate for your added exercise by eating more it may be hard but not impossible by any means.
Pre-calorie counting I could easily negate 8 hours of hard exercise a week by eating more, got fitter and stronger but stayed fat.
But don't forget that TO is apparently a woman. As a man you just burn more calories. Any calorie deficit from workout will be lower for a women due to: less muscle mass and possibly less weight/size. And one has to be able to work out that much! The calorie burn from just cycling around idly on an old Dutch granny bike even for an hour won't burn a lot of calories: just put a foot on the pedal and let gravity do its thing. Driving really hard, with mountains along the way does, but one needs to be able to do this.
Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
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Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
I didn't say a woman will use a granny bike. I said most women have less muscles, are smaller than you and might potentially be lighter, hence a lower calorie burn for the same exercise at the same speed.0 -
Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
I didn't say a woman will use a granny bike. I said most women have less muscles, are smaller than you and might potentially be lighter, hence a lower calorie burn for the same exercise at the same speed.
But still in a deficit - that is the point, not the size of the deficit.
....was the actual question not "can I lose weight quickly" or "can I lose as quick as a middle aged man"!Will I lose weight?0 -
Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
I didn't say a woman will use a granny bike. I said most women have less muscles, are smaller than you and might potentially be lighter, hence a lower calorie burn for the same exercise at the same speed.
But still in a deficit - that is the point, not the size of the deficit.
....was the actual question not "can I lose weight quickly" or "can I lose as quick as a middle aged man"!Will I lose weight?
True, but your comment made it sound like it's easy to burn 3500kcal per week. For most people this is very difficult. Yes, it's possible but it will need a lot of dedication and energy to achieve this, especially if you're a woman.0 -
Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
Bolded = nonsense!
I burn c. 3500 exercise calories a week in winter and far more in summer and I'm just an old fart who cycles, a long, long way from elite!
Yes OP if you eat at maintenance calories you can create a calorie deficit from exercise. Without calorie counting to ensure you actually do eat at non-exercise maintenance levels and don't compensate for your added exercise by eating more it may be hard but not impossible by any means.
Pre-calorie counting I could easily negate 8 hours of hard exercise a week by eating more, got fitter and stronger but stayed fat.
But don't forget that TO is apparently a woman. As a man you just burn more calories. Any calorie deficit from workout will be lower for a women due to: less muscle mass and possibly less weight/size. And one has to be able to work out that much! The calorie burn from just cycling around idly on an old Dutch granny bike even for an hour won't burn a lot of calories: just put a foot on the pedal and let gravity do its thing. Driving really hard, with mountains along the way does, but one needs to be able to do this.
Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
Exactly!!
I'm a woman and I have lost weight through exercise alone ... specifically cycling. For many years, I would deliberately put weight on over the winter because I knew that the moment there was any snow-free road to ride on, I'd start losing the weight. By the time the snow fell again the next winter, I'd be underweight.
I've never owned an old Dutch granny bike. Almost all my bicycles are road bicycle with a token mtn bike and tandem in the mix.
And no, riding slowly for an hour probably won't do a thing ... but who wants to do that on non-recovery days. The only days I rode slowly for an hour or so were the days after riding a brisk century or double century or something.
So some of the "it depends" factors I referred to are things like ...
-- eating a moderate diet. I've seen references on TV and here to people consuming 7000 calories a day and more. Well, you'd have to do an awful lot of exercise to compensate for that. But if you consume a moderate diet of, say, 2000-3000 calories, you don't have to do quite so much exercise.
-- exercising lots. During those summers of cycling, I was cycling anywhere from 15 hours a week on a rest week ... all the way up to 1200 km (90 hours) in a week. No, not kidding, not exaggerating. I rode four 1200 km randonnees over four years. And I rode a whole lot of training rides in preparation for that. On average, however, I was probably riding about 20-25 hours/week. If I'm burning 500 cal/hour, that's over 10,000 cal/week. Plus I walked a few hours each week (2 km at lunch + 2 km two or three times a week to get groceries), and would also dabble in weights a couple days a week.
How did I get all that cycling into my day? I didn't own a car, so I cycled 5 days a week most of the year as part of my commute. And I didn't lollygag around out there. My commutes were like interval training. And then I'd grab a snack after work, and go for a 2 or 3 hour ride. Sometimes the rides might be hill repeats, sometimes intervals, and sometimes just long brisk rides. And weekends were for the long distance stuff.
The thing is, if you're going to lose weight with exercise alone, it's a good idea to have a realistic idea of how many calories you are consuming, and a realistic idea of how many calories you are burning through exercising. And then burn more than you consume. CICO.
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Strawman argument. Why would simply being female mean someone is restricted to a granny bike and cycling idly?
Even if the OP halved my calories they would still be losing half a pound in winter and a lot more in summer.
There's plenty of women who can, and do, burn far more calories than me as I'm determined but in no way exceptional in terms of power or distance cycled.
I'm 56, work full time for my client (seated at a desk), have to commute to work, run my own company at well, have injury restrictions and still fit in exercise because I enjoy it. How's that for an alternative strawman?
I didn't say a woman will use a granny bike. I said most women have less muscles, are smaller than you and might potentially be lighter, hence a lower calorie burn for the same exercise at the same speed.
But still in a deficit - that is the point, not the size of the deficit.
....was the actual question not "can I lose weight quickly" or "can I lose as quick as a middle aged man"!Will I lose weight?
True, but your comment made it sound like it's easy to burn 3500kcal per week. For most people this is very difficult. Yes, it's possible but it will need a lot of dedication and energy to achieve this, especially if you're a woman.
Go make and read what I wrote and not what you interpret - I objected to the point made that suggested that you have to be a pro or elite to have a high calorie burn. That's just not true in the slightest.
By the way I have a much higher expectation of your gender than you appear to.
I cycled a very hilly 50+ miles on Saturday and had my *kitten* handed to me on a plate by a 45 year old, 5' tall woman.
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Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
I have "outwalked' my fork, outrun it, and "outcycled" it. It all amounts to how much one exercises, and how much one eats. If there is a deficit, loss will occur.
The difficult thing about trying to create a deficit with exercise early on is that it is important to carefully and gradually ramp up activity level to prevent injury. So it may not be realistic to exercise enough until you achieve a certain level of fitness.
It is also important to track eating because adding exercise can increase appetite; so you might end up eating your additional calories burned and more.
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I would say it's possible but difficult for most (not all).
If you're eating at maintenance, and add in exercise - then yes, I imagine you would lose. I think the tricky thing is that many beginners assume they're eating at maintenance when, in fact, they're eating at a surplus. The exercise they do is negated by the surplus.
By the way, I'm not judging those who have made this mistake - I did the exact same thing myself. I went to the gym three times a week and busted my *kitten*... but made no changes to my diet. I assumed I wasn't eating over 2000cals/day (I assumed that was maintenance for everyone). Surprise surprise... not only did I not lose weight, I gained weight. I never tracked calories, and tbh I'm afraid to know what my daily averages were. I was definitely not outrunning my fork.
In January I took to tracking calories and aiming for 1200-1350cals/day max. I'm not perfect, and March was a bad month for tracking and exercise. I still go to the gym 3x/week. I used to do Zumba Saturdays and Mondays, but stopped after a while because I hated not having friends in the class. I took to walking/jogging on weekends instead. I've lost 25 lbs - which I firmly believed wouldn't have happened if I'd not focused on controlling my eating habits.0 -
I've done it..but it can be hard to maintain unless you love the exercise.
I prefer to eat less to lose the weight.
I do exercise now but that is for fitness...and this way if I don't feel like doing it...I won't be in a bind where I will gain.0 -
Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
That depends on how active your fork is. When I've had active jobs like being a full time yoga teacher I lost weight. Say I gain 10 pounds per year when I have a desk job and am not watching what I eat. That's only about 100 extra calories per day, which is definitely manageable with exercise.0 -
Yes.
Either increasing your output, or reducing your input will work. Or both.
Dieting is faster because you can usually reduce more than you can add through movement, and because exercise can help your appetite and you may eat more, not the same, without noticing. But yes of course if you hold everything else constant, and add more exercise to your week, you will lose weight, and exercise is good for you.0 -
Unless you're a professional or elite amateur athlete, no, you won't lose weight just by exercising. You can't outrun your fork.
Bolded = nonsense!
I burn c. 3500 exercise calories a week in winter and far more in summer and I'm just an old fart who cycles, a long, long way from elite!
Yes OP if you eat at maintenance calories you can create a calorie deficit from exercise. Without calorie counting to ensure you actually do eat at non-exercise maintenance levels and don't compensate for your added exercise by eating more it may be hard but not impossible by any means.
Pre-calorie counting I could easily negate 8 hours of hard exercise a week by eating more, got fitter and stronger but stayed fat.
Looks like I could burn 3500 calories a week from running 29 miles a week at my current weight. A lot of folks training for half marathons don't even get that high. So I'll say it takes dedication. And unfortunately as I get closer to a healthier weight I will burn fewer calories per mile. I agree with you it's really easy to out-eat. A couple years ago I was just barely overweight (maybe 5 lbs from healthy range) but never got down to healthy range even though I WAS running 30-35 miles a week. I was just out-eating my running.0 -
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Of course! But it's not so simple as saying exercise more.
You still have to know your maintenance and what you are eating
Then, you have find the time and will it fit your routine to be consistent?
Thus why I do both a deficit from food, and then the other from exercise.0 -
True, but your comment made it sound like it's easy to burn 3500kcal per week. For most people this is very difficult. Yes, it's possible but it will need a lot of dedication and energy to achieve this, especially if you're a woman.
For everybody, it's difficult. Some people choose to, some people choose not to.
And we're only talking about 500 kCal per day.0 -
If I don't change my diet and just add exercise a few days a week will I lose weight?
Yes, of course you can. Cutting out 500 calories from your diet is the SAME as burning 500 calories through exercise. For some people, it's easier to eat less. For some, like me, rather than starve on 1200 calories day in day out, I'd rather eat well at 1700 calories and just go out for a run or a hike or go cycling. Lost all my weight doing that.0
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