Interesting Article on calorie restriction vs exercise vs Calorie restriction and exercise
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SFCStank
Posts: 25 Member
I think we all are firm believers in the calories in vs calories out and that exercise adds a level of benefit. It added some interesting insights to my own weight loss journey that I look forward to testing.
For the Veterans of the weight loss journey much of this is old hat, however, I was enlightened on just how small the exercise part plays.
One of my main reasons for posting this, is to help the beginners understand the weight loss journey so they can "work smarter" not harder and accomplish their goals.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories
At the individual level, some very good research on what works for weight loss comes from the National Weight Control Registry, a study that has parsed the traits, habits, and behaviors of adults who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a minimum of one year. They currently have more than 10,000 members enrolled in the study, and these folks respond to annual questionnaires about how they've managed to keep their weight down.
The researchers behind the study found that people who have had success losing weight share a few things in common: They weigh themselves at least once a week. They restrict their calorie intake, stay away from high-fat foods, and watch their portion sizes. They also exercise regularly.
But note: These folks use physical activity in addition to calorie counting and other behavioral changes. Every reliable expert I've ever spoken to on weight loss says the most important thing a person can do is to limit calories in a way they like and can sustain, and focus on eating more healthfully.
In general, diet with exercise can work better than calorie cutting alone, but with only marginal additional weight-loss benefits...
For the Veterans of the weight loss journey much of this is old hat, however, I was enlightened on just how small the exercise part plays.
One of my main reasons for posting this, is to help the beginners understand the weight loss journey so they can "work smarter" not harder and accomplish their goals.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories
At the individual level, some very good research on what works for weight loss comes from the National Weight Control Registry, a study that has parsed the traits, habits, and behaviors of adults who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a minimum of one year. They currently have more than 10,000 members enrolled in the study, and these folks respond to annual questionnaires about how they've managed to keep their weight down.
The researchers behind the study found that people who have had success losing weight share a few things in common: They weigh themselves at least once a week. They restrict their calorie intake, stay away from high-fat foods, and watch their portion sizes. They also exercise regularly.
But note: These folks use physical activity in addition to calorie counting and other behavioral changes. Every reliable expert I've ever spoken to on weight loss says the most important thing a person can do is to limit calories in a way they like and can sustain, and focus on eating more healthfully.
In general, diet with exercise can work better than calorie cutting alone, but with only marginal additional weight-loss benefits...
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I wish I had understood this back when I was busting my *kitten* at the gym for hours a day while not realizing I was eating twice as much as I was supposed to.3
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They stay away from high fat foods? I sure don't.
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I agree with you Sabine, I'm not 100% sold on that either. I think it's a simple coincidence of the group.0
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »They stay away from high fat foods? I sure don't.
Only did a very quick skim of this article (will re-read later) but I note that in The "So what actually works for weight loss?" section:
"The researchers behind the study found that people who have had success losing weight share a few things in common: They weigh themselves at least once a week. They restrict their calorie intake, stay away from high-fat foods, and watch their portion sizes. They also exercise regularly."
"stay away from high-fat foods" is not linked (unlike the other major claims) to a study or group of studies. Is that because the VOX writers inferred that part themselves? Or am I missing something in the body of the text?
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I think this is a very critical section to many people's frustrations;
How much we move is connected to how much we eat. As Hall put it, "I don't think anybody believes calories in and calories out are independent of each other." And exercise, of course, has a way of making us hungry — so hungry that we might consume more calories than we just burned off.
One 2009 study shows that people seemed to increase their food intake after exercise — either because they thought they burned off a lot of calories or because they were hungrier. Another review of studies from 2012 found people generally overestimated how much energy exercise burned and ate more when they worked out.
Many veterans halve their calorie expenditure of their exercising to eat back. I personally don't. Meaning I don't eat back any of the calories burned while exercising.
Edit: last sentence for clarity.1 -
I don't stay away from high fat foods.
I do however exercise on a regular basis but I know from past experience that if I rely only on exercise it can backfire...
I believe a similar if not the same study also said they ate breakfast which we know doesn't matter...meal timing is irrelevant.0 -
It could be because when people add up calories, at the end of the day, fat calories are the high end calories, so maybe its easier to cut those to stay within the limits of a restricted cal diet? Maybe thats how a lot of people are still approaching it.1
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I'm actually a part of the NWCR so my stats are mixed up in all of that
I didn't exercise at all during my weight loss phase. I started walking when I began transitioning into maintenance and since then I've become a seasonal walker (walk during the spring/summer, take off during fall/winter).
Exercise was not a factor for my weight loss and it's still not a factor 3 years into maintenance. I do however track my calorie intake and definitely pay attention to portion sizes (with a food scale most times). As for high fat-don't have a clue because I've never tracked my macros. I'm probably average though? And I'm a daily weigher, so that matches!0 -
Calories out = exercise.
Calories out = all our daily activity like breathing, sitting upright, standing, walking to the photocopier, making lunch, going for a walk at lunch, going cycling or to the gym after work, throwing the ball around with the kids at the park, taking the stairs etc. etc. etc. ...
It's just that some of us do more of it than others do.0 -
Calories out = exercise.
Calories out = all our daily activity like breathing, sitting upright, standing, walking to the photocopier, making lunch, going for a walk at lunch, going cycling or to the gym after work, throwing the ball around with the kids at the park, taking the stairs etc. etc. etc. ...
It's just that some of us do more of it than others do.
I agree Machka, but I found this part (and the continuing) very interesting in that your BMR (which should actually be RMR) still accounts for the majority of your caloric burn and that exercise (no matter how much will never get close to the same level of expenditure as your BMR.
One very underappreciated fact about exercise is that, even when you work out, those extra calories burned only account for a tiny part of your total energy expenditure.
"In reality," said Alexxai Kravitz, a neuroscientist and obesity researcher at the National Institutes of Health, "it’s only around 10 to 30 percent [of total energy expenditure] depending on the person (and excluding professional athletes that workout as a job)."/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6398687/diet_TOTAL_EXPENDITURE_CHART.0.jpg)
That leaves only 10 to 30 percent for physical activity, of which exercise is only a subset. (You can read more about this concept here and here.)
"It's not nothing, but it's not nearly equal to food intake — which accounts for 100 percent of the energy intake of the body," Kravitz said. "This is why it's not so surprising that exercise leads to [statistically] significant, but small, changes in weight."
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Not having read the article was there any indication of the quality of weight lost between a non exercise and exercise approach - so did they result in a similar ratio of fat and lean body mass?1
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I understand it's just a "eat this much, burn this much" equation but in my perception and experience it's always been exercise that changed my body, not eating differently. I can't be the only one. Went to work at a place where I had to park far away and ended up dropping too much weight just because of the additional walking (no more than 15 minutes a day); didn't exercise after kid #4 for awhile because so busy, got heavier, too heavy for my comfort though still well inside healthy range. Started Jazzercise, didn't think about food, dropped close to 25lb just dancing around. Which was too much, then I had to gain some, and so on.
It's always been easier (and I'd assume healthier) for me to drop my weight by doing more, than by restricting food. To gain weight, yes I find it much easier to do this by intentionally eating more than I want to - adding some extra calories to the week. It is much more difficult to suck calories out of the weeks for a long time, than to just do extra workouts.0 -
Calories out = exercise.
Calories out = all our daily activity like breathing, sitting upright, standing, walking to the photocopier, making lunch, going for a walk at lunch, going cycling or to the gym after work, throwing the ball around with the kids at the park, taking the stairs etc. etc. etc. ...
It's just that some of us do more of it than others do.
Yeah. For me it's 100% obvious that I'd gain weight back if I didn't exercise and try to stay active, because it lets me eat more... 300-400 extra calories a day is not negligible if your sedentary TDEE is 1600.
Let's be real, I'd bet that a majority of the people on this forum, me included, are here because they like eating (and high calorie foods). So being able to eat more without gaining weight really matters.
Plus you can't eat while exercising, so there's that.5 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »I don't stay away from high fat foods.
I do however exercise on a regular basis but I know from past experience that if I rely only on exercise it can backfire...
I believe a similar if not the same study also said they ate breakfast which we know doesn't matter...meal timing is irrelevant.
Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss, but not to performance.
not sure you can say that either. Lots of people work out fasted.
For example if I eat before a run...stitch in my side so I don't eat anything more than a yogurt and if I am really hungry 1 piece of toast.
As well with lifting lots are early morning pre breakfast lifters..
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Calories out = exercise.
Calories out = all our daily activity like breathing, sitting upright, standing, walking to the photocopier, making lunch, going for a walk at lunch, going cycling or to the gym after work, throwing the ball around with the kids at the park, taking the stairs etc. etc. etc. ...
It's just that some of us do more of it than others do.
Yeah. For me it's 100% obvious that I'd gain weight back if I didn't exercise and try to stay active, because it lets me eat more... 300-400 extra calories a day is not negligible if your sedentary TDEE is 1600.
Let's be real, I'd bet that a majority of the people on this forum, me included, are here because they like eating (and high calorie foods). So being able to eat more without gaining weight really matters.
Plus you can't eat while exercising, so there's that.
Eh, I frequently eat while exercising but my exercise is walking. 0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »I don't stay away from high fat foods.
I do however exercise on a regular basis but I know from past experience that if I rely only on exercise it can backfire...
I believe a similar if not the same study also said they ate breakfast which we know doesn't matter...meal timing is irrelevant.
Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss, but not to performance.
not sure you can say that either. Lots of people work out fasted.
For example if I eat before a run...stitch in my side so I don't eat anything more than a yogurt and if I am really hungry 1 piece of toast.
As well with lifting lots are early morning pre breakfast lifters..
I highly doubt that runners that race run fasted though.1 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »I don't stay away from high fat foods.
I do however exercise on a regular basis but I know from past experience that if I rely only on exercise it can backfire...
I believe a similar if not the same study also said they ate breakfast which we know doesn't matter...meal timing is irrelevant.
Meal timing is irrelevant to weight loss, but not to performance.
not sure you can say that either. Lots of people work out fasted.
For example if I eat before a run...stitch in my side so I don't eat anything more than a yogurt and if I am really hungry 1 piece of toast.
As well with lifting lots are early morning pre breakfast lifters..
I highly doubt that runners that race run fasted though.
actually lots do...it's a debate in the running world which is better...
eat and burn gylcogen instead of fat leaving nothing for the last bit or fast run and burn fat first leaving the last bit of glycogen for the end when it's needed.
https://runnersconnect.net/coach-corner/marathon-long-runs-on-an-empty-stomach-or-fully-fueled/
at the end of this article they say its all up to the individual to test it for themselves and see which is best for the individual.0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »The biggest mistake I see the majority of people make is the gross over exaggeration of the effect of exercise. People at work, for instance, will say, "I was on the elliptical for one hour today", then proceed to pig out.
I suppose if someone ate exactly the same, and just added exercise, it would have some effect. But, I haven't been able to do anything that way. I have to both, control food intake and exercise.
I agree with this! Over exaggerating exercise burn is big. I used to work at a restaurant (for years) that had huge desserts with extremely high calorie counts, not too mention HUGE portions for entrees. The LOWEST calorie count dessert was ~600 calories. Generally speaking, average was about ~1500 calories, with some that were almost 2000! The entrees, well, those were worse. You MAY be able to figure out where I worked from the huge calories and portions I'm talking about alone!
Anyways, I'd hear people say all the time "oh! I made it to the gym today! Ran a few miles on the treadmill!" And then proceed to down an entire entree and an entire cheesecake. Well, there goes 4000 calories right there, excluding drinks!3
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