Dieting vs. Exercise vs. Dieting and Exercise

JoshKevCaron

Just want to hear the communities opinion on these three options.

I personally have always been a fan of dieting and exercise but this time around in doing a lot less exercise as my current gym is a 30 minute bus ride away and I don't have the time to bus there and back and keep up with the chores around the house.

I also don't see it as dieting as I eat what I like as long as I am within my calorie goal. I've always seen success like this but I feel like I always took on more than I can handle so I've yoyod a lot. I want to lose weight slowly but surely. It's a marathon not a sprint.

Sidebar,

Where can I buy a cheap food scale? My Walmart doesn't carry them...

randomtai

Amazon

jemhh

While I didn't regularly exercise until I was also trying to lose weight, I now currently keep them separate in my mind. By that I mean that I exercise for fun and enjoyment, to improve my health and appearance, and to get/remain strong. When I want to lose fat, I cut calories to achieve a calorie deficit. I don't try to create or deepen a deficit by exercising more.

Is that what you were asking?

TeaBea

I have to look at exercise as a lifestyle change. I've yo-yo dieted in the past. Lost weight - stopped exercise - gained it back, repeat.

Now, I look at exercise as a tool to improve my health and help keep the weight off in the future.

msf74

If you are asking which way I prefer to create a deficit when wanting to lose weight: diet alone, exercise alone or a combination of diet and exercise then I prefer the combination approach.

A little more food than the diet only approach but less time spent away from my family than the exercise only approach.

emmaprocopiou

I count calories obvs as I'm here.
I try my best to stay around my weekly/ daily goal and I do excersise.
However my exercise doesn't mean I go to the gym , I walk . It does mean that I can eat more if I need to I'm on 1200 cals (im small

emmaprocopiou

Arrgh stupid app didn't post the rest
Short version - I watch cals to lose weight , I excersise for health but it also allows me to eat a bit more.
Shouldn't matter how you get excersise just move more and reap the benefits

Purplebunnysarah

Diet alone is all that is needed for weight loss. Exercise helps with body composition. I prefer how I look when I'm exercising regularly in addition to cutting calories, but sometimes if I am low on time or sleep (due to kids, not due to bedtime or staying up late to have fun), exercise may drop off for a while. I'm trying to stay true to the meal plan, though. This extra weight I've been toting around for 18 years has to go.

LoveEpifanie

I look at diet as being the main weight loss tool and exercise is just an extra aid to diet. If someone were only to change one thing in order to lose weight, I would suggest they change their diet.

I bought my food scale on Amazon, it was pretty cheap.

robininfl

I am in the minority, I guess, but prefer to exercise more, rather than eating less, or for gaining eat more and still exercise a lot. I've only ever had to make small adjustments (weight - wise) though.

ponycyndi

I tend to exercise more when I'm maintaining. It's hard to lift (progressively) on a deficit

Need2Exerc1se

I diet when I get too fat, which I do every few years because I really love to eat, drink and be merry.
I exercise whether I'm dieting or not because I believe it's extremely rare for a person to remain healthy without regular exercise, and because I get to eat more when I'm active.

So if I'm losing weight it's always diet and exercise.

Gamliela

jemhh wrote: »

While I didn't regularly exercise until I was also trying to lose weight, I now currently keep them separate in my mind. By that I mean that I exercise for fun and enjoyment, to improve my health and appearance, and to get/remain strong. When I want to lose fat, I cut calories to achieve a calorie deficit. I don't try to create or deepen a deficit by exercising more.

Is that what you were asking?

I'm also one to keep my focus on my calorie goals for the day, not on excersize. No one gains weight by eating less calories than they need per day. So I calculate what my maintenance calories would be if I were at my goal weight and I never eat more calories than that number. With this approach I have the peace of mind knowing that even if it takes a while, I will reach that goal. Plus that, I have nothing else but staying a few hundred calories below the goal weight maintenance calories number to worry about. If I excersize a bit, not a big deal. If I eat more one day, no big deal. As long as I am staying under goal weight maintenance number.

Unknown

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fr33sia12

I go walking a lot for exercise, but it's not just for weight loss, it's to build up my fitness and health. I want to be able to walk up 18 floors of stairs eventually so I don't have to use the lift as I'm claustrophobic. I'm up to walking up 9 floors now, so am definitely feeling the benefit.

Montepulciano

Can not outrun a bad died...or out lift, or out swim...or what ever do you doing exercise wise. Only way to lose weight is to have a calorie deficit. Having said that I work out regularly either with walks or in the pool. I like how I feel working out, so at the end of the day, for me, I would say both.

Sharon_C

I didn't start exercising until I lost all my weight.

jdhcm2006

I originally started by doing calorie counting and exercising. When I fell off the calorie counting, I kept exercising because I found a form that I really enjoy. I gained everything back because I was over eating, but now I'm back to doing both and I feel a lot better about everything.

Cutting the calories will get the weight off, but IMO exercise will get you the body you want, so both IMO are essential, but that doesn't mean being in the gym 7 days a week. If you need something to do at home look into You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning or hit up YouTube for exercise videos. You can also subscribe to something like Daily Burn or invest in something like T25 (Beachbody workout series). Also, check out Pinterest, they have a lot of different exercise info on there.

Wicked_Seraph

I only found success losing weight when I focused on my eating habits.

I was going to the gym three times a week last year and still gained weight. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize that no amount of cardio in the world would undo how much I was eating.

I treat exercise as a mostly separate aspect of my journey to work on myself. I want to be strong and to be able to run. I want to have a strong figure underneath this fat when it finally disappears. I want to be able to run - and well.

Sometimes I eat back some of my exercise calories, but rarely all of them. I use it as a bit of cushion for my noms, but mostly as a separate goal.

Lasmartchika

I got my scale from Walmart. I ordered it online and checked the "free store pickup" option. Cost me only $12 + tax.

NorthCascades

I ride a bike for exercise. And go hiking. And run in my neighborhood. I got a $15 set of resistance bands to use at home.

Only exercise makes you happy, although restricting your food is useful for weight purposes.

Timshel_

Adjust calories and eating to lose, maintain, or gain weight.
Exercise daily.

Do both each day for health.

victoria_1024

I like food. Initially I started exercising so I could eat more. That grew into an actual enjoyment of being active. Now I live an active lifestyle and I get to eat a bit more to support that, which is an added bonus but not my primary reason for doing it anymore.

Lenala13

Exercise is a key tool for me in staying healthy and losing weight and then maintaining that weight loss. Honestly, it makes the whole thing a lot more manageable and fun. When I'm active and exercise, I tend to make better/healthier food choices as well and don't snack as much, so the two habits reinforce each other for me.

ASKyle

Diet for weight, exercise for health, both for body composition.

Amazon has cheap scales.

lorrpb

I've never been able to lose weight without BOTH calorie counting and exercise. Plus I need the exercise for my health and fitness. Fitness improvements help keep me on track in the kitchen. Otherwise, counting calories gets boring!

dbashby

Emmaprocopiou has it exactly right. Many good things that come from exercise a list I won't rehash here, weight loss though, just isn't one of them. If you believe in the energy balance equation and most scientist do (as well as most people), you almost by default believe this, which most people for some reason don't. I've said this before and it always causes indigestion but it is 100% true. Exercise does not cause weight loss, only the under consumption of calories from your TDEE does that. Yes that extra 500 calories you burned off running will create a bigger deficit where you will lose weight but only if you don't eat back the calories and that in any language is a diet, so while you might associate the weight loss with the exercise it really has come from under consumption of calories. This by the way is much harder than one would think as it ignores the elephant in the room APPETITE which most assuredly will increase as your exercise level increases. Though it is worth noting that just like it is easier for men to lose weight than women, it is also easier to lose weight when exercising, than when your not. Just like in the men/women analogy you have more calories available to you, to be able to under eat especially when measured in percentage terms (percentage of calories being under eaten declines as TDEE increases). That said, ultimately I find my appetite/hunger has an unbelievably close relationship in terms of calories to the amount to the amount of exercise I do (basically a caloric balance is what rings true for me). This where the Keto/Paleo people step in and say appetite is driven by hormones (not necessarily an empty stomach, although this does create a situation where Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) will be released) and only by controlling these hormones will you be able to sustain weight loss in turn your consumption of carbs (especially refined carbs) will have to be reduced and protein and fat allowed back into the diet. It looks like this has a lot of merit as the Gov't has removed its fat recommendation at the beginning of this year. Plus you and I both know if your hungry you can fight that battle and win periodically but that is a war that you can never win. Anyway back to the exercise, I have lost a significant amount of weight and trust me I wish I could just go outside and run off a dinner but the amount of calories one burns off in even a hour of exercise is miniscule. If you are capable of burning off 500 calories in an hour, which means you likely have some size to you or are in top shape or a combo of both. One package (2) of Pop Tarts is 410 calories which can be eaten easily in under two minutes just wiped out 48 minutes of that hour workout (this breaks my heart btw because I love Pop Tarts) essentially 80% of your hard work wiped out by 2 Pop Tarts. If your like most people, the most you can give on a daily basis to exercise is one hour, I mean can you turn around and give another hour of your day to this? especially knowing it can be undone in a few minutes, not likely, you have other pressures on your time. This is why your diet has to be the primary focus. If you have a professor tell you 90% of the test is on this part of the information and the other 10 percent comes from that other part. It is a no brainer where the bulk of your effort/time should be spent right? One last thought though and the studies bare this out. While exercise doesn't cause weight loss it is a very strong marker for keeping the weight off. I like to say it is a correlative behavior. The science behind this next part doesn't exist but I don't think its much of a leap, basically the person who continues to exercise is the same person who is likely still watching what they eat. When they give up that exercise that is usually a marker for giving up on the diet as well. Like I said that last part is my commentary but really its just a reminder you can't throw it all out as there is some relationship.