Why do people say weight loss is 70-80% diet and 20-30% exercise?

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,943 Member
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    There is no way you have body fat in the mid to high 20s if you are a size zero, seriously. This is in your head. I agree with the others that weights will help you - but there has to be nutrition as well. This is a matter of distorted thinking.

    Do you have a therapist?
  • beckygammon
    beckygammon Posts: 73 Member
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    Also starvation mode is not a myth - if you do not eat, for a long enough period of time, the hormones that promote fat loss decrease. Also when you finally eat again your body is more likely to store fat due to your metabolism being sooo low. This happened to me. I have a personal history with anorexia and when I resumed a "normal" diet, I gained weight extremely fast. This was due to my metabolism being very damaged and my hormones also damaged. Obviously "starvation mode" in the sense that you can't lose weight if you don't eat is a myth, as all people with restrictive eating disorders have proven, you will lose weight until you die. However, the body's ability and potential to gain fat back after an eating disorder is very real, as well as the metabolic and adrenal damage that goes along with it.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,943 Member
    edited October 2016
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    beckygammon wrote: »
    Also starvation mode is not a myth - if you do not eat, for a long enough period of time, the hormones that promote fat loss decrease. Also when you finally eat again your body is more likely to store fat due to your metabolism being sooo low. This happened to me. I have a personal history with anorexia and when I resumed a "normal" diet, I gained weight extremely fast. This was due to my metabolism being very damaged and my hormones also damaged. Obviously "starvation mode" in the sense that you can't lose weight if you don't eat is a myth, as all people with restrictive eating disorders have proven, you will lose weight until you die. However, the body's ability and potential to gain fat back after an eating disorder is very real, as well as the metabolic and adrenal damage that goes along with it.

    While I agree that this is a factor, from personal experience I found that with time the hormone balance is restored and the alleged metabolic slowdown is reversed. I think it's a healing process the body goes through and it takes time. In my case the difference was about 150 calories (after losing 70+ pounds.) I wasn't able to eat the amount the calculators suggested right after my weight loss - I had to stay artificially low, but it did change in time. It took about a year I would guess for my body to recover from the weight loss process and "reset." I'm now able to eat even more than the calculators would suggest and I did not go on a muscle-gaining program, merely gave it time and regular moderate exercise AND proper nutrition. Being mindful to provide my body the nutrition it needs helps it perform at maximum efficiency.

    I don't think the body turns on a dime. I think any changes we make externally take a while for the body to see it as the norm or as expected behavior or consistent nutrition and the body adapts beautifully. It's really quite a remarkable machine. In my N=1 experience, the "damaged" metabolism ( I don't like that phrase, but whatever ) does repair itself. Slowly, like all body changes.
  • kcraigpro
    kcraigpro Posts: 5 Member
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    I had the same question. My trainer told me it's not just a matter of it being much more difficult and time-consuming to lose fat through exercise alone, it's also about taming and leveling out insulin levels throughout the day. I completed a questionnaire designed to determine my physiological reaction to food, and my diet, surprisingly to me, targets me at 50 percent complex low GCI carbohydrates. I now eat six times a day (three meals and three snacks) and I never feel hungry. And yet I'm at a 1000 calorie per day deficit because of cardio and resistance training. So, according to my trainer it's not just how much I eat but what I eat and how often. I'm just two weeks into it and I can see (and feel) some results. She tells me to be patient, follow the diet (80%), work out faithfully (20%) and I will see amazing changes over the next 12 weeks.
  • Relaxingmind
    Relaxingmind Posts: 55 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    There is no way you have body fat in the mid to high 20s if you are a size zero, seriously. This is in your head. I agree with the others that weights will help you - but there has to be nutrition as well. This is a matter of distorted thinking.

    Do you have a therapist?

    No I haven't seen a therapist but the main reason I'm guessing that my bf% is somewhat high is because I'm not really lean and have a lot of "softness" I need to get rid of.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    Relaxingmind wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    There is no way you have body fat in the mid to high 20s if you are a size zero, seriously. This is in your head. I agree with the others that weights will help you - but there has to be nutrition as well. This is a matter of distorted thinking.

    Do you have a therapist?

    No I haven't seen a therapist but the main reason I'm guessing that my bf% is somewhat high is because I'm not really lean and have a lot of "softness" I need to get rid of.

    Do a search for body recomposition. You eat at maintenance and do progressive heavy lifting...I'm sure your issue is that you lost too much muscle due to your anorexia and you need to rebuild it to lose the "softness".

    You could also start a thread in the fitness section, I'm sure there are plenty of people there that will be happy to help you figure it out.
  • Relaxingmind
    Relaxingmind Posts: 55 Member
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    ogtmama wrote: »
    Relaxingmind wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    There is no way you have body fat in the mid to high 20s if you are a size zero, seriously. This is in your head. I agree with the others that weights will help you - but there has to be nutrition as well. This is a matter of distorted thinking.

    Do you have a therapist?

    No I haven't seen a therapist but the main reason I'm guessing that my bf% is somewhat high is because I'm not really lean and have a lot of "softness" I need to get rid of.

    Do a search for body recomposition. You eat at maintenance and do progressive heavy lifting...I'm sure your issue is that you lost too much muscle due to your anorexia and you need to rebuild it to lose the "softness".

    You could also start a thread in the fitness section, I'm sure there are plenty of people there that will be happy to help you figure it out.

    Alright, thanks!
  • zamphir66
    zamphir66 Posts: 582 Member
    edited October 2016
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    It has to do with effect size. For example I ran a 5k this morning in about half an hour. I burned maybe 300 calories. Then I went to the bakery and cancelled it all out in less than 5 minutes. That was intentional so no big deal. But it illustrates how much more efficient you can be at trimming your intake as opposed to increasing your output.

    ETA: that might have been confusing. Let's say all things being equal I want to cut 300 calories today. I can do half an hour of exercise or I can eat 300 calories less food which takes zero time.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    elisa123gal wrote: »
    Its a bunch of crap. It comes down to the person. You can lose weight with just diet or with exercise .. or combo of both.

    nope it's not...it comes down to what you can sustain.

    What if comes into play...

    What if you can't exercise for 6 weeks due to injury
    what if you decide not to exercise
    what if you can't exercise
    what if you are in a wheel chair..

    what if you don't have time
    what if
    what if
    what if...

    you can lose weight with just exercise or just diet or both but more often than not the exercise gets old or isn't done anymore etc and people don't get how to control the weight gain without exercise...

    It's individual. For me I live in the mountains and spend my days off hiking. I like workinh out and do Insanity 5-6 days a week. When I was injured and couldnt walk I did seated cardio and hand weights to stay active. For some people adding activity is much easier than tracking food. It always has been for me.

    This time around Im older and finding a combination of logging cals and working out best for where Im at but I don't plan on counting calories forever and do plan on remaining as active as possible.

    I can sustain finding ways to stay active a lot easier than constantly tracking what I eat. Just offering a different perspective.
  • a45cal
    a45cal Posts: 85 Member
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    Relaxingmind wrote: »

    Basically, 2 years ago is when I was anorexic. The good thing is I've been doing exercise again (mainly cardio with a bit of light weights) and trained myself to eat more than I used to. But I'm still "fat" despite being thin. And I was told the only way to get rid of fat is a calorie deficit, which is why I'm doing a lot of exercise (without eating calories back, which is easy with my low appetite). But at the same time, I want to get lean. It's like a catch 22...

    Whoever told you this didn't know what they were talking about. A calorie deficit alone, or a calorie deficit with large amounts of cardio will burn fat and muscle and will basically constantly maintain that "skinny fat" look you're trying to get rid of. The only way to get where you want to go from here is to severely cut back on the cardio, lift more and eat at maintenance. (Not to mention it'd probably be a lot healthier for you considering your history.)

    Here's a great thread on recomposition to get you started. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

    Macros don't really matter that much, as long as you're getting a decent amount of protein. Everything else is just down to preference and what you like to eat.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Relaxingmind wrote: »
    Ok thanks for explaining it, guys :) I get the idea now. As for the possible injury, I think I'll be ok. If not, lowering my intake shouldn't be a problem as my appetite has lowered dramatically since switching to an active lifestyle and my past history which ill mention shortly. It would probably take a while to switch back if I were to go temporarily sedentary from injury. Today I hit the weights with a mix of cardio and was at only 1,200 calories at 10:00pm despite burning around 2,500 according to fitbit. I just now force fed myself around 500 more. Question... Is starvation mode real or a myth? I'm currently under the impression it's real, which is why I often force feed to reach my previous/sedentary TDEE. If it's not real, I'll just stop the force feeding and stick with a 800-1,000 deficit. There was a time in my life 2 years ago where I was anorexic so I'm wondering if that has something to do with my small appetite. I'm trying to build muscle and get lean because I used to be underweight. I'm but somewhat skinny-fat. I've been told that my muscle is underneath the fat and I have to eat at a small-medium deficit so it will go away and my muscle will be visible. Maybe I've been misinformed. Idk... I'm still kinda new to weight lifting. Used to be a complete cardio junky.

    Depends on what you think happens with the name, which has been so loaded with myths most just say it's junk - but the real effects behind the name have been shown for years in studies, and perhaps called a better term now to reflect those realities.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

    And if skinny fat right now, which means healthy weight - then stop the diet and do what creates muscle - strength training.
    Eat at maintenance, do progressive weight lifting, and you build muscle slowly while losing fat.

    Called recomposition.

    Because 800-1000 cal deficit is no where near a small-medium deficit.

    Edit to add - post right above gave the needed link - several others stated the remedy too.
  • Relaxingmind
    Relaxingmind Posts: 55 Member
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    Alright, thank you everyone :)

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