"Why You Should Stop Exercising to Lose Weight"
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All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
It depends on the person I think. For me I do both now but still focus more energy on maintaining my activity. I will just always be the type who would rather work out 1-2hours a day and eat more. I find creating a deficit without working out near impossible because I have to cut my calories so low that I'm hungry all the time and I get bored so I end up wanting to snack more. I do have to work out to maintain my weight. I know that isn't the case for everyone but I also know I am not the only person like that who needs to do it.
The only universal is the deficit. How it is created or maintained will depend on the individual.
I have also found the more active I am the more I crave foods with higher nutritional value that my body can use which is a huge incentive. When I am inactive or limiting my activity to dog walks I tend to crave pastries and ice cream. When I get home from an hour long lifitng session I want a piece of fruit or handful of nuts.
And I do agree that doing both is ideal.1 -
The title is obviously meant to be misleading clickbait. No, you won't lose weight if you eat five Cinnabons and then workout for twenty minutes. But you'll gain slightly less weight than if you ate five Cinnabons and didn't work out at all.
I will say that often times the person writing the article and the person writing the headline are two different people, so the author is not necessarily to blame.2 -
"You and your health professionals might be alarmed by the idea that what you've always been told – that exercise is an important way to lose weight – sets most of us up to fail most of the time."
Nope. My doctor has always said that diet was the most important factor in weight loss.0 -
Eat less calories than you burn to lose weight.
How you choose to get there is up to each of us.
The source is a pretty reputable publication, not The National Enquirer.
No one can deny that being a normal weight is a lot healthier than being overweight.
Being physically active is important for overall health, but not necessary for weight loss, and for some, becoming a normal weight may lead to exercising, when you can move about more easily.0 -
i didn't click the link, but ive always said diet is more important than exercise. I exercise every day. some days more than others, but it's a commitment I make to myself.0
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All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
It depends on the person I think. For me I do both now but still focus more energy on maintaining my activity. I will just always be the type who would rather work out 1-2hours a day and eat more. I find creating a deficit without working out near impossible because I have to cut my calories so low that I'm hungry all the time and I get bored so I end up wanting to snack more. I do have to work out to maintain my weight. I know that isn't the case for everyone but I also know I am not the only person like that who needs to do it.
The only universal is the deficit. How it is created or maintained will depend on the individual.
I have also found the more active I am the more I crave foods with higher nutritional value that my body can use which is a huge incentive. When I am inactive or limiting my activity to dog walks I tend to crave pastries and ice cream. When I get home from an hour long lifitng session I want a piece of fruit or handful of nuts.
And I do agree that doing both is ideal.
But you're doing both and consciously controlling for caloric intake. The more realistic "average Joe/Jane" scenario is that they chronically overeat, have gained weight and think "Whelp, I better start working out to get rid of these extra pounds". So they go run, walk, bike, do an aerobics class or whatever, burn a couple hundred calories a few times a week, but still aren't creating a caloric deficit due to their overeating. Or maybe the exercise makes them even hungrier and they (consciously or unconsciously) increase their intake while thinking that it's okay because they're exercising now. That's where the saying "you can't out-train a bad diet" comes from.
For a person who understands CICO and applies it correctly, exercise can help increase the deficit and/or give you more calories to eat in a day while maintaining your deficit. For a person who doesn't, they may as well be throwing darts at a dartboard from a moving platform while blindfolded.4 -
I know for me when I first started back in July 2016 at my highest weight, I could not have a sustained daily deficit by exercise alone. In fact I had to take rest days between 30 min walks.
By taking it slow and not pushing myself hard I was able to see progress which in turn I gained confidence. Now I can hike elevations 2-3 miles regularly. As a side point I'm just coming off a diet break my trend in weight loss over the last 30 days is .07 - goal weight reachable in 2035 at this rate lol! And this is walking/hiking and eating at a slight deficit.
Several years ago I pushed myself doing the couch to 5k (again not daily sustained deficit through exercise) and I fractured my tibia. I gave up on exercise until last July.
I absolutely think exercise is not only important for health but for gaining confidence and having a better mental outlook.
But for some including me, there's no way I could have created enough of a deficit to see any results in less than several months with exercise alone. And most including experts agree that seeing results pretty quickly helps keep people motivated.
Tl;dr - hard to create a sustainable daily deficit by exercise alone especially for very outta shape folks like me:) but exercise is important!0 -
trigden1991 wrote: »I refuse to even click the link. Click bait or stupidity
I thought it was a good article about exercise motivation.
I completely agree with the article. I exercise because I enjoy what I do and the benefits transfer over to my daily life. All the extra calories are just a bonus. If I were only exercising for the calories many a workout would get skipped.3 -
All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
It depends on the person I think. For me I do both now but still focus more energy on maintaining my activity. I will just always be the type who would rather work out 1-2hours a day and eat more. I find creating a deficit without working out near impossible because I have to cut my calories so low that I'm hungry all the time and I get bored so I end up wanting to snack more. I do have to work out to maintain my weight. I know that isn't the case for everyone but I also know I am not the only person like that who needs to do it.
The only universal is the deficit. How it is created or maintained will depend on the individual.
I have also found the more active I am the more I crave foods with higher nutritional value that my body can use which is a huge incentive. When I am inactive or limiting my activity to dog walks I tend to crave pastries and ice cream. When I get home from an hour long lifitng session I want a piece of fruit or handful of nuts.
And I do agree that doing both is ideal.
Worth noting that you are obviously quite fit and tuned in to your body's needs. I think the original article was more geared towards a beginner that maybe doesn't fully understand the interplay between diet & exercise. This is why we see countless posts in the forums saying, "I'm working out every day and not losing weight- why should I bother?" I do agree it's an individual thing, but I think many feel like they can't be successful without some major exercise plan. But I do always encourage exercise so people can get a taste of how much better it can make them *feel*.1 -
I track my food to lose weight, but for me exercise is required for my mental health. I have adult ADHD and let me tell you, some days it feels like there is a motor tied to my *kitten* and I cannot sit still to save my life. It also causes insomnia. Running and pounding on a big bag are the two things that effectively release enough energy to allow me to focus, and also tire me out enough to help me sleep. I don't always enjoy it, but when I don't exercise I get REALLY fidgety and crabby.
With that said, exercise alone never helped me lose weight. Eating with calorie deficit is the only thing that knocks the pounds off. I know a TON of people who think exercise is the only way to lose weight, but those people are also in severe denial about how much they eat. You should have seen my ex-husbands face when I told him how long he would have to run to burn off his nightly row of Oreos (as in he would eat an entire row of the package every night).1 -
The article was horribly written. It was vague and didn't go into any real detail of what it was saying. Great example of clickbait. It really didn't even have a point.0
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jennybearlv wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I refuse to even click the link. Click bait or stupidity
I thought it was a good article about exercise motivation.
I completely agree with the article. I exercise because I enjoy what I do and the benefits transfer over to my daily life. All the extra calories are just a bonus. If I were only exercising for the calories many a workout would get skipped.
Exactly.
This was already touched on, but while the title is click-bait, the meaning actually is "Why You Should Stop *Exercising to Lose Weight*", not "Why You Should *Stop Exercising to Lose Weight*". It's not supposed to be a weight loss plan, it's about how we mentally approach exercise affects our long-term health goals, including weight loss.1 -
All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
I got almost 400 calories from snowshoeing today. (If that sounds high to you, you are either much smaller than me or have never been snowshoeing
)
I will easily break 500 calories if I do some yoga as well.
I often break 500 if I do something active at lunch and something after work.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
I got almost 400 calories from snowshoeing today. (If that sounds high to you, you are either much smaller than me or have never been snowshoeing )
I will easily break 500 calories if I do some yoga as well.
I often break 500 if I do something active at lunch and something after work.
When I was 233 and starting out exercising there's no way I could sustain a daily deficit of 400-500 on exercise alone:(0 -
I hate exercising to me it is boring. I see no benefit as in instant gratification. I finally had a doctor tell me in a nice way that the only way was CICO to lose weight. She didn't push killing myself with exercise and didn't give me pills. She gave me a calorie starting point and a diet plan. I could see the plan it was a visual. I got back onto MFP and started tracking my food. WOW I was way over on calories. I finally got my calories down to what would be my maintenance level and I lost 10 pounds in one month. I am now very close to the calorie level she set for me and I am more active. As the bits come off, I feel more like moving. I track my walking at work and I track cleaning things like the house, the car or the yard. Found out over the winter shoveling burns a lot of calories. It sure helped with the holidays and all the food. I have finally accepted that I don't have to do something I hate, which is exercise, to lose weight. I can still have food, real food, and lose weight. It has been a long and painful discovery for me. I don't lose weight exercising just to exercise for movement. I lose weight and keep it off keeping a realistic calorie level.
Glad you found a method that is working for you! You sound the same way about "exercise" as I do about group exercise classes at the gym. I have no interest in them - I want to get my cardio outside, and have no need for companionship. I lasted 10 minutes in a spinning class in 2004 and other than a yoga class or two, have't attended another group exercise class.
Do correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that you are laboring under the misconception that exercise only occurs in a gym? I find shoveling snow a lot more tiring than lifting weights. I get cardio outside the gym and just belong for the weights.
Last winter I walked every non-rainy day at lunch and went to an ice skating rink on some rainy days. This winter I'm trying to do the same but was less dedicated about it until I stole my mother's snow shoes for days when my trails are covered by snow.
I guess my point is if you are burning more calories than being sedentary, you are exercising, whether it is while getting extra steps at work, shoveling snow, or doing something at the gym.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, this is truth and I don't think anyone on this site will dispute it. That said (and I know some will argue this) you can create that deficit through working out.
Of course you can. But for most, creating a deficit of 500 calories/day through purposeful exercise alone would not only be impractical, but could be unsafe or put that person at a high risk of injury. And the point of the article seemed to be that it can create a negative attitude towards exercise that hinders people from sticking with it long term. I think most would agree creating a deficit through a mix of diet & exercise is preferable, but if a person relies too heavily on exercise, or isn't consistent, it can easily lead to discouragement.
I got almost 400 calories from snowshoeing today. (If that sounds high to you, you are either much smaller than me or have never been snowshoeing )
I will easily break 500 calories if I do some yoga as well.
I often break 500 if I do something active at lunch and something after work.
That's wonderful.
But you overlooked an important part of my statement- "for most". And in fairness, I would actually modify that further- "for many beginning a weight loss program". Plus, while many of us here on MFP realize you don't need to run on a treadmill or take a class to get exercise, some new ones do labor under this impression and think it's either the couch or the gym with no in-between.
You actually bear out the point of the article pretty well- finding something you enjoy and is practical for you can help you achieve your long-term health goals.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »andrea4736 wrote: »The amount of people who think exercise is the only way to lose weight is actually pretty scary.
No, people that think exercise is ONLY useful for losing weight. That's what the title is implying as I read it. Two different things. Even you and I are interpreting it differently. I seriously don't know anyone that thinks that. See how screwy the wording is? You could also read it as "Stop exercising....to lose weight". So stop exercising and you'll lose. So much wrong with that title, LOL!
But title does not say that. You are inferring things that aren't really there. Granted it's a headline and the purpose of a headline is to draw readers in, but it's a pretty far stretch to say it suggests you'll lose weight if you stop exercising.
Just out of curiosity, what headline would give an article advising that we not use exercise as a means to lose weight?
"Don't Exercise for Weight Loss"
And the actual title ("Why You Should Stop Exercising to Lose Weight") is ambiguous -- "to" often means "in order to" in that construction ("Why You Should Stop Eating Carbs to Lose Weight").0 -
Exercise creates a nice deficit, without it i would seriously struggle!1
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