The science is in: exercise won’t help you lose much weight

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Hypsibius
Hypsibius Posts: 207 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This article came up on my feed: (link)

At first, it seemed a rather irresponsible headline and meta image -- making exercise seem worthless because your spinning class can be usurped by a few drinks. But what about the rest of it? For folks on this forum who often delve into the NIH articles and peer-reviewed studies, what's your take on this viral click-bait? Particularly:

"Exercise can undermine weight loss in other, subtle ways"

This flags folks instinct to eat a lot more after exercise... but in practice, I've never had this happen. Exercise and clean eating go hand-in-hand, and a great workout simply motivates me to eat well and log my food.

At the end of the day, this is the point they're trying to make: "As a society, we also need to stop treating a lack of exercise and diet as equally responsible for the obesity problem in this country. Public-health obesity policies should prioritize fighting the over-consumption of low-quality food and improving the food environment."

And then -- that I can get behind. I think it was the fatal flaw in Michelle Obama's "let's move" program. It suggested that kids on a SAD diet could lose weight by simply moving more -- when demotivation and high-calorie, nutrition-poor foods were the real culprit.

But I almost wish they would've added that a more intensive program (HIIT) like Insanity, P90x, Crossfit -- and other programs like it can add tremendous amounts of calorie burn to your week.

Not a lot of focus in this reply, but was curious of people's response to the article!

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Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    see this quite often with triathletes - they complain about gaining weight while training and mostly its because increased training load, they are eating significant amoutns more, but still not burning as much as they are eating (of course, I get told I'm wrong when I tell them that, and it must be "starvation mode" etc)
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    This relates to a thread I started awhile back. In my line of work, you see so many people day in day out on cardio equipment or even lifting, that look the same year after year because they believe it's exercise that's the only difference maker.



    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    What I've noticed, is that people who are/have been stable in weight for a while. and decide that it's time to lose. Change too many things at once, and end up eating more than previously.

    Because at the end of the day. if you take someone who is 250 or 300 or 500 lbs. identify their current CI. and add exercise, they're going to lose weight, until they hit a new maintenance.

    The problem is .... as we all know everyone is bad at estimating intake. So they add exercise, and eat more... but they feel the same, so they think their eating the same.

    I had a conversation with my dental tech the other day. And the subject of weight loss came up, because she was Hangry. She'd completely overhauled her diet and exercise, but didn't really know how much she was eating, or what she needed to fuel her exercise. I encouraged her to take a half step back and at least try to be mindful of what her CI/CO balance was...

    Not everyone is bad at estimating intake
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    I can see that. People think " oh ,I worked out, I can eat more".

    My friend was like this. She used to stop at the local convenience store (like a 7-11) and get a double cheeseburger and giant Pepsi, because she worked out. And then wondered why she never lost weight.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    see this quite often with triathletes - they complain about gaining weight while training and mostly its because increased training load, they are eating significant amoutns more, but still not burning as much as they are eating (of course, I get told I'm wrong when I tell them that, and it must be "starvation mode" etc)

    Yep it happens with lifting too. You go kick *kitten*, breaking records everywhere but then you are super hungry. And you eat.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
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    I know exercise makes me more hungry. So it is hard to not eat more. It also makes me thirsty and to want calories in drinks. I have been doing fine however exercise and weight loss due to my promise to myself to log before i consume.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    RavenLibra wrote: »
    I think people focus too much on weight and not enough on the health and emotional well being that comes with a higher level of physical fitness, The fundamental flaw in weight focus is that it does not quantify day to day abilities...all kinds of issues develop around people focused on weight...anxiety, insomnia, stress, just to name a few... some of these can be nutrition related... all of them can be mitigated through concentrated physical fitness routines. So yeah... exercise alone isn't going to help you lose weight... but refocusing on a wholistic approach will help a person create the drive and ambition to become a healthier happier person... and that type of person just may seek out a better fat:lean muscle mass ratio

    All of this.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
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    OnthatStuff wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    People think " oh ,I worked out, I can eat more".
    afcgirl wrote: »
    I recognize that it is my diet, not exercise, that causes me to lose (or gain) weight.

    Ignorance can definitely lead to eating worse with exercise. As a freshman in college at 18 y.o, I thought I merely needed to eat stuff after a workout to refuel. I figured that as long as it wasn't junk food (e.g. cake, donuts, candy, etc) and if I really worked up a good sweat during the workout, I was OK to eat what I wanted. I didn't understand what calories were nor that the composition of meals mattered.

    I knew I could be in better shape back then, so I'd often go out for 1 - 2 mile runs. After the runs, I'd stop in the dining hall for a large (10 inch) cheese steak. On one occasion, one of the seriously fit guys from the track team said, "you're defeating the purpose!" He didn't elaborate, so I had no clue what he meant. After almost 20 years, almost 60 lbs gained, and MFP, I finally understand. So yeah ... ignorance, lack of information, bad choices -- whatever you call it -- can lead to poor health and weight gain.

    It's not always ignorance. Sometimes after a heavy training session you just are way more hungry than normal. I am a big "listen to your body" advocate. Your body is not a machine that needs the same fuel every single day. Some days you need more. That's fine, as long as you know the difference between real hunger and mental hunger, and you don't eat to just eat.
  • OnthatStuff
    OnthatStuff Posts: 141 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Ironandwine69 wrote: »

    It's not always ignorance. Sometimes after a heavy training session you just are way more hungry than normal. I am a big "listen to your body" advocate. Your body is not a machine that needs the same fuel every single day. Some days you need more. That's fine, as long as you know the difference between real hunger and mental hunger, and you don't eat to just eat.

    True @Ironandwine69. I should've said *sometimes*, as I can only speak for me. So, in my case, it was ignorance. Cheesesteaks were not the way to go. I'm sure I could've gone with something more sensible.

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