I quit the gym to lose weight
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OP. I’m not picking on you, because ultimately you have to do what you think works for you, but, as any person who works out knows, results and getting fit don’t just come easily. When a person is forced to take time off due to an illness or other life event, I think they’d universally tell you that even a couple of months off can make you physically feel like your starting over. We used to say you “lose your wind”. In other words, you’ll feel weak, easily winded, and depending how long it’s been, you’ll feel “out of shape.”
Have you thought about just lifting 2 days a week. Full body. Then do cardio on the other days to earn calories to eat? You could even make the cardio walking, if you think intense cardio would make you too hungry.
If you’ve been in shape for sometime, you’ve probably forgotten how *kitten* it feels to feel weak.4 -
Exercise is not just a weight loss tool, it helps you age better, it helps prevent certain illnesses, etc. There are many benefits of exercising not just weight loss.4
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jefamer2017 wrote: »The piling on effect of the negative responses in this thread is an example of what can go wrong in the MFP forums specifically and the Net generally.
It is evidence of a lack of reading comprehension at best and raging insensitivity and hubris at worse.
The OP has said that she (I assume she) has been lifting daily at the gym but feels that she can best lose the weight she has gained by taking a hiatus from lifting to reach her goal weight before returning to lifting again.
So, why harrangue her about not lifting until she reaches her goal?
Her health, strength and fitness will not go into the toilet just because she does this and she has already said she will go back to lifting as soon as she reaches her goal weight.
There's no one right way to do things and it's presumptuous to suggest that you know better how to do what she desires to do, especially since she's already made clear that she understands the benefits of lifting.
The only thing that these such reponses will accomplish will be to make the OP reticent to post a thread or comment on MFP again and limit the participation on the forums to just the most aggressively vocal or thick skinned, which IMO is not necessarily for the better.
Amen!!!!
So take the OP's thread and substitute "going to do a juice detox" for "going to stop lifting" until I reach my goal. Does this change you perspective of trying to talk her out of it?
Science, physiology, and people with a TON more experience say that strength training is very important at this stage, and will leave her much farther ahead in the long run, especially when she has the goal of improving her physique when she reaches her goal. Why would anyone here encourage someone to follow a very sub optimal plan?
See, what you did there is called a Strawman argument. You're creating a position that isn't the same to the original point and arguing against that instead. What the OP has said is that lifting at the moment is making it hard to stick to her calorie target so to lose the last few pounds she's going to stop lifting temporarily, not introducing useless pseudo-science rubbish. They're not equivalent.
I wonder, would everyone be so up in arms if she'd said "Eating higher carbs is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna lower my carb intake for a while"? or "I've found running 10 miles a day is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna stop running for a while"?14 -
jefamer2017 wrote: »The piling on effect of the negative responses in this thread is an example of what can go wrong in the MFP forums specifically and the Net generally.
It is evidence of a lack of reading comprehension at best and raging insensitivity and hubris at worse.
The OP has said that she (I assume she) has been lifting daily at the gym but feels that she can best lose the weight she has gained by taking a hiatus from lifting to reach her goal weight before returning to lifting again.
So, why harrangue her about not lifting until she reaches her goal?
Her health, strength and fitness will not go into the toilet just because she does this and she has already said she will go back to lifting as soon as she reaches her goal weight.
There's no one right way to do things and it's presumptuous to suggest that you know better how to do what she desires to do, especially since she's already made clear that she understands the benefits of lifting.
The only thing that these such reponses will accomplish will be to make the OP reticent to post a thread or comment on MFP again and limit the participation on the forums to just the most aggressively vocal or thick skinned, which IMO is not necessarily for the better.
Amen!!!!
So take the OP's thread and substitute "going to do a juice detox" for "going to stop lifting" until I reach my goal. Does this change you perspective of trying to talk her out of it?
Science, physiology, and people with a TON more experience say that strength training is very important at this stage, and will leave her much farther ahead in the long run, especially when she has the goal of improving her physique when she reaches her goal. Why would anyone here encourage someone to follow a very sub optimal plan?
See, what you did there is called a Strawman argument. You're creating a position that isn't the same to the original point and arguing against that instead. What the OP has said is that lifting at the moment is making it hard to stick to her calorie target so to lose the last few pounds she's going to stop lifting temporarily, not introducing useless pseudo-science rubbish. They're not equivalent.
I wonder, would everyone be so up in arms if she'd said "Eating higher carbs is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna lower my carb intake for a while"? or "I've found running 10 miles a day is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna stop running for a while"?
The all or nothing is the issue I see and I’d see it with the running example too. In your carb example you said lower, not eliminate, so it isn’t the same. Now if she said completely eliminate carbs I’d feel the same as I do about the OP comment.
I’m really struggling to see how this approach is helpful or teaches anyone anything about moderation, self control, and balance. If the OP has said they were going to reduce their training temporarily to help maintain a deficit that would make sense to me. I fear she is setting herself up to start and stop and yo-yo with the current line of thinking though5 -
Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.8 -
happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn12 -
happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.9 -
happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.
I ate a half gallon almost nightly of ice cream. My eating didn’t change. I did go from completely sedentary though to active averaging 12000 steps a day from 3000-40005 -
happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.
I ate a half gallon almost nightly of ice cream. My eating didn’t change. I did go from completely sedentary though to active averaging 12000 steps a day from 3000-4000
Congratulations. You're special. Your experience also does not negate OP's opposite experience. Anecdotes =/= data.11 -
happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.
I ate a half gallon almost nightly of ice cream. My eating didn’t change. I did go from completely sedentary though to active averaging 12000 steps a day from 3000-4000
Congratulations. You're special. Your experience also does not negate OP's opposite experience. Anecdotes =/= data.
I never said it negated anything nor did I at any point tell OP to do what I did. I actually ended up here because when I switched jobs activity decreased and I gained 30lb back so I needed to learn the diet part.
What I did say was OP all or nothing approach is concerning. I don’t think it’s a healthy way to approach any struggle in life. Trouble balancing work and home? Might as well quit. That’s how the attitude translates.
What is going to happen when she re-introduces exercise and hasn’t learned how to maintain a calorie balance with workouts? I suspect the same thing that happened to me when I hadn’t learned how to moderate intake - gain it back. Decreasing workouts may be more helpful to her long term. Less hunger from workouts, no fitness endurance losses, and the opportunity to learn how to balance the two. It doesn’t have to be full throttle or nothing5 -
“ To maintain their weight loss, members report engaging in high levels of physical activity”
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/82/1/222S/48633933 -
happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.
I ate a half gallon almost nightly of ice cream. My eating didn’t change. I did go from completely sedentary though to active averaging 12000 steps a day from 3000-4000
Congratulations. You're special. Your experience also does not negate OP's opposite experience. Anecdotes =/= data.
I never said it negated anything nor did I at any point tell OP to do what I did. I actually ended up here because when I switched jobs activity decreased and I gained 30lb back so I needed to learn the diet part.
What I did say was OP all or nothing approach is concerning. I don’t think it’s a healthy way to approach any struggle in life. Trouble balancing work and home? Might as well quit. That’s how the attitude translates.
What is going to happen when she re-introduces exercise and hasn’t learned how to maintain a calorie balance with workouts? I suspect the same thing that happened to me when I hadn’t learned how to moderate intake - gain it back. Decreasing workouts may be more helpful to her long term. Less hunger from workouts, no fitness endurance losses, and the opportunity to learn how to balance the two. It doesn’t have to be full throttle or nothing
I think she IS practicing moderation between full throttle or nothing. There's nothing wrong with focusing all your energy on building good eating habits first, then figuring out exercise when you're where you want to be weight/diet wise. Changing too many things at once is a good recipe for burnout. I did the opposite, I started with lifting and then worked on counting calories, and I am now losing steadily working with both. But if OP is more motivated to count calories, more power to her. I agree that gradually increasing exercise is best both for building habits and avoiding injury, but I also think the human body is adaptable enough to bounce back from temporarily stopping exercise and there's no reason for the tidal wave of unsolicited 'advice' OP is getting.10 -
“ To maintain their weight loss, members report engaging in high levels of physical activity”
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/82/1/222S/4863393
Maintenance is not the same as losing.3 -
happytree923 wrote: »“ To maintain their weight loss, members report engaging in high levels of physical activity”
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/82/1/222S/4863393
Maintenance is not the same as losing.
If you can’t learn the behaviors that you’ll need to maintain than you won’t.6 -
happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »I've heard a number of experts say exactly what you're saying.... during the weight loss phase exercise can be counterproductive because it makes you hungry and you end up eating way more than you burned off. If it is working for you that's fantastic! We all have to get to know our own bodies and what works for us.
Please post a links to "experts" telling you this.
Complete horse poo.
Medical doctor and professor Aaron Carroll, for one. His show healthcare triage did an episode covering many studies that show exercise does not help weight loss.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtn4Ap8kDM
Which is not the same as saying exercise is bad! But if OP finds it easier to stick to a deficit without structured exercise, she is smart to wait to start a strenuous program until at her goal weight. The dogpiling in here is ridiculous. Exercise is not and will never be a major factor in weight loss. Aesthetics, yes. Overall health, yes.
Funny - I lost 89lb creating a deficit through exercise alone my first go round. I did not change how I was eating and focused solely on increasing activity. I must be a rare unicorn
Statistically, yes, you are a rare unicorn. What is also likely is that you subconsciously changed your eating habits to match your training goals- but if that is not the case you are the exception to the rule.
I ate a half gallon almost nightly of ice cream. My eating didn’t change. I did go from completely sedentary though to active averaging 12000 steps a day from 3000-4000
Congratulations. You're special. Your experience also does not negate OP's opposite experience. Anecdotes =/= data.
I never said it negated anything nor did I at any point tell OP to do what I did. I actually ended up here because when I switched jobs activity decreased and I gained 30lb back so I needed to learn the diet part.
What I did say was OP all or nothing approach is concerning. I don’t think it’s a healthy way to approach any struggle in life. Trouble balancing work and home? Might as well quit. That’s how the attitude translates.
What is going to happen when she re-introduces exercise and hasn’t learned how to maintain a calorie balance with workouts? I suspect the same thing that happened to me when I hadn’t learned how to moderate intake - gain it back. Decreasing workouts may be more helpful to her long term. Less hunger from workouts, no fitness endurance losses, and the opportunity to learn how to balance the two. It doesn’t have to be full throttle or nothing
I think she IS practicing moderation between full throttle or nothing. There's nothing wrong with focusing all your energy on building good eating habits first, then figuring out exercise when you're where you want to be weight/diet wise. Changing too many things at once is a good recipe for burnout. I did the opposite, I started with lifting and then worked on counting calories, and I am now losing steadily working with both. But if OP is more motivated to count calories, more power to her. I agree that gradually increasing exercise is best both for building habits and avoiding injury, but I also think the human body is adaptable enough to bounce back from temporarily stopping exercise and there's no reason for the tidal wave of unsolicited 'advice' OP is getting.
There is nothing unsolicited when you post to a public forum10 -
for me, I lose weight more quickly when I don't lift weights and workout hard at the gym. losing weight, and getting fit are two different and important things.1
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I don’t think you need a gym for exercise, just some dumbbells and your body. Body weight squats and push-ups are great. You don’t have to exercise to lose weight but it’s a good way to get health problems like poor circulation and high blood pressure.2
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jefamer2017 wrote: »The piling on effect of the negative responses in this thread is an example of what can go wrong in the MFP forums specifically and the Net generally.
It is evidence of a lack of reading comprehension at best and raging insensitivity and hubris at worse.
The OP has said that she (I assume she) has been lifting daily at the gym but feels that she can best lose the weight she has gained by taking a hiatus from lifting to reach her goal weight before returning to lifting again.
So, why harrangue her about not lifting until she reaches her goal?
Her health, strength and fitness will not go into the toilet just because she does this and she has already said she will go back to lifting as soon as she reaches her goal weight.
There's no one right way to do things and it's presumptuous to suggest that you know better how to do what she desires to do, especially since she's already made clear that she understands the benefits of lifting.
The only thing that these such reponses will accomplish will be to make the OP reticent to post a thread or comment on MFP again and limit the participation on the forums to just the most aggressively vocal or thick skinned, which IMO is not necessarily for the better.
Amen!!!!
So take the OP's thread and substitute "going to do a juice detox" for "going to stop lifting" until I reach my goal. Does this change you perspective of trying to talk her out of it?
Science, physiology, and people with a TON more experience say that strength training is very important at this stage, and will leave her much farther ahead in the long run, especially when she has the goal of improving her physique when she reaches her goal. Why would anyone here encourage someone to follow a very sub optimal plan?
See, what you did there is called a Strawman argument. You're creating a position that isn't the same to the original point and arguing against that instead. What the OP has said is that lifting at the moment is making it hard to stick to her calorie target so to lose the last few pounds she's going to stop lifting temporarily, not introducing useless pseudo-science rubbish. They're not equivalent.
I wonder, would everyone be so up in arms if she'd said "Eating higher carbs is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna lower my carb intake for a while"? or "I've found running 10 miles a day is making me hungry and I overeat so I'm gonna stop running for a while"?
Regarding your last paragraph: your two statements aren't equal.
Lowering her carb intake isn't the same as stopping something altogether, which is what she's doing. And *that's* the issue.
She has the option of lowering her training load so that she's not so hungry AND of eating back her exercise calories so that she's not so hungry.
She has a stated fitness goal of making gains and running a bulk cycle, which implies that she will want to pursue a balance of food/fitness in the future, and she can't even find it now!
What does that tell you?8 -
Mistraal1981 wrote: »Little bit of back story; a few years ago I lost weight and gradually over time it has crept back on. It's worth noting that I have been going to gym 5 days a week every week during that whole time - lifting, no cardio.
I'm getting back on top of my diet again, but to do that I had to quit the gym. I just couldn't sustain the deficit and workout. It just made me too hungry.
Fear not, I will return to the gym once I hit my goal weight again!
The moral of the story....you definitely do not have to exercise to lose weight!
Then just go to the gym TWICE a week! Don’t stop all together. There’s so many benefits to weight lifting including increased insulin sensitivity, preserving lean mass keeps you stronger and helps prevent osteoporosis. Just go once or twice a week then and do full body workouts to preserve the muscle that you have. You wrote that you went 5 times a week...well then cut down but don’t eliminate exercise altogether. You will end up skinny fat which is worse.2 -
I can empathise with the OP ... I stopped heavy deadlifting due to hunger issues .. I still lift, I run, I cycle, I do yoga, I swing kettle bells, blah blah blah
BUT
on the days I used to do heavy barbell deadlifts I could not control my eating .. will power completely broke down and nothing I did would satisfy the urge to eat.
Now I dead lift with a couple of 24kg kettlebells for a lot more reps, and that fine4
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