I googled "can exercise hinder weight loss"
Sandytoes71
Posts: 463 Member
I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this and/or experience. My weight loss stalled after I started c25k training program. Got me to thinking. This is a very small exert from what I read. Just wondering if others gave experienced over exercising causing weight loss to stall.
Exercise Right
Wrong Exercise Can Hinder Weight LossConventional weight loss advice says, “Just eat less and exercise more,” but it is usually given by someone who never needed to lose weight. What you eat, how foods are combined, and when you eat are just as important as how much you eat. Exercise also is not as simple as conventional advice implies. Just as with carbohydrates and fats, all types of exercise are not created equal. Although exercise routines are not my areas of expertise, having read the experts, it seems to me that how much and what kind of exercise is best for YOU is as much an individual matter as what, when, and how much you eat. There actually are types and amounts of exercise that cause fat deposition rather than fat burning.There are three types of exercise: aerobic (also called cardio), muscle building (such as weight training), and moderate exercise (also called brisk activity). Aerobic exercise receives the most attention because it strengthens the heart muscles, helps the lungs and is beneficial for most people. (1) However, if done to excess or without sufficient food, aerobic exercise can be physically stressful and induce adrenal hormone production which causes the body to deposit rather than burn fat. If done without eliciting the release of adrenal hormones, it promotes weight loss very effectively because it boosts your metabolic rate for about 36 hours after exercising, thus causing you to use more calories regardless of your activity for the next day and a half. (2) If your insulin levels are low and stable during that time, those burned calories can come from stored body fat.The definition of aerobic exercise is exercise that is strenuous enough to cause your heart to reach a target rate determined by your age. To calculate your target pulse rate, subtract your age from 220 and then multiply that number by 0.75. (3) There are pulse rate monitoring wrist watches that can be worn during exercise to easily monitor your pulse, either to keep it at the target rate for aerobic exercise or to keep it in an optimal range for fat burning, which is lower.Muscle building exercise is also high intensity exercise and can lead to fat deposition if done to excess. However, increasing one’s muscle mass in the correct way – without causing the release of adrenal hormones – will raise your metabolic rate overall because muscle tissue consumes more energy than fat. Indeed, muscle loss as a result of dieting is often a reason that people cannot maintain their goal weight. They require less food after their diet than they did originally because they lost muscle while dieting. You can avoid muscle loss while losing weight by having sufficient protein intake (for women - 50 to 75 grams or 7 to 11 units per day; for men - 75 to 100 grams or 11 to 14 units per day (4)) and by doing exercise that builds muscle. For best results, strenuous muscle building exercises such as weight training should be done every other day because the recovery day between exercise days is the time when muscle fibers are built.Eat before you exercise.In my opinion, moderate exercise (also called brisk activity) does not receive the respect from most exercise experts that it deserves. Perhaps this is because no special equipment or advice is needed. There is nothing to sell when a person takes up walking, but those who walk several times a week are most successful at maintaining weight loss after a diet.Walking is often touted as the best way to lose fat (5) perhaps because it is near-impossible to walk too fast to induce an adrenal hormone response that turns off fat burning. In addition to moderate exercise being the best way to burn body fat, it also builds muscle, although you won’t end up with bulging biceps as you might from weight training. Another extremely important effect of moderate exercise is that it decreases leptin resistance. (6) (Leptin is the master hormone for the self-regulation of a healthy level of body fat. See the “Lose Weight by Controlling Your Hormones” page of this website for more about leptin resistance).Formal metabolic activity tests exist that determine an individual’s optimal exercise pulse rate for fat-burning. Rather than having a test, Dr. Cheryle Hart says you can approximate your best fat burning zone by leisurely walking or bicycling, and that if you cannot carry on a conversation without sounding winded, you have exceeded that zone. (7)Some people err on the side of too little exercise and benefit from adding a sensible exercise regime to their healthy eating plan. Always check with your doctor before starting an exercise program especially if you have been sedentary. Dr. Hart recommends starting with 10 minutes of moderate activity such as walking per day for the first week and increasing your time by two minutes per week. If you need motivation to take up exercise, consider these extra benefits. Moderate exercise is good for us in many ways in addition to burning fat: it relieves stress physically, helps remove your mind from distressing thoughts, releases endorphins in the brain (8), and gives you a chance to do something nurturing for yourself.So what is the right amount and type of exercise for you? How can you listen to your body to determine this? It helps to understand the physiology of how your body supplies energy when you do strenuous exercise (aerobic or muscle building exercise). First, you burn whatever glucose is in your blood from a meal or snack eaten during the previous hour. Then your body converts glucose stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen into glucose. We only have enough stored glycogen to supply us with fuel for about 20 minutes of intense exercise. Because fat cannot be converted to glucose rapidly, after the glycogen is gone, our bodies begin converting muscle protein into glucose.If you exercise moderately, the fat conversion process is able to keep up with your glucose needs so fat will be burned. (9) Thus, the best way to lose fat is to keep your insulin levels low and stable (so you are in the fat-burning mode) and exercise moderately by walking, gardening, cleaning house, or leisurely bicycling. Dr. Hart says, “If exercising makes you hungry, it means you have used up your glucose and glycogen stores. Most likely you started burning muscle. An important thing to remember is that you don’t get hungry when you are burning fat.” (10) Thus, hunger after exercise is how your body tells you that you were exercising too hard to burn fat.In The Insulin Resistance Diet, Dr. Hart recommends limiting strenuous exercise to no more than 25 minutes per day to avoid losing muscle mass. (11) She says that a mere 12 minutes of aerobic activity six days a week or 25 minutes three days a week is enough to increase your resting metabolic rate all week long. She advises doing stretching exercises or brisk activity (moderate exercise) if you want to exercise more than 75 minutes a week and recommends house cleaning, gardening, walking, and moderately paced swimming or bicycling as excellent ways to burn fat.
I am not agreeing nor disagreeing with this.......yet.
Exercise Right
Wrong Exercise Can Hinder Weight LossConventional weight loss advice says, “Just eat less and exercise more,” but it is usually given by someone who never needed to lose weight. What you eat, how foods are combined, and when you eat are just as important as how much you eat. Exercise also is not as simple as conventional advice implies. Just as with carbohydrates and fats, all types of exercise are not created equal. Although exercise routines are not my areas of expertise, having read the experts, it seems to me that how much and what kind of exercise is best for YOU is as much an individual matter as what, when, and how much you eat. There actually are types and amounts of exercise that cause fat deposition rather than fat burning.There are three types of exercise: aerobic (also called cardio), muscle building (such as weight training), and moderate exercise (also called brisk activity). Aerobic exercise receives the most attention because it strengthens the heart muscles, helps the lungs and is beneficial for most people. (1) However, if done to excess or without sufficient food, aerobic exercise can be physically stressful and induce adrenal hormone production which causes the body to deposit rather than burn fat. If done without eliciting the release of adrenal hormones, it promotes weight loss very effectively because it boosts your metabolic rate for about 36 hours after exercising, thus causing you to use more calories regardless of your activity for the next day and a half. (2) If your insulin levels are low and stable during that time, those burned calories can come from stored body fat.The definition of aerobic exercise is exercise that is strenuous enough to cause your heart to reach a target rate determined by your age. To calculate your target pulse rate, subtract your age from 220 and then multiply that number by 0.75. (3) There are pulse rate monitoring wrist watches that can be worn during exercise to easily monitor your pulse, either to keep it at the target rate for aerobic exercise or to keep it in an optimal range for fat burning, which is lower.Muscle building exercise is also high intensity exercise and can lead to fat deposition if done to excess. However, increasing one’s muscle mass in the correct way – without causing the release of adrenal hormones – will raise your metabolic rate overall because muscle tissue consumes more energy than fat. Indeed, muscle loss as a result of dieting is often a reason that people cannot maintain their goal weight. They require less food after their diet than they did originally because they lost muscle while dieting. You can avoid muscle loss while losing weight by having sufficient protein intake (for women - 50 to 75 grams or 7 to 11 units per day; for men - 75 to 100 grams or 11 to 14 units per day (4)) and by doing exercise that builds muscle. For best results, strenuous muscle building exercises such as weight training should be done every other day because the recovery day between exercise days is the time when muscle fibers are built.Eat before you exercise.In my opinion, moderate exercise (also called brisk activity) does not receive the respect from most exercise experts that it deserves. Perhaps this is because no special equipment or advice is needed. There is nothing to sell when a person takes up walking, but those who walk several times a week are most successful at maintaining weight loss after a diet.Walking is often touted as the best way to lose fat (5) perhaps because it is near-impossible to walk too fast to induce an adrenal hormone response that turns off fat burning. In addition to moderate exercise being the best way to burn body fat, it also builds muscle, although you won’t end up with bulging biceps as you might from weight training. Another extremely important effect of moderate exercise is that it decreases leptin resistance. (6) (Leptin is the master hormone for the self-regulation of a healthy level of body fat. See the “Lose Weight by Controlling Your Hormones” page of this website for more about leptin resistance).Formal metabolic activity tests exist that determine an individual’s optimal exercise pulse rate for fat-burning. Rather than having a test, Dr. Cheryle Hart says you can approximate your best fat burning zone by leisurely walking or bicycling, and that if you cannot carry on a conversation without sounding winded, you have exceeded that zone. (7)Some people err on the side of too little exercise and benefit from adding a sensible exercise regime to their healthy eating plan. Always check with your doctor before starting an exercise program especially if you have been sedentary. Dr. Hart recommends starting with 10 minutes of moderate activity such as walking per day for the first week and increasing your time by two minutes per week. If you need motivation to take up exercise, consider these extra benefits. Moderate exercise is good for us in many ways in addition to burning fat: it relieves stress physically, helps remove your mind from distressing thoughts, releases endorphins in the brain (8), and gives you a chance to do something nurturing for yourself.So what is the right amount and type of exercise for you? How can you listen to your body to determine this? It helps to understand the physiology of how your body supplies energy when you do strenuous exercise (aerobic or muscle building exercise). First, you burn whatever glucose is in your blood from a meal or snack eaten during the previous hour. Then your body converts glucose stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen into glucose. We only have enough stored glycogen to supply us with fuel for about 20 minutes of intense exercise. Because fat cannot be converted to glucose rapidly, after the glycogen is gone, our bodies begin converting muscle protein into glucose.If you exercise moderately, the fat conversion process is able to keep up with your glucose needs so fat will be burned. (9) Thus, the best way to lose fat is to keep your insulin levels low and stable (so you are in the fat-burning mode) and exercise moderately by walking, gardening, cleaning house, or leisurely bicycling. Dr. Hart says, “If exercising makes you hungry, it means you have used up your glucose and glycogen stores. Most likely you started burning muscle. An important thing to remember is that you don’t get hungry when you are burning fat.” (10) Thus, hunger after exercise is how your body tells you that you were exercising too hard to burn fat.In The Insulin Resistance Diet, Dr. Hart recommends limiting strenuous exercise to no more than 25 minutes per day to avoid losing muscle mass. (11) She says that a mere 12 minutes of aerobic activity six days a week or 25 minutes three days a week is enough to increase your resting metabolic rate all week long. She advises doing stretching exercises or brisk activity (moderate exercise) if you want to exercise more than 75 minutes a week and recommends house cleaning, gardening, walking, and moderately paced swimming or bicycling as excellent ways to burn fat.
I am not agreeing nor disagreeing with this.......yet.
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Replies
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Omgosh!!!!! I didnt know that was gonna be so long lmao!!! Kudos to anyone who takes the time to read my post lol!!! Sorry0
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"What you eat, how foods are combined, and when you eat are just as important as how much you eat."
Didn't read beyond this line. So much NO.0 -
can you paraphrase it? haha0
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Or at least break it up into paragraphs for ease of reading.0
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can you paraphrase it? haha
lol!! I know, sorry. Im on my phone and didnt realize the length. Read the last 13 lines. That's what im looking at.0 -
"...you don't get hungry when you are burning fat."
WTF?
This article can be safely dumped in the trash bin, IMO.
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I read the last 11 lines as those were what you pointed out. Load of quackery, based on everything else I have read, learned, and personally experienced. I already seriously doubt the "doctor" quoted based on previous research I did when H was diagnosed with diabetes, and this just comfirms it. Where is this article from?0
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Exercise only hinders weight loss IF one doesn't stick to their correct calorie intake. It may cause a stall for the first couple of weeks, but CONSISTENT work and correct calorie intake should result in continued weight loss.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
.... i only google bacon.. i tried once to google "exercise", but google just asked "do you mean bacon?" ... i think google knows me to well... :flowerforyou:0
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I skimmed a bit of the article and read the last few lines.
I cannot agree with the article. If you don't get hungry when burning fat, why do people with any excess fat stores get hungry at all?
The "fat burning zone" is pretty much a myth, too. There's isn't a magic heart rate that means you burn only fat (in fact, that term first came to use to distinguish from emphasis on cardiovascular health, which is the next "level" up on those heart rate charts … basically, that it would still burn fat even though not do so much for heart health, IIRC).
There is a lot of dreck on the internet, and google doesn't differentiate by quality of source in how it lists things (neither do any other search engines). You have to be pretty discriminating when using the internet as a research tool. It's a good thing you weren't really ready to believe the article yet
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I skimmed a bit of the article and read the last few lines.
I cannot agree with the article. If you don't get hungry when burning fat, why do people with any excess fat stores get hungry at all?
The "fat burning zone" is pretty much a myth, too. There's isn't a magic heart rate that means you burn only fat (in fact, that term first came to use to distinguish from emphasis on cardiovascular health, which is the next "level" up on those heart rate charts … basically, that it would still burn fat even though not do so much for heart health, IIRC).
There is a lot of dreck on the internet, and google doesn't differentiate by quality of source in how it lists things (neither do any other search engines). You have to be pretty discriminating when using the internet as a research tool. It's a good thing you weren't really ready to believe the article yet
^^yep.0 -
I skimmed a bit of the article and read the last few lines.
I cannot agree with the article. If you don't get hungry when burning fat, why do people with any excess fat stores get hungry at all?
The "fat burning zone" is pretty much a myth, too. There's isn't a magic heart rate that means you burn only fat (in fact, that term first came to use to distinguish from emphasis on cardiovascular health, which is the next "level" up on those heart rate charts … basically, that it would still burn fat even though not do so much for heart health, IIRC).
There is a lot of dreck on the internet, and google doesn't differentiate by quality of source in how it lists things (neither do any other search engines). You have to be pretty discriminating when using the internet as a research tool. It's a good thing you weren't really ready to believe the article yet
QFT0 -
"What you eat, how foods are combined, and when you eat are just as important as how much you eat."
Didn't read beyond this line. So much NO.
I was going to respond the exact same way. If a wall o text has something as ridiculous as this at the start, I'm guessing the rest isn't worth my time.0 -
Why are people on this site so into declaring that exercise has nothing to do with weight loss? Of course it does.
The main issue with "OMG I started exercising and I GAINED WEIGHT!!1!1" is that people who say that are overestimating calories burned by the exercise they're doing and then eating too much. There's no mysterious complicated process happening.0 -
Why are people on this site so into declaring that exercise has nothing to do with weight loss? Of course it does.
The main issue with "OMG I started exercising and I GAINED WEIGHT!!1!1" is that people who say that are overestimating calories burned by the exercise they're doing and then eating too much. There's no mysterious complicated process happening.
This.
Op, you said your weight loss stalled after you started c25k. Remember, the calorie burn from that program is minimal. Granted, I'm short and currently at a healthy weight, but I only burn about 250 calories from running 5k at 8 mins per mile.
My advice to you is get off the google, track your calories religously and run more.
Oh lift some weights too. And if you aren't ready for weights, You Are Your Own Gym is a great progressive body weight strength program and the app is awesome!
If your going to start logging your house cleaning as excercise I think you are setting yourself up for failure.0 -
.... i only google bacon.. i tried once to google "exercise", but google just asked "do you mean bacon?" ... i think google knows me to well... :flowerforyou:
Hahahaha... just... thank you.0 -
I think I just burned 45 calories trying to read that. I'll wait for the movie..
I know for me, dieting alone has never worked well. I have only ever been successful by dieting AND exercise. I've lost over 40 lbs three times in my life. My real challenge is keeping it off. And I know exercise will have to part of that new life style. Remember.. all of our goals should be to be healthier, not just lighter.0 -
That article is full of issues.
I'll just focus in addressing the personal question - your weight loss "stall"
While exercise can lead to overeating to compensate usually what is observed during the first weeks of a new exercise regimen is a very simple response to the change. Tissue damage and repair processes initiate an inflammatory response. This response induced water retention in and around muscular tissue. It can last days or weeks - depending on the activity and frequency of your initial load. So, yes, anew exercise regimen does create the perception of a stall.
As you continue, the inflammatory response is down regulated, also neural adaptation increases and reduces tissue damage so you are less likely to see the same water retention for equivalent exercise.
Current theory is that DOMS is partially due to this inflammatory response.
While it might seem like a good idea to treat the inflammation with drugs (such as NSAIDs.), this is in general a bad idea, in that this inflammatory response has a purpose - in initiates and drives tissue repair, muscle development and protein transport. Block it and you block part of the reason for exercise - to become better at doing something by forcing the body to adjust.
Focus the idea of doing exercise to be strong and able and have fun - it's often a good additional or even, maybe, a better motivator than just weight loss. The water weight will come off. Stick to it.0 -
tl:dr
But in the first couple of lines there are already factual errors. How foods are combined and when you eat have no effect on weight loss. If you consume fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. It doesn't matter if you eat nothing but Snicker bars all in one sitting, at least as far as weight loss goes.
Exercise won't "hinder" weight loss. It burns calories, so it helps weight loss. The only harm that could come of it is if you exercise and it makes you so hungry you eat a lot more than you burned exercising.0 -
Personally, I have found my weightloss is inhibited if I do NOT exercise.0
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This.
Op, you said your weight loss stalled after you started c25k. Remember, the calorie burn from that program is minimal. Granted, I'm short and currently at a healthy weight, but I only burn about 250 calories from running 5k at 8 mins per mile.
...
The calorie burn for you is minimal. Its not necessarily for the OP. I train with a HRM to get an accurate calorie burn and can easily burn 5-600cals running at 13 mins per mile because I'm obese. I did a trail run today with a lot of hills that was about 4 miles and my pace was very slow but burned 725cals in an hour.
That said I agree completely with the rest of your post. I log all food religiously and, as I say use a HRM for all cardio exercise and have lost an average of 2.3lbs a week for the last 27 weeks (so far). I started running using C25K to aid weight loss and have found that a)running along with gym cardio, swimming & weights have indeed helped weight loss (as it means I can have treats which mean I am not on a diet but a proper lifestyle change) and b) I now love running! I think the OP's issue is not C25K but more either incorrect logging or using MFP to estimate calories burned during exercise (and then eating them all back).0 -
I skimmed a bit of the article and read the last few lines.
I cannot agree with the article. If you don't get hungry when burning fat, why do people with any excess fat stores get hungry at all?
The "fat burning zone" is pretty much a myth, too. There's isn't a magic heart rate that means you burn only fat (in fact, that term first came to use to distinguish from emphasis on cardiovascular health, which is the next "level" up on those heart rate charts … basically, that it would still burn fat even though not do so much for heart health, IIRC).
There is a lot of dreck on the internet, and google doesn't differentiate by quality of source in how it lists things (neither do any other search engines). You have to be pretty discriminating when using the internet as a research tool. It's a good thing you weren't really ready to believe the article yet
Thx lol. I guess it was the fat burning zone theory I was looking at.0 -
I think I just burned 45 calories trying to read that. I'll wait for the movie..
I know for me, dieting alone has never worked well. I have only ever been successful by dieting AND exercise. I've lost over 40 lbs three times in my life. My real challenge is keeping it off. And I know exercise will have to part of that new life style. Remember.. all of our goals should be to be healthier, not just lighter.
lmao at your first sentence!0 -
That article is full of issues.
I'll just focus in addressing the personal question - your weight loss "stall"
While exercise can lead to overeating to compensate usually what is observed during the first weeks of a new exercise regimen is a very simple response to the change. Tissue damage and repair processes initiate an inflammatory response. This response induced water retention in and around muscular tissue. It can last days or weeks - depending on the activity and frequency of your initial load. So, yes, anew exercise regimen does create the perception of a stall.
As you continue, the inflammatory response is down regulated, also neural adaptation increases and reduces tissue damage so you are less likely to see the same water retention for equivalent exercise.
Current theory is that DOMS is partially due to this inflammatory response.
While it might seem like a good idea to treat the inflammation with drugs (such as NSAIDs.), this is in general a bad idea, in that this inflammatory response has a purpose - in initiates and drives tissue repair, muscle development and protein transport. Block it and you block part of the reason for exercise - to become better at doing something by forcing the body to adjust.
Focus the idea of doing exercise to be strong and able and have fun - it's often a good additional or even, maybe, a better motivator than just weight loss. The water weight will come off. Stick to it.
What a fabulous response! Thank you! I wondered about the water retention in the muscles but I have never heard of taking nsaids hurting the recovery process. So interesting! Again, thx!0 -
A few things in response to the OP article:
220-age x 0.75 is a terrible way to estimate training zone. Lots of peer-reviewed literature about how inaccurate it is. Personally, I have measured my Max HR at 214 (full out mile race) at 33 y/o so by this formula id be a full 20 BPM slow, and not in the 65-85% range. There really is no accurate way to predict max heart rate. you just gotta suffer a little and find out what yours is by hitting it.
The metabolic pathway used at certain intensity levels is a gradient-transition. your body doesn't flip a switch when you move from 64% HRM to 65%. Even solidly in the 'cardio' range, your body is still burning fat. it'll vary from person to person, and one might even be at a ratio as high as 25-30% fat with a HR of 80% max, it's also a function of how you train.
It's been said hundreds of times here on MFP, if you go exercise, and then 'reward' yourself with cheesecake with no consideration to net calorie intake, you will likely gain weight. When calories out > calories in, the deficit has to come from somewhere. It's virtually metabolically impossible to burn fuel and gain mass.
WRT the catabolism of muscle for energy.... that's just not true. it makes no sense evolutionarily or metabolically. Building muscle is hard work and the body just won't break it down for energy. not where there is literally thousands of calories lying in storage in the form of fat. At rest, you burn fat and some free simple sugars, when you start working you burn stored glycogen, when that's gone you burn fat again. If there's enough O2 any fuel you burn, burns clean, if not it burns 'incompletely' and you get lactic acid, which burns and signals biochemical fatigue.
Almost all exercise less than 30 minutes, excluding HIIT isn't enough to exhaust glycogen stores, and all you get is depleted sugars, and micro tears in the muscle that will be repaired stronger to better cope with the expected future workload. the advice to keep exercise moderate and 25 minutes or less doesn't burn 'hot enough' or 'long enough' to necessitate dipping into the fat stores in a meaningful way.
There's certainly more in there but those were the things I noticed most prominently while going through it.0 -
Skimmed, because ARGH MY EYES, but yes have read that vigorous exercise can overstimulate appetite & increase calorie consumption; also that (as everyone here will agree, I'm sure) that a deficit achieved via diet is the most effective way to lose weight.
However, research shows that people who've successfully lost weight and kept it off long-term usually also exercised (to what extent, and how, I can't remember. It'll have been something expected, like 3-5x 30 minutes a week, minimum). This may have something to do with motivation (exercise prompting people to keep their heads in the game, as far as diet's concerned). That alone is worth keeping it in, imo. Some people have also found their appetites reduced with moderate exercise, this is a question of individual differences (& maybe gender, if I can recall - don't know if anyone remembers the study I'm thinking of?).
Anyhow, you need weight-bearing exercise to keep your bones in good shape, you need cardio to keep your heart and lungs in order, your telomeres shorten less if you exercise, and it's protective against Alzheimer's. Seems like a good bet to me (regardless of stall).0 -
One of the problems with exercising and losing weight is that the majority of people over-rate how many calories they have burned and eat too much. It's also well known that exercise will make you more hungry and there is a risk of over-eating.
As long as you keep track of your calories, exercise is not necessary for weight loss. But it also goes the other way around, exercise will aid in your weight loss (aka you can eat more calories and still lose weight or lose weight faster) as long as you keep track of your calories or over-estimate calories burned. Exercise will also make you feel better.0
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