Diet vs Exercise is 80% vs 20% of success respectively?

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Crisseyda
Crisseyda Posts: 532 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just started using the my fitness pal app 2 weeks ago. This is the first time I've ever counted calories (or completely cut out processed carbs), and the weight is falling off. I woke up this morning and I'm down 7 lbs! My exercise has been far less than what I normally do, and even what it used to be (when I was a 20 something), but I've never ever lost weight this fast.

I'm eating more food that I ever thought I could and be on a diet! I'm completely satisfied!

So that leads me to my epiphany: that maybe weight loss is more about diet and less about exercise than we really think.

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  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    So that leads me to my epiphany: that maybe weight loss is more about diet and less about exercise than we really think.

    QFT. I can eat 500 calories of ice cream in ten minutes. It will take me ninety minutes to walk it off.

    There's truth in the saying "you can't out-run a bad diet".
  • manshusgr
    manshusgr Posts: 30 Member
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    I agree with her. Diet is more important for weight loss. Iv been on a 1500cal diet from.last 2 months and lost around 14 kgs so far and still losing. Without any weight training. But i do walk for 30 min everyday. So it's diet for me
  • BarbieFromHellx
    BarbieFromHellx Posts: 758 Member
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    Definitely! So many people are fooled by misconceptions that it's mostly exercise that will get the weight off - although exercising will help. The majority of my weight loss came from cutting my calories, with not that much exercise tbh. I exercise to tone up.
  • manda20142014
    manda20142014 Posts: 9
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    I agree I've always been pretty active, but can be greedy and it's that that MFP is helping to retrain.
  • GatorDeb1
    GatorDeb1 Posts: 245 Member
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    90/10. Nutrition is for losing weight, exercise is for getting fit. I have not worked out and lost weight and worked out 18 hours a week and gained weight.
  • rrowdiness
    rrowdiness Posts: 119 Member
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    So...you're asking the community on a site which specialises in calorie tracking whether diet is more important than exercise when it comes to 'success'? Hmmm....let me take a stab at what the answers will be...

    Seriously though, it completely depends on what 'success' is and where you are in terms of exercise. When people say 'exercise' on MFP they tend to be talking about 45 minute gym sessions doing weights work or moderate cardio. When people say 'exercise' on Strava or Endomondo, they're talking about a 50km bike ride or a 10km run at training pace. For someone on a 400cal burn from an elliptical session, of course diet's going to be the difference.

    Through training for half marathons and frequent cycling to work (50km round trip) I have burnt between 19,000 and 33,000 calories per month every month for the past year. Over that time I've lost a similar amount of weight to the first 2 years of weight loss. My weight loss is thus very much exercise driven, and my weight has absolutely plummeted during the intense periods which is when I am training the most, and when my food intake is the highest and overlap is the lowest.

    The periods of time where I cannot exercise through injury, other commitments or season are usually accompanied by weight gain.

    A similar story is reflected amongst the more extreme of my connections who are into long distance triathlon, running, state-level cycling etc. Each manages their own weight, as carting 5kg extra over a 250km road race is a waste of energy, and the way they reduce their weight is by workrate-level cardio, not diet. During their recovery phases (post event) they put on 3-4kg apiece.

    So, for me exercise is about 75%, diet is about 25% of achieving success (success = being lean, light, fit & fast).

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