Which is more important - Diet or Exercise?

aseshad

Hi,

About 3 months ago, all I did was sit in front of a desk, barely moved. Ate a nice big slice of chocolate cake or any sugary dessert in the afternoon every single day. Weekends I did nothing either even though I had no excuse. My excuse was I was a working mom!

Now fast forward three months to today. I joined a gym. I have a personal trainer on Mon/Fri. I work out for 1 hr (stairmaster/elliptical/bootcamp classes) on other weekdays from 6-7am. Weekends I take my dog for a walk.

My diet, I wouldn't say is perfect. I don't measure everything. But I am conscious. I have started incorporating quinoa, oats, millet etc into my diet. My afternoon dessert has turned into pears/banana or grapes.
I thought I was going places!

After about 1 months ago, my trainer took my weight and body fat measurement. No change. Nada. Zilch!
I stepped on the scale today at home, again no change.

I have a couple of friends who are on Ketogenic (all fat diet!). NO carbs at all. They eat chicken/eggs. NO CARBS.
THey don't exercise at all.
I saw them lose inches from their waist. I was skeptical about hidden fat or clogged arteries.
They do take their statistics every month and their cholestrol/triglycerides etc are in control !!!

So I am disillusioned !! Hard work doesn't pay for the first time!!! Short cuts work. This is not the way the world is supposed to work. Now I am told by my husband that my goal is not weight loss but just being active and enjoy it. Well, sometimes I question, what my motivation needs to be! I have not given up hope but I probably it would be good to know when I can start seeing results with my new (better?) routine! Sigh...

My stats: 37 yr old female. 143 pounds. 5'6"

Thanks.

WhoWasGivenToFly

what worked for me: calorie deficit for weight loss, period.

I was 60 lbs overweight exercising 3-4 times a week and eating healthy ( no junk or processed food)

you can be overweight eating no carbs if you are taking in more calories than you burn, period.

cassidyamymommy

My diet, I wouldn't say is perfect. I don't measure everything. But I am conscious


this.... you probably are taking in more calories then you think by not measuring.

austinsneeze

I heard it said once that weight loss was 85% nutrition, 15% fitness. I think nutrition is the base of weight loss, while exercise is a bonus. But, that's my personal opinion and experience. Some will disagree with me. I never exercise and I've lost 20 lbs.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Calorie deficit is what's important for weight loss. I personally feel that it's much easier to obtain a calorie deficit with dietary changes, just because it's so difficult to burn a large number of calories (especially for me because I'm small and chronically ill).

I think most people do a combination of the two.

Francl27

It's 99% diet. Sorry to break it to you.

The reason the 'shortcut' of cutting carbs works is because carbs are high in calories and don't always fill you up compared to protein and fat, so when you cut carbs, you eat less calories... usually. People who lose weight on low carb are eating less calories than they used to... the people who make up for the carbs in protein and fat won't lose weight either.

I don't really call it a shortcut though, because unless you're planning on eating low carb for the rest of your life, the day you put them back in your diet, you're more likely to gain some weight back.

But pretty much, eating less is what you need to lose weight. You don't have to cut anything out... just eat more sensibly, eat high calorie foods in moderation and fill up with veggies, fruit and lean protein.

cherryblossombabe

It's all about the calorie deficit, I agree with you WhoWasGivenTo. I am losing consistently every week, I walk on the treadmill 30 mins x3 times a week and count all of my calories by logging my foods on here everyday. When I say log, I mean I log EVERYTHING.. Some people forget about the 2 sugars in tea or the milk in cereal for morning brekkie, it all adds up. Cut your self some slack here, you have been doing amazing with the workouts! Your body needs time to adjust to it's new routine. Give yourself some recovery time from working out to.

Walter__

Diet. Diet. Diet.

You can't out train a bad diet.

Screwedntattooed

Diet.

ninerbuff

Exercise is for fitness and overall health. Calorie deficit is for weight loss. You can combine the 2 for great results. But right it's about you consuming more than you need to, which is why your aren't losing any weight. Guesstimating doesn't work for many, you just have to get more into habit of measuring correctly.

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

yopeeps025

For my goals it is a 60-40 split diet- exercise

Mr_Knight

My diet, I wouldn't say is perfect. I don't measure everything. But I am conscious.

Everybody thinks they're "conscious".

Log.

Everything.

skcardiog

Pounds are lost in the kitchen .

samammay

If you want to lose weight, reduce your calories.
If you want to look good in your clothes, do lots of cardio.
If you want to look great naked, lift weights.

deansdad101

Hi,

About 3 months ago, all I did was sit in front of a desk, barely moved. Ate a nice big slice of chocolate cake or any sugary dessert in the afternoon every single day. Weekends I did nothing either even though I had no excuse. My excuse was I was a working mom!

Now fast forward three months to today. I joined a gym. I have a personal trainer on Mon/Fri. I work out for 1 hr (stairmaster/elliptical/bootcamp classes) on other weekdays from 6-7am. Weekends I take my dog for a walk.

My diet, I wouldn't say is perfect. I don't measure everything. But I am conscious. I have started incorporating quinoa, oats, millet etc into my diet. My afternoon dessert has turned into pears/banana or grapes.
I thought I was going places!

After about 1 months ago, my trainer took my weight and body fat measurement. No change. Nada. Zilch!
I stepped on the scale today at home, again no change.

I have a couple of friends who are on Ketogenic (all fat diet!). NO carbs at all. They eat chicken/eggs. NO CARBS.
THey don't exercise at all.
I saw them lose inches from their waist. I was skeptical about hidden fat or clogged arteries.
They do take their statistics every month and their cholestrol/triglycerides etc are in control !!!

So I am disillusioned !! Hard work doesn't pay for the first time!!! Short cuts work. This is not the way the world is supposed to work. Now I am told by my husband that my goal is not weight loss but just being active and enjoy it. Well, sometimes I question, what my motivation needs to be! I have not given up hope but I probably it would be good to know when I can start seeing results with my new (better?) routine! Sigh...

My stats: 37 yr old female. 143 pounds. 5'6"

Thanks.

Ases;

You're sure to get any number of divergent opinion replies - many of which the authors proclaim to be "THE" answer.

Unfortunately, a good number of these are based on dogma, not fact. It's up to you to do your own research and separate the wheat from the chaff.

To my mind "diet" and "exercise" are not one and the same. Each has benefits but they are not necessarily "joined at the hip" in that one is specifically dependent on the other.

Weight loss is totally dependent on diet (regardless of the methodology selected), it is NOT dependent (exclusively) on exercise (as you have seen). This is NOT to say that exercise isn't a necessary part of overall health and wellness - it IS.

Any number of recent clinical studies have demonstrated that weight loss with NO exercise is not only possible, but in many cases just as successful (in some cases more so). Cardio exercise, by and large has little to no positive weight loss effect. Resistance, in moderation and at the appropriate time has been shown to be at least positive but NOT absolutely necessary.

Many of these forums cling desperately to the old myths and "truisms" - no pain no gain, if you fail it's your own fault, you're just lazy or lying about your cal intake.

It's NOT about morality, it IS about science.

Your understanding of "keto/LC" diets is woefully inadequate but likely represents the level of understanding of many, having been so frequently misrepresented by the ignoranti.

I'd suggest you might want to do your own research and gain an understanding of WHY many believe LCHF is not only much "healthier" in the long run but also provides the weight reduction benefits that it does.

It is NOT a "fad diet", NOT an "...all fat diet...", nor is it ..."NO CARBS..", or that "...they don't exercise AT ALL..."

It IS a specific dietary approach which, first and foremost offers any number of long term health benefits and, as a positive "side effect", allows many to reach their weight and body fat goals. (with or without any specific exercises).

If you are interested, take a look here to begin:
http://tinyurl.com/lez37n4

RMZ2014

I would ask you "Do you FEEL better?". I would be willing to bet you do.


I have consistently heard/read it is 80% diet. For me personally it is both diet and exercise. I have to do both to lose weight and it has been that way since I was in my early 20's. I find that exercise makes me FEEL better, and that in turns helps me keep my diet on the straight and narrow. And I HAVE to count calories and measure my food. Otherwise I am deluding myself. I knew I was over eating, but did not realize how much until I started logging everything. It is sooo easy to overeat. It blows my mind how fast those calories can add up. Keep at it and good luck. :happy:

PBWaffleCakes

All of my doctors tell me is dieting is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. So far I found this to be true. If I eat healthy and in my calorie range without exercise I still lose weight.

JtKeil

Exercise boosts my confidence and keeps me in the right frame of mind to make good choices. It also has the benefit of being great for my health and increasing the calorie deficit needed to lose weight. To me, they're equally important.

ucabucca

If you want the scale to tip it is more diet and I am good at guessing but I have worked at Deli so I measure food all the time but still can be off and I am also good at forgetting to log at times.
I do not agree with the scale being only measure. I would check you body fat or inches they probably have changed. I have worked hard with a trainer and at this point heavier than I thought I wanted to be but when I see the image in the mirror I can't help but smile. I am toned and lean and healthier than ever. I look much younger and energy is high. Don't give up on exercise confidence, energy, mood, sexy are all helped by exercise combing cardio and strength training of some kind. Good Luck

Zerodette

It's not fair to say that paying attention to your diet is a shortcut while exercising is hard work. Sure, one makes you sweaty and tired, but both take diligence.

I used to work out 6-7 hours a week while consuming 5000 calories a day, because I thought working out gave me the right to eat whatever I wanted. All I can do is shae my head at how wrongheaded I was. To lose weight, you need a deficit. To be sure of a deficit, logging helps. Real logging, not just "being conscious."

eatclean13

Diet is the single most important thing you can do for your health, weight loss, mood, energy etc. When we do not eat correctly our hormones get out of balance and that causes all of the above to not function properly. Low carb diets are the most studied diets in history and what the research points to is that they are more right than wrong but you can't take that to mean eat all the bacon you want. There are no shortcuts! If we are going to have long term success than we have to examine every calorie that we ingest. Also calorie deficit is important but now we know that not all calories are created equally. A very good book that gave me a better understanding of nutrients is "The Wahls Protocol" by Terry Wahls MD. Diet may very well be 85% of the recipe for weight loss but our overall health and well being is the real goal. I wish you the best of luck.

PeterSedesse

75% diet 25% exercise

But that is only if you are trying to lose weight. Once you get to your target weight, exercise is much more important to be healthy and feeling good.

Graelwyn75

It is a combination for me. Training hard keeps me on track with my eating and also keeps things tight as I lose. I have the best results being careful of my diet and combining cardio and weights at least 5 times a week. Once I fall off the workout wagon, I tend to fall off the healthy eating wagon too. You can lose weight by diet alone but I doubt it will look pretty naked.

Shirotora88

Diet is 80% and exercise is 20%

Richardlaing1

Is there a reason you don't track calories perfectly? I found it very difficult to guess. I have completely eliminated sugar and grain from my diet and attribute that to at least in part to feeling so much better overall. After a couple weeks I did not miss them at all. I do exercise but I make sure I have plenty of recovery time. I only do one body group to failure each visit along with stationary bike. This does 2 things for me. Prevent over training "more recovery time" and allows more energy for each body group. It is very hard to push to failure but that is what triggers change. I feel your frustration regarding long plateaus but they will break. Sadly our bodies establish a set weight and will down throttle our metabolism to accommodate fewer calories. Continued exercise with break through that eventually. The only way I can keep this in context is the knowing that I am not on a diet or temporary lifestyle change. This is just what I do. It is me.

jonnythan

No matter how much you exercise, you will never lose a single pound if you eat all the calories back.

However, you can lose weight with zero exercise due to the fact that your body burns calories at rest.

Diet is essential for weight loss. Exercise is not.

kgeyser

If you're not weighing and measuring your food, you don't know how much you are really eating. And at 5'6" and 143 lb, you don't have much weight to lose, which means you have to be even more diligent in your logging to keep from blowing your deficit.

sloth3toes

Nowhere do I see you mention that you are logging? If you haven't set up a goal with MFP, and don't have a suggested calorie goal each day, then, IMHO, you are missing out on the best feature that MFP has to offer. If you let MFP figure out a goal for you, using 0.5 lbs weight loss per week, and start logging, and trying to hit that calorie goal each day, you might see some results.

It looks like you have a goal of 13 lbs to lose. In the scheme of things, this is not a lot to lose. Often, the last few pounds are the hardest to shift. I'd recommend you start logging, and focus on calories in / calories out. And keep up with the exercise.

But as people keep saying, you can't outrun your fork.

lisacarrana

Diet. Diet. Diet.

You can't out train a bad diet.

This is the best answer. You will notice changes very quickly with all your training if you tweak your diet to suit you.

Dragn77

Yeah, dont look down on your friends who have made a commitment to change their diet and losing weight without having exercised...its in no way a short cut. Watching what you eat not only is the basis of weightloss, but its difficult to do. Even you admit that you are not committed to tracking what you eat...if it were easy to do, you yourself would be doing that no problem. But its *hard!* definitely nothing to scoff at your friends at for doing successfully.

As others said, diet (and by that I dont mean going on a diet, but as in eating habits) is what changes your weight...working out is for fitness and to help change your body comp. As long as you are eating at a deficit, you *will* lose weight, just not as fast as someone who is not working out, because you are also building muscle.

Now definitely do not change your fitness routine, if you are sticking to it and also committed to tracking what you eat, then you will be much better off *in the long run* than your friends who are only tracking what they eat and showing the results *in the short term*. That is because, as you start to lose weight, because you are also getting fit, your body will be more toned in the end.

But you cant just workout and not track what you eat as well, if you are going to chose one over the other, I would chose tracking what you eat over exercise, because if you dont have your diet under control, which is the key way to lose weight, then your progress will reflect that. But you dont have to choose...just make a commitment to keeping on top of what you eat and stay on track, and you will get the payoff.

Hilary1471

I found myself in this situation when I started my exercise and calorie limiting my weight went up by 4 kgs in 3 weeks I was gutted, sweat, blisters and tummy rumbles and all I had to show for it was jeans that wouldn't even zip. I still don't know exactly what the cause was however last week I sprained my ankle very badly and haven't been able to any of the exercise I was doing before, walking, jogging in place or star jumps and although I haven't lost a kg this week I haven't gained it either. I am starting to think my body is just resisting my efforts.

This pedantic weighing food is all very well but in 2,3 years time I don't want to be bringing a set around in my handbag in case an apple is 120g instead of 110g's so although I do look at that something is and log it im not going to be snipping about a few cal's here and there.