"Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin" - NYTime Article

acollier0510

Just read an interesting article in the New York Times that I thought MFP members should know about. The key to remember is that you shouldn't eat back more than the calories you burn off when you exercise.

"In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain."

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html

KKButter

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JLink823

Thanks for the article - I haven't read it yet but intend to. I've heard the same ... your body is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. Great point!

BflSaberfan

My sister and I joined the gym together last June, same starting weight and same heigh. I also dieted, she did not. I lost 50lbs and she gained 10. Diet is the biggest thing you can do for weight loss.

ohcaptain

Based on that 80/20 breakdown, I am.... monumentally screwed. lol

sinceresmile

When I was working with a trainer last year, she told me that weight loss is 70% diet and 30% exercise. That always stuck in my head. I was never able to change my eating habits, but now that I have... I have started to see results. I have noticed that even if I stray from my healthy eating habits, and still work out, I don't get the same results. So, I agree... even though I believe a combination of both is great... most of the weight loss comes from eating healthy.

lutzsher

Completely agree with a few posts! While exercise will assist in making your body more efficient in how it burns "fuel" it is your food consumption that makes the biggest difference in weight loss.
Unless i am spot on with my calories, getting them by "clean" and healthy food, my scale won't move . . . even if I have worked out like a madwoman all week.

shreddingit

Yea I knew this ...your nutrition makes u lose weight and exercise shapes the body.

krisvtx8777

Interesting read-THanks for the post!

freerange

Diet to lose weight

Exercise to get in shape.

Don't need no NYT article to tell you that.

DeBlue

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ladyhawk00

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.

I do want to point out though, that it's important for us to remember here that MFP creates a built in deficit based on the loss per week goal chosen, regardless of exercise. It's designed to help us lose weight whether we exercise or not. So cals are added for exercise to keep that deficit stable, and therefore weight loss stable.

jperrysunlover

Thanks for sharing. This is exactly what my nutritionist has been telling me.

Robin1117

interesting, thanks for posting this. Just goes to show how spot on this website is with quantifying our exercise calories and making sure we stay within that limit.

ohcaptain

Sometimes I feel like a dunce student with 10 teachers all telling me something different & expecting me to get something - anything - right.

So even though I'm incorporating exercise, which I haven't done in almost 20 years, it won't help me lose weight. Super. My love-hate relationship with food wins again.

MinnieInMaine

This was my favorite part - really puts it all in perspective!!!

"Yes, although the muscle-fat relationship is often misunderstood. According to calculations published in the journal Obesity Research by a Columbia University team in 2001, a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns. Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that. "

ItsCasey

I have mixed feelings about articles like this. On one hand, I think people do need to educate themselves and learn the very basic principle of "calories in, calories out." Until you understand that, you won't be successful at sustained weight-loss. Part of learning that principle is learning that exercise alone is not going to cut it unless you're burning thousands of calories a day, every day.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who read stuff like this or see stories like this on the news, and they're convinced that they don't need to exercise. They think losing weight is as simple as just changing your diet. And for a certain amount of time, it IS that simple. But you can only cut your calories by so much before that stops becoming effective and even begins to reverse your weight-loss.

You have to learn how to incorporate exercise into both weight-loss and maintenance programs if you want to be successful long-term. Exercise isn't enough by itself, but in the long run, dieting isn't either.

ohcaptain

I have mixed feelings about articles like this. [...]
You have to learn how to incorporate exercise into both weight-loss and maintenance programs if you want to be successful long-term. Exercise isn't enough by itself, but in the long run, dieting isn't either.

Thanks for that, jq. I think it's really the "all-or-nothing" approach that most of us favor that actually does the most harm.
This article disillusioned me, and made me rather suspicious of Ms. Jillian Michaels. :noway:

MinnieInMaine

Sometimes I feel like a dunce student with 10 teachers all telling me something different & expecting me to get something - anything - right.

So even though I'm incorporating exercise, which I haven't done in almost 20 years, it won't help me lose weight. Super. My love-hate relationship with food wins again.

They really should've called the article "Why exercise ALONE won't make you thin". Exercise is very good for you and even if you're not losing weight, you're still going to be more healthy for moving more. Please don't be discourage or stop exercising because it's still very beneficial. The point of the article is more to say, don't follow that 200-300 calorie burn with a 600 calorie treat. Both diet AND exercise are improtant.

Mayor_West

This was my favorite part - really puts it all in perspective!!!

"Yes, although the muscle-fat relationship is often misunderstood. According to calculations published in the journal Obesity Research by a Columbia University team in 2001, a pound of muscle burns approximately six calories a day in a resting body, compared with the two calories that a pound of fat burns. Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that. "

You can't turn muscle into fat any more than you can turn water into wine. You can build muscle while you burn fat, or vice versa, but one does not become the other.

catcrazy

Sometimes I feel like a dunce student with 10 teachers all telling me something different & expecting me to get something - anything - right.

So even though I'm incorporating exercise, which I haven't done in almost 20 years, it won't help me lose weight. Super. My love-hate relationship with food wins again.

weight loss is calories in versus calories out...you need to burn more than you consume, now, you can achieve that deficit by eating less or you can achieve the deficit with more exercise or a combination of the two. A combination of the two works better health-wise.

Robin1117

I have mixed feelings about articles like this. On one hand, I think people do need to educate themselves and learn the very basic principle of "calories in, calories out." Until you understand that, you won't be successful at sustained weight-loss. Part of learning that principle is learning that exercise alone is not going to cut it unless you're burning thousands of calories a day, every day.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who read stuff like this or see stories like this on the news, and they're convinced that they don't need to exercise. They think losing weight is as simple as just changing your diet. And for a certain amount of time, it IS that simple. But you can only cut your calories by so much before that stops becoming effective and even begins to reverse your weight-loss.

You have to learn how to incorporate exercise into both weight-loss and maintenance programs if you want to be successful long-term. Exercise isn't enough by itself, but in the long run, dieting isn't either.

totally agree with what you said about people reading things like this and jumping to conclusions--like, maybe I don't need exercise now? The title is kind of sensationalist and if people don't read the full article, they are going to jump to some dumb conclusions. We all know exercise is good for us, but the part about all the ladies going to the gym and then heading off to starbucks after---it's so true---most people do not quantify what they are doing and that's why they won't get thin. it's not that exercise is bad, it's just that people do not take the time to balance it all so eating and exercise can work together to make them more healthy and fit.

daydreamer_28

Here is what I believe thanks to Miss Leigh Peele.

1. Diet is everything
2. Training is specific
3.Denial is death
4. Movement is king
5. Rest is non-negotiable

shouts12

Interesting article... but I find when I exercise a lot, I'm never hungry enough to eat back the entire deficit. The guy climbing the stairs and burning three calories can't possibly blame exercise on his hunger. I think the best solution is vigorous enough exercise that doesn't sap your energy for the rest of the day (so you just sit around).

The fact is we are much more sedentary today, sitting at desks or in front of the television most of the day - while our food is more processed and fattier - so how can we compare our judgements today to those 50 years ago?

darrenham

Hmm, agree with some of that article, not all of it though by any means.

Fat loss is as much diet as exercised based. Burning 200kcals in the gym has exactly the same effect as eating 200kcals less. The problem is, people then go "I'm going to the gym, I'll have this energy drink to give me the energy to exercise" or "I've just been to the gym, better refuel" or "I've just been to the gym, I deserve this chocolate cake". Unless you're an athlete, and your next training session is before your next meal, you do not need to refuel, and if you're trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is fill yourself with excess calories.

Equally though, if you eat less food but find that it leaves you feeling pathetic and lazy and you do less exercise, then that ain't gonna work either.

darrenham

I have mixed feelings about articles like this. On one hand, I think people do need to educate themselves and learn the very basic principle of "calories in, calories out." Until you understand that, you won't be successful at sustained weight-loss. Part of learning that principle is learning that exercise alone is not going to cut it unless you're burning thousands of calories a day, every day.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who read stuff like this or see stories like this on the news, and they're convinced that they don't need to exercise. They think losing weight is as simple as just changing your diet. And for a certain amount of time, it IS that simple. But you can only cut your calories by so much before that stops becoming effective and even begins to reverse your weight-loss.

You have to learn how to incorporate exercise into both weight-loss and maintenance programs if you want to be successful long-term. Exercise isn't enough by itself, but in the long run, dieting isn't either.

totally agree with what you said about people reading things like this and jumping to conclusions--like, maybe I don't need exercise now? The title is kind of sensationalist and if people don't read the full article, they are going to jump to some dumb conclusions. We all know exercise is good for us, but the part about all the ladies going to the gym and then heading off to starbucks after---it's so true---most people do not quantify what they are doing and that's why they won't get thin. it's not that exercise is bad, it's just that people do not take the time to balance it all so eating and exercise can work together to make them more healthy and fit.

That's the problem with the media these days, it's less about what you write, and more about how many people will click on and read your article.

Limeinthecoconut

Bump

ItsCasey

The fact is we are much more sedentary today, sitting at desks or in front of the television most of the day - while our food is more processed and fattier - so how can we compare our judgements today to those 50 years ago?

This is an important point. The food that was available 50 years ago is still available today, but so are a ton of other easier, cheaper, faster options, and we've become obsessed with easy, cheap, and fast (in all areas of our lives). The nature of our work has changed, too, due in large part to technological innovations that have made jobs a lot less labor-intensive than they used to be. I'd say that's a prime reason doctors advocate exercise a lot more now than they used to. If we're not getting it through our normal activities, working out is the only way.

I used to wear a pedometer all day, every day. Once, I tested how many steps I took during a day when I did as little physical activity as possible, both at work and at home. I had less than 2000 steps by the end of the day. I was astounded by that, when compared to how many steps I would get on a "normal" active day (meaning regular office activity plus my standard workout), which was 11,000 to 12,000 minimum. I never realized before how sedentary I was when I wasn't actively trying to get exercise.

Mayor_West

Fat loss is as much diet as exercised based. Burning 200kcals in the gym has exactly the same effect as eating 200kcals less.

That depends entirely on the type of exercise done and the intensity level it's performed at. Higher intensity exercise, such as heavy weight training and HIIT will burn more calories AFTER the workout. Also, dropping 200kcals from your diet can be harmful, especially if it puts the body into starvation mode. This could also potentially deprive the body of the essential macros it needs to function.

The problem is, people then go "I'm going to the gym, I'll have this energy drink to give me the energy to exercise" or "I've just been to the gym, better refuel" or "I've just been to the gym, I deserve this chocolate cake". Unless you're an athlete, and your next training session is before your next meal, you do not need to refuel, and if you're trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is fill yourself with excess calories.

Actually, everyone who works out needs to refuel, athletes are not the exception. Studies have proven that consuming a post-workout meal of protein and carbs will help the body repair itself from the workout.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi4.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/65946-ideas-post-workout-meal/

The difference, however, is making sure that meal is conducive to that result.

johnwhitent

I have mixed feelings about articles like this. On one hand, I think people do need to educate themselves and learn the very basic principle of "calories in, calories out." Until you understand that, you won't be successful at sustained weight-loss. Part of learning that principle is learning that exercise alone is not going to cut it unless you're burning thousands of calories a day, every day.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people who read stuff like this or see stories like this on the news, and they're convinced that they don't need to exercise. They think losing weight is as simple as just changing your diet. And for a certain amount of time, it IS that simple. But you can only cut your calories by so much before that stops becoming effective and even begins to reverse your weight-loss.

You have to learn how to incorporate exercise into both weight-loss and maintenance programs if you want to be successful long-term. Exercise isn't enough by itself, but in the long run, dieting isn't either.

Absolutely agree. Diet is important, necessary for weight loss, but diet alone still usually results in poor health. Over the years I have had so many coworkers say “I’m doing this great new diet that requires no exercise.” Guess how many have lost weight and kept it off? You guessed it, zero! To be a healthy person requires healthy eating and physical activity. It is a lifestyle not a diet. Too many people just trying to lose weight and sacrificing health in the process and the headline of this article just feeds that mindset.

mollymoo89

Bump