Articles says exercise won't make you thin

flea2449

The article is pretty much saying that a lot of people are ignorant. Why in the world would someone eat a bad meal after a workout? I just thought it was common sense that if you are trying to lose weight that you workout and eat a healthy meal and not a burger and fries. Also, for me anyway food is the last thing on my mind after I workout.

kitinboots

Ok here is my take on this. I have lost weight before by just changing my diet, but my body has never ever changed the way it is changing now. So exercise alone won't make you lose weight the way to go is watch what you eat and exercise. You HAVE to do both! Its amazing how yoy body changes and the way you feel changes big time too!!!

Its so true. In the past when I have either dieted alone, or not at all, working takes its toll on me. I work at night, sometimes stupidly long and late hours and in the past this has led me to sleep for most of the day, wake up groggy and never feel completely myself. Alcohol, caffeine and diet drinks played large roles in my daily diet.
Now i work the same hours, but run 3 or 4 times a week, watch what I eat, avoid too much alcohol (although not completely) and drink more water. I can now wake up about midday, enjoy the daylight hours before work, and still be on top form when at work. Its great.
Not only that but I'm happy. Dieting to the point of starving myself makes me grouchy but I never realised that before. I think taking the time to exercise helps that too, as I get my 'me time' to think, without being distracted by tv or my laptop. My head is clearer.

epj78

OKAY what about michael phelps, the olympic swimmer? the guy eats 12,000 calories a day, his meals are like this:

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

granted, he is an olympic athlete, so he exercises a lot more than we do. but still, he eats all this stuff and still has the body of a greek god. what gives?

Completely different. He's working out for his JOB. 8 hours (at least) a day spent working out. And genetics also plays a role there - big time. I'm sure not all Olympic athletes eat like that --- as evidence by how much press his diet gets. If it were the norm, it wouldn't be press worthy. And I think this is only his diet when he is really training hard, not all the time.

Kirsty_UK

The article is pretty much saying that a lot of people are ignorant. Why in the world would someone eat a bad meal after a workout? I just thought it was common sense that if you are trying to lose weight that you workout and eat a healthy meal and not a burger and fries. Also, for me anyway food is the last thing on my mind after I workout.

ignorant or kidding themselves or addicted to bad foods, one of the three!

a lot of people work out so that they can justify the bad food somehow, and often overestimate how many calories that exercise has burnt, so end up eating more than they would have done in the first place

agthorn

THIS is why MFP builds your weight loss goal into your DIET and adds back your exercise calories!!

We cut calories to lose weight and get to our goal. We exercise so we look good when we get there (and are healthier).

RunHardBeStrong

I know everyone has already said it but I totally agree and know from experience, you can not out exercise a poor diet!! I wish I could get some of my friends to believe this lol

hypotrochoid

Sorry. They lost me when I read that the main study they're siting, well they say it best... "All the women were asked not to change their dietary habits and to fill out monthly medical-symptom questionnaires."

If you're not changing your diet... yeah.

maillemaker

I didn't read through the 4 pages of article, but I agree: Exercise won't make you thin. Exercise will make you healthy.

The only thing that will make you thin is less body fat. The only way to reduce body fat is to eat less food than your body requires to operate, which will force it to burn fat reserves to make up the difference.

I don't exercise much. To me, it is far, far less effort to not eat a slice of pizza than to try and exercise off the slice of pizza.

Exercise is great for keeping yourself fit and healthy. But for weight loss, it is not nearly as effective as controlling caloric intake.

The amount of physical effort to not eat a candy bar is zero. The amount of physical effort to burn it off is another thing entirely.

Ignore the sales pitch, and watch this video to get an idea of the difference between diet and exercise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbuzsY_34Q

Steve

maillemaker

granted, he is an olympic athlete, so he exercises a lot more than we do. but still, he eats all this stuff and still has the body of a greek god. what gives?

Well, you already answered your question. He is an Olympic athlete. He burns those calories!

Jesung

Only if you don't track calories and feel that you are entitled to a reward of junk food every time you go run for 10 minutes. You end up eating more calories than you would burn in 30 minutes of exercise and wonder why you don't lose weight...

brittanyjeanxo

Pft. I personally find this article to be bogus. And as for what someone said earlier about not mentioning his diet--that is exactly right.

smbakke77

OKAY what about michael phelps, the olympic swimmer? the guy eats 12,000 calories a day, his meals are like this:

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

granted, he is an olympic athlete, so he exercises a lot more than we do. but still, he eats all this stuff and still has the body of a greek god. what gives?

His metabolism...plus he uses all that food as fuel and burns it right off. If you notice there are alot of carbs, which he needs for training like he does. I'd like to see his workout regimen.

buzzcogs

I'm living proof that exercise alone will not make you lose weight. I "managed" to gain 10 lbs while training for my 1st marathon (which I successfully completed and did in a reasonable time -- I was just carrying around a 10 lb "backpack")!

One of my downfalls was an amazing Cuban bakery just a few stores down from my gym. Would work out for two hours at the gym and then stop at the bakery for a diet coke and an enormous pastry! At least the weight I put on was "quality". Those pastries were delicious!

CherryOnionKiss

Thanks everyone for your feedback, it's really nice to know people's opinions as I am a beginner in the diet/weight loss/exercise field.

tladame

I was surprised by what they said about children and exercise. I think it's good for children to get some exercise, not just for their weight, but for their overall health. Here is a fact: when my 2-year-old doesn't get enough exercise during the day, she wakes up in the middle of the night (usually around 2-3am). :sick: On the nights where I take her outside to run around before going to bed, she sleeps like a champ.

So, I get the basic jist of the article. Exercise alone won't make you lose weight. However, there are so many other benefits to exercising.