Articles says exercise won't make you thin

epj78

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974-1,00.html

What do you think?

weight loss is 80% diet, 10% exercise, 10% genetics. So it is really hard to outwork a bad diet.

Agree 100%. Working out at a pretty high level burns about 650 calories per hour for me. I can EASILY eat a diet of 3,000 calories a day (I know some don't believe that - but I can) so yeah, I can work out for two hours at a HIGH intensity and still can weight.

kitinboots

Exercise helps me lose weight as it helps me view my food as fuel. I'm more fussy about balancing my diet when I exercise.

Silverkittycat

"Dieting makes you look good in your clothes. Excersize makes you look good naked." ........... a combination is the best way to go!

so true.

Morglem

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!!!

Cooriander

Exercise alone will not make you thin - that would have been a better title of the article. I found the part of rewarding ("compensating") your self for exercising with food interesting. I am trying to do that for me, and compensate my self with non-fattening/non diet awards instead. (: [ e.g., new clothing and gagets].

The middle half of the article focuses more on the danger of compensating exercise with food/ and sugar, BUT I bet he his hunger is really from his sugar highs rather than his exercise cycles... when I started eating more hardboiled eggs in the mornings - my hunger was more under control throughout the day.

I disagree with him that most of us doesn't have time to exercise, I find that exercise gives me more effective time because I get more energy and less time at the doctor's office.

TavistockToad

interesting article!!

jazzy020106

"Dieting makes you look good in your clothes. Excersize makes you look good naked." ........... a combination is the best way to go!

Exactly! .

sophjakesmom

I think the suggestion that exercise stimulates hunger, while it may be true to some extent, is also overstated. I think we are a society that feels our efforts always entitle us to a reward. Exercise should be a part of every day, but exercise shouldn't entitle us to that piece of cheesecake. Just like my son's cleaning his room should not entitle him to an allowance. It is his room, his responsiblity.

I exercise to stay healthy. Recently I have balanced my calories in and my calories out in order to lose weight, which also contributes to my health.

glenner

An interesting article- I have been a fitness instructor for 7 years (I'm fit, but like the article points out, that doesn't mean I'm thin!) and have many people ask why we are all working out like crazy but not losing weight. I know it's my diet that is my downfall and this article seems to support it. BUT personally if I am dieting and not working out (I took a year off when caring for elderly parents) I feel flabby and don't stick to a proper diet as well. While I am hungry after I get home from a good workout I tend to think to myself why waste that work out by eating that chocolate bar? So I try to use the combination of diet and exercise. I also definitely notice a difference in my appearance when I'm working out- I was lazy in July because I was travelling around the States and got very "fluffy" in my legs, gut and arms. I can't believe how quickly I am seeing a change after a few weeks of being back into the swing of things even though I only went down 1 lb.

skinnylove00

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?

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...