Exercise alone will not lose the lbs!!!

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  • cadency
    cadency Posts: 51
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    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/

    Last year I exclusively exercised with no dieting. I did manage to drop 30 lbs, but it took a full year! Starting this year I combined my exercise routine with dieting & I'm nearly down 10 lbs in a month! Diet + Exercise = turbo charged weight loss & size loss.

    While you are able to lose weight through exercise alone. The math is the same: you have to burn more calories than you're consuming. That should hold true for men & women.

    I think the key word for me in the article was that men CAN lose weight with just the one - not that it's full proof. There's other studies that suggest that people unconsciously increase their intake when they start exercising if not monitoring it and so that will always be a factor. Congrats on the 10lbs a month! I know it's not full proof for men but it's the running joke... a women stops drinking soda and loses a lb. A man stops drinking soda and drops 10. Happened to my husband. So annoying :p
  • FaithHopeBELIEVE
    FaithHopeBELIEVE Posts: 626
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    I've been lifting, cardio and eating from 1500-2000+ cals a day (just took another test and my BMR is 2200 and I have 10 lbs of FAT to lose). I am having no problem eating and for the most part it is healthy eating. I just weighed myself and I am up 7 lbs and inches all over. Have no clue what else to do. Needless to say I am very depressed and tired of tracking and getting no where.
  • lorib75
    lorib75 Posts: 490 Member
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    The only way I lose is to eat less and move more. :-)

    My sentiments exactly!
  • sulliwedd
    sulliwedd Posts: 4
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    I have been in training for a month and lost 4 inches and 2 pounds. You did AMAZING with 17 inches!!!!
  • sharrison1969
    sharrison1969 Posts: 11
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    After years of yo-yo dieting, I believe I have found the key. You are correct, exercise and diet go hand in hand. You can't do one and not the other. I used to work my butt off, then reward myself with something totally unhealthy. I went through years where I did not change my diet, continued to eat whatever, worked out many days in the gym, and the results were minimal. I believe I have found the answer now. I am more aware of what I put into my body and remember this everyday when I work out. I need good, healthy food to help me maximize my workout.
  • hklaquadra
    hklaquadra Posts: 48
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    Don't forget that muscle tissue is denser and weighs more than fat, so you have been losing fat and replacing that with lean muscle tissue. While your weight may not have fluctuated much, losing all those inches of fat was definitely a productive result of all your hard work. Don't be disappointed! You did good!:smile:
  • fang19423
    fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
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    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!

    You are right of course - but I suppose I have subconsiously set my measuring bar on the scales.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    If you lost 17", then you have certainly been losing fat. However since you're on Day 20, there is a good chance you are retaining water to mask the fat loss. That can happen when Cortisol levels elevate due to stress from exercise and/or dieting.
  • Ahluvly
    Ahluvly Posts: 389 Member
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    Weight management is 80% diet, 20% exercise. The theory is, the more exercise you do, which allows you to build more lean muscle, the more effectively your body will run, burning more fat!

    What goes in, must come out! It's so difficult saying no to foods we love but, clean eating is the best way forward but you need your treat meal or a few glasses of wine otherwise...what's the point?! A miserable life?! Noooooooooooooo none of us want that, now do we?!

    Well done on the inch loss, that's fab!!
  • junyr
    junyr Posts: 416 Member
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    People put waaaayyyy to much stock in what the scale says.
  • fang19423
    fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
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    Hey guys - thanks for all the support. You are right of course inch loss is great and I am not wearing a badge with my weight on it but I still wouldn't mind seeing the scales move ... in the right direction!! Anyway, I think we are all agreed .... Exercise and diet need to go hand in hand. My 30 day challenge has only been looking at fitness and I have another 10 days to go, but I think once it is over, I will try to do a fitness and diet 30 day challenge and compare the results. Thank you all so much.

    Good luck with eating less and moving more :happy:

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  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    You can't out exercise a bad diet.

    ^^^Yup, basically!

    I read it differently on these boards, once: "You can't out-train your diet." That has really stuck with me. I have so many friends on Facebook who regularly work out really hard doing stuff like Tabata training, Krav Maga, etc., which they post about, then they go straight to the bar and post about how they "earned" the beer they're drinking and the burger and fries that they're eating (with pictures and everything). I've noted that they still look as heavy as they did a year ago, before all the exercise. (I'm not judging - just noticing the apparent lack of weight loss as a sort of experiment. Perhaps they're not going for weight loss, though, I don't know.)

    I mentioned this to the friends I have who are trainers and fitness instructors, and they agree that this is a common misconception, that if you exercise, you can eat whatever you want. Even on The Biggest Loser (which isn't the best example of getting healthy, in my opinion, though I find it enjoyable to watch), either Bob or Jillian once said that diet is something like 80% of weight loss and exercise is the other 20% (I can't remember the exact percentage breakdown, but point being, the large majority of weight loss is going to come from your diet).

    Personally, I have lost weight in the past from eating less with no exercise. However, I was still flabby, just less so. Recently I was told, "I don't think I've ever seen you this thin." This person who said that has seen me weigh less than I do now, so I found that comment funny. I replied, "I have been lighter," which surprised him, but then he said, "I bet it's all that exercise you do." I told him, "Yes, I exercise 5-6 days/week - my thighs are solid muscle now." I saw the wheels turning, which made me happy, since I think everyone should exercise, even if they're not aiming or trying to lose weight.

    Now I definitely still have some flab to get rid of, but exercise has changed my shape dramatically. I look *much* better now at 156.4 than I did six years ago at 150 when I didn't exercise at all.

    Plus, exercise is addictive and so good for your mental health, too, as well as your physical health.

    So anyway, to the OP, losing 17 inches is AWESOME, but I totally understand that need to see progress on the scale. Keep it up with your exercise, and by fine-tuning your diet, you'll probably be amazed at the results! :happy:

    Edited to fix a sentence fragment.
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
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    I have been on this journey since June 2011. I have only lost 10 pounds in that time. Until 2 weeks ago, I had only lost 7 pounds. The recent 3 pounds in the past 2 weeks I attribute to more exercise and more protein. I started adding more cardio to my routine, even 25 minutes on the treadmill on days I wasn't working with my trainer, and it is only now that the pounds are coming off. I think it is because HIIT is increasing my metabolism. And I have been eating more protein like tuna. Anyway, you should be really proud of your accomplishment, 17 inches is fantasic!
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    Weight management is 80% diet, 20% exercise. The theory is, the more exercise you do, which allows you to build more lean muscle, the more effectively your body will run, burning more fat!

    What goes in, must come out! It's so difficult saying no to foods we love but, clean eating is the best way forward but you need your treat meal or a few glasses of wine otherwise...what's the point?! A miserable life?! Noooooooooooooo none of us want that, now do we?!

    Well done on the inch loss, that's fab!!

    YES!

    Refining your eating is wonderful, but it's so easy to go overboard and not live your life, which often causes us to boomerang back to where we were as far as eating (and, eventually, weight), and often worse because we overcompensate for all the "bad" foods we were missing in the interim. You do need to enjoy yourself, just in moderation, depending on what you can physically and mentally handle. I can't go to Outback and have my favorite burger and chop salad (the salad alone is nearly 1,000 calories!), first because my body will reject it, and I'll probably end up sick (not throwing up - the other way), and second because mentally I can't go back there. I will want that again the next day, and so the next day will be torture. I have to treat myself in severe moderation, like I had a glass of wine the other night, and I had a very small piece of birthday cake at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It was good cake, and I enjoyed it, but I wasn't dying for cake later that day or the next day.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Why you shouldn't get hung up on the scale. I'm down only 8 pounds from last March, and four pounds since May. I have a COMPLETELY different body. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LorinaLynn/view/just-8-pounds-214409
  • stephenatl09
    stephenatl09 Posts: 186 Member
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    Quote...
    "Your Diet is Number 1 !! You can live in the gym but if you don't eat clean you're wasting your time" - IFBB Pro Bikini Jessica Jesse... I have this as my wallpaper on my computer at work and home. It is true for men and women.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/

    I disagree with this one. It actually depends on your body type & not just on the amount of testosterone levels. My Dad has been doing exercise for more than 2 years already but eats a very poor diet so the result: his tummy is still as big as when he first started. Although a man loses weight more easily compared to a woman.
  • cadency
    cadency Posts: 51
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    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/

    I disagree with this one. It actually depends on your body type & not just on the amount of testosterone levels. My Dad has been doing exercise for more than 2 years already but eats a very poor diet so the result: his tummy is still as big as when he first started. Although a man loses weight more easily compared to a woman.

    Next time I'm going to remember to include the comment of not all inclusive. Key word: CAN. They can lose weight with exercise alone more easily - but you are right, that will depend on diet factors. I am in no way saying that the article said that's all they have to do - and if it did say that, I wouldn't have gone any farther or attempted to repost it :)

    So... we're in agreement. There's tons of factors to consider. A man with hypothyroidism isn't going to lose weight with just exercise. Etc, etc.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,688 Member
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    Run into this ALL the time with clients who have trained with me for a month. They get fitter, but weight loss expectations aren't met. Then I have to tell them why and go over their calorie intake HONESTLY. Almost all the time they will admit that they thought since they worked out now, that they didn't need to change their diet much.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • fang19423
    fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
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    Why you shouldn't get hung up on the scale. I'm down only 8 pounds from last March, and four pounds since May. I have a COMPLETELY different body. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LorinaLynn/view/just-8-pounds-214409

    Just looked at your blog - you look fab - you can certainly see your inch loss.

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