Calling all those who have successfully lost weight!

GB333

99% of my 25 pound weight loss is due to cutting calories.

Now I'm stepping up my exercise because I have hit a plateau and need to tone.

dsjohndrow

Eating healthy portions and watching calories, 95%. I exercise 6 days a week and give the 5%.

Meaganandcheese

90% of my WL has happened in the kitchen. I can't out-exercise a bad diet.

nas30

bump.

Happinessgrl

That is really hard for me because honestly I had to change 100% of myself! That includes diet, exercise and mindset. In order for me to be successful I couldn't bring any part of the old me (poor eating, laziness, and negative thinking) with me. The only thing that I had to bring with me was the body that God gave me, everything else had to go....

Frood42

Exercise down the gym for me is about getting fit again, not about losing weight.
I am losing weight through slowly changing my diet (and increasing my overall activity during the day and at weekends).

Food wise for me personally it will take time because I know if I go cold turkey on certain foods that I will hit a mental wall
Chocolate and fizzy was easy to give up and I don't miss them, it was food that was easily at hand at work when I was bored, now I always carry an apple or bananna to replace that temptation (I now love fruit, what a silly and odd mental block that was).

Now my problem is cutting down on red meats (like chipolatas and bacon), and frozen foods (like potato waffles and fish fingers) and working in more veggies and fresh white meats ( does Nando's count? :laugh: ).

I have met the other targets I have set and I will meet this one!

So far I have lost 28lbs on MFP (32lbs in total) and I feel much happier and have a much more positive attitude because of it.

I also musn't forget the great community, I have been cheered and geared up many times by the posts I have read.

Keep going, I know I will be!

HowardRose

80% Diet / 20% Excerise for most of my weight loss. Since I'm now in maintenance mode its more like 60% diet/ 40% excerise.

cpiton

80-90% dietary & 10-20% exercise.

I was going to say exactly this

Me, too. I've lost 53lbs total. I heard someone say losing weight is 80% in the kitchen, 20% in the gym. I believe it.

Metalgup

whatever the ratio is (I'm not entirely sure about my ratio tbh), I'd say be patient. It took me a long long time before I started losing weight. It started with things tightening up for about 3 months (if not more) before i finally started losing weight.
Don't give up because it feels like nothing's happening (the body tends to be behind); it will catch up and you'll start to see the changes. good luck!

ElPumaMex

99% of what I lost was due to the way I eat, monitoring with MFP.
I don't do exercise yet, only a walk once a week, and not even that sometimes.

I do plan to do exercise, for health reasons, not weight loss.

NicoWoodruff

I'd say at least 80% dietary 20% exercise.

There have been times that I was exercising a lot, but not eating as smart which didn't give nearly the results like when I did both.

I noticed especially when I eliminated most sugar and dairy.. (focusing on unprocessed food, lean meat, eggs, veggies, whole grains, raw nuts, and a small amount of fruit) the weight suddenly seemed to just fall off even though I'm eating more calories.

Your mileage may vary. :flowerforyou:

brendacooks

I have read that it is 80-90% what you eat - and my personal experience bears it out. A few years ago I worked with a personal trainer - I worked really, really hard (three x week with trainer 3 x week by myself) without changing my eating habits. Let me repeat - I worked REALLY REALLY hard. For a year. I was fitter than I had ever been. I made amazing progress cardio wise and strength wise. I did not lose one pound. Not even one. In the last 6 months I have lost 31 lbs (and counting) by drastically changing what I eat. I do exercise too because I really am trying to get healthy but sometimes it isn't possible. Last week my son was out of school and life was very busy. I only got to the gym twice. I lost 1.6 lbs anyway. Eat healthy food, Eat less than you use to. Move more. You will lose

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Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

LorinaLynn

It's all about balance.

My eating habits weren't all THAT bad, but not right for how sedentary I'd become. Becoming more active and getting regular exercise was the missing link for me. I do eat healthier now and make more of a concerted effort to get more protein, more fruits and veggies, etc. And less Pop Tarts. :frown:

quill16

For me it has been 90% calorie control and 10% exercise. I couldn't even get on a treadmill in the beginning and lost the first 40 lbs with just gentle pool swimming. As the pounds came off I started the exercise(treadmill) and as I lose I find i need to constantly increase the exercise for the weight to keep coming off. I have lost over 150 lbs so far and about 20 more to go. I now run 5 miles 5 days a week plus pool exercise (for arm strength and waist) 6 days a week. I have so much more energy and really feel like moving

Frumpy2Fit

Thank you to everyone for your responses!!! This has really motivated me to clean up my diet I really, REALLY appreciate everyone's input!

deniseselah

Great topic and responses - really enjoyed reading everyone's viewpoints. Thanks.

UrbanRunner81

I exercised when I was overweight. Honestly I didn't start to lose weight until I changed my diet.

DAM_Fine

Strangely enough, I'm going to say the opposite. I cut calories and watched what I was eating, but I never really started dropping pounds much until I started exercising and stopped worrying so much about the food. ymmv

mfpcopine

Just wondering what % of your loss you would contribute to the way you eat and what % you would contribute to the amount of exercise you did/do? I know to successfully lose weight you need to do both but I feel like I have been exercising a lot while still struggling with healthy eating, and I haven't lost a pound! Thanks ahead of time for your input!!!

I've never had a huge amount of weight to lose, but I would have to say that 85% of it was calorie reduction. (Obviously, the percentage is a guess.)

This is NOT to say that exercise isn't important: It calms you down, makes you more body-conscious (in a good way), increases your endurance, strength, flexibility and so forth. It's just not that instrumental for weight loss per se.

Steve_Runs

need to have your metabolism checked out! you probably have low metabolism. meaning you can't include your calories gained from exercise!

salxtai

Just wondering what % of your loss you would contribute to the way you eat and what % you would contribute to the amount of exercise you did/do? I know to successfully lose weight you need to do both but I feel like I have been exercising a lot while still struggling with healthy eating, and I haven't lost a pound! Thanks ahead of time for your input!!!

For me, it was 100% exercise - I ate healthy for 6 months, salad for lunch (no dressing) etc, and lost nothing.
Started going to the gym 3xwk and weight started melting off.

Currently its more like 50% ex 50% food, since I'm at ideal weight so need to maintain but maximise muscle gains

jillian769

I think it's different for everyone. I cannot lose weight on just diet alone, I have to exercise a lot. For me it's like 60% diet 40% exercise. Before I started Zumba I had already lost 40 pounds, but after I started Zumba a few days a week, 25 pounds fell off super quick!!! I have lost 76 pounds in the last year, the quickest I have ever lost this much...and I attribute it to working out hardcore and also mixing up what I do to break through plateaus.

TinaLTaylor79

I think both are needed!! I lost over 80lbs with doing both regularly and i have also maintained for a year now. I did slow down at the last 15lbs though, it took me like 6 months to drop the last few lbs...the less you have to drop it seems the longer that part takes!!

squishycow7

personally, I've seen my best results now that I'm amping up my exercise. I've always heard it's 80% diet and 20% exercise... but for me, it's exercise that's made the biggest difference! that being said, I'm referring to QUALITY of diet vs quantity, since I'm assuming we're all going to eat a proper deficit.

so my response: 60% exercise, 40% diet. for ME. for someone starting with a different body composition it might have been different.

mwicklander87

My first 20 pounds was probably 95% eating and 5% exercise, but I found that I started to plateau even after adjusting my intake. So the last few weeks I've really picked up the exercise and found the weight dropping again so I would say now it like 60% eating and 40% exercise. I've always hear that its 80% eating and 20% exercise, but remember that everyone's bodies are different and there can be a big difference between a male and a female losing weight, men have an easier time just removing things from their diet and dropping ten pounds than women do, something about our hormones, no y chromosome, I don't know...but the real key to losing weight really is calories in vs. calories out, so healthy eating is super super important.

TotalTiger

I think it depends on how much you have to lose. For me so far, it's 99% diet. That's not saying that I'm not exercising, I am, but the habit I need to change is the food one. As I get further down this path, I'm hoping that the way I'm eating now becomes the new habit and then I will focus more on the exercise side of things and fine-tune that.

secretlobster

Lost 40lbs. Even when I was kickboxing 4 days a week, I didn't even BEGIN to lose weight until I got serious about my eating. So, 99% diet and 1% exercise. Exercise helped my overall fitness but by itself it didn't make a dent.