Whats your experience of relying on exercise

MeganKate24

for calorie deficit alone? and just eating TDEE?

Pedal_Pusher

Say again.......I'm confused.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

It depends on the type of exercise. If its weight lifting then I consider it as neither of the two, rather it is to condition my muscles to fire up my metabolism. As for cardio, I mainly doing it to condition my heart & lungs but also to add some deficit. But I separate it from my weight lifting days.

annemeinck

My experience is that it doesn't work - in fact the best exercise for weight loss is to keep your mouth closed.Losing weight means taking in less than you burn up. Of course, you could burn up more than you take in but if you check the calories in say, a pizza and then check how long it would take to burn that off by exercise alone., you'd never gt off the treadmill.It's just a straightforward equation really:less in than out.
Having said that, you need both to work together so you don't end up thinner but flabby . Exercise works for me in two other ways-if I've eaten too much one day -I'm talking 200-300 calories too much,not pizza pigouts, I just do extra exercise the next day such as go for a bike ride for an hour.The other way it helps is that it makes me feel good and determined to get where I want in terms of weight and fitness.

Punktorian

Don't workout to eat, eat to workout. Use food as fuel to lift heavier, run farther, or whatever else you want to do.

Sarauk2sf

At the end of the day its about having a calorie deficit so it's basically looking at the same thing but from two vantage points. I would say that creating too large of a deficit via exercise can end up to be counterproductive.

Anayalata

The science is concrete on this matter. If you eat less than you burn you will lose weight.

However, there are so many variables in calculating your burn that getting an accurate number is difficult.

I relied on a HRM (heart-rate monitor) using this thread...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/548645-setup-polar-hrm-for-more-accurate-calorie-burn-for-known-bmr
as a guide for even greater accuracy. Even then you're not going to get 100% accuracy.

I prefer putting my activity level as Sedentary and then logging long walks (using MFP's 3.0mph walking exercise) + exercise calories using the HRM (rounded down).

Lost 60lbs like this.

Di3012

for calorie deficit alone? and just eating TDEE?

I am taking it that in your TDEE figure you are including what you burn during your exercise? If so, there will be no deficit there and you will find it very, very difficult to shift a pound.

You need a deficit, along with your exercise and your will shift your pounds.

What you are describing is maintenance.

em9371

^^^^^ This.
TDEE includes exercise, so by eating at TDEE you will maintain.
For this to work you would need to work out TDEE based on a lower activity level so your exercise then creates a deficit.

I create the majority of my deficit from exercise, My TDEE is around 2700 based on moderately-very active / 1980 for sedentary.
I eat 2000 / exercise around 3500-4500pw / lose 1-1.5lb most weeks so in effect I am eating at sedentary TDEE and then creating deficit via exercise OR eating @ Active with a 700 deficit from food. If I didnt workout so much I would have to eat only around 1300 which is not going to happen!
Its the same either way just a different way of working it out.

However......you cant just eat any old crap and expect to out exercise it, you can lose weight eating junk, but to be healthy you need to go for a good balanced diet :-)