Well this is depressing...

0somuchbetter0
0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read about this study the other day -- this article explains it well. Click on the link in the second-to-last paragraph to see a revised weight loss calculator based on this study. Very depressing, but good to know. (If it's true and accurate)

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/
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Replies

  • Gwoman2012
    Gwoman2012 Posts: 163 Member
    Not really anything new...I read awhile ago (in the same blog...google "the fat trap") that the metabolism of someone who loses weight is lower then someone who never had to :(

    I'm glad that exercise has lots of other health benefits....I love it and would never give it up!
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    According to that weight loss calculator it's going to take YEARS for me to get to my goal weight. :(
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    I don't think it will take years if you are only looking to lose 50 lbs. How long did it take you to lose the first half?
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    About a year. The first 20lbs were very slow, but then I stepped up my game and lost the last 27 over the last 3 months or so.
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
    Slow and steady wins the race. And besides -- what would happen to your health if you didn't do anything? I try to keep this in mind when I need to self-motivate.
  • placeboaddiction
    placeboaddiction Posts: 451 Member
    Just don't diet. Make it a lifestyle. 1 year isn't anything in comparison to a lifetime of being awesome. We can do this!
  • Gwoman2012
    Gwoman2012 Posts: 163 Member
    Are you eating the same amount of calories that the calculator is giving you?

    It is telling me I eat 2500 a day and if I reduce that to 2000 I will lose 20 lbs in 12 months.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Losing the first 47 lbs in a year is great! I'd give yourself that as a rough guesstimate, though of course that will be influenced by sticking to your plan and any adjustments you need to make to your plan as you get lighter.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    Ah! I hadn't even noticed that! No, I actually eat a lot less than that -- it's telling me "current intake is 2721" but I'm eating 1400. When I adjust it it says I'll lose 50 in the next year. I'll accept that. :)
  • Gwoman2012
    Gwoman2012 Posts: 163 Member
    :)
  • cuarrech
    cuarrech Posts: 118 Member
    Yes, that is depressing. But, better to be as realistic as possible, and better to be more likely to exceed expectations than to fall short of them. Thanks for the share!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Ah! I hadn't even noticed that! No, I actually eat a lot less than that -- it's telling me "current intake is 2721" but I'm eating 1400. When I adjust it it says I'll lose 50 in the next year. I'll accept that. :)

    My God, you've already come so far! You have changed your lifestyle. I am so impressed.
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    that's why they always say that weight loss starts in the kitchen...
  • _beautiful_disaster_
    _beautiful_disaster_ Posts: 182
    bump
  • BelleHeart
    BelleHeart Posts: 281 Member
    According to that weight loss calculator it's going to take YEARS for me to get to my goal weight. :(

    lol I koooown! they Said that in 12 months I should only be down 45 lbs and put my calorie intake at 3500!!
  • mellabyte
    mellabyte Posts: 193 Member
    that's why they always say that weight loss starts in the kitchen...

    Exactly. I always throw around the arbitrary formula of it's 80% diet and 20% exercise. Just as a broad way to say that it's mostly about what you put in your body, though what you do with your body certainly helps it along.

    Not that I'm going to knock exercise. I've grown to totally love the benefits of working out, weight loss or not. ^_^
  • IntoTheSky
    IntoTheSky Posts: 390 Member
    I have come to view the weight loss as more diet, but am very dependent on excercise to tone and firm and put everything where it should be. But, honestly, whatever way a person chooses to do it (as long as it is healthful) , no matter how long it takes, they are doing it. They are making a good change. And so many never do that.
  • beachquilt
    beachquilt Posts: 39 Member
    Well, this explains alot!!! I put my starting weight in there and I am actually just about where this tool says I should/would be. I guess I am proof that this is pretty accurate.

    I do get extremely depressed sometimes that the weight is not coming off faster but at least I am losing and hopefully it will stay off because I am making lifestyle changes.

    I closely monitor my portions (still eating my favorite foods), try to eat more fruit and veggies, and I exercise a lot. The exercise makes me feel so good. I have come along way since January 2012 - I have so much more endurance and can really tell the difference.

    I guess I will keep plugging away. I have lost 29 lbs and am almost 1/2 way to my goal! Yipee!
  • recee96
    recee96 Posts: 224 Member
    So i skimmed through the article while at work. Is the article suggesting not to eat back your exercise calories? I totally missed that part...and that seems to be my struggle.
  • cathomer
    cathomer Posts: 88
    I think it will go back to a 'normal' persons metabolism, but I have heard that you need to stay at your goal weight for quite a while in order for it to get stuck, if you like, until then the weight will go back on quite easily, which is probably why people lose it and put it back on. I imagine you'll be able to eat without worrying after a while, but staying on mfp after you've lost weight is probably a good idea to keep it down.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Ah! I hadn't even noticed that! No, I actually eat a lot less than that -- it's telling me "current intake is 2721" but I'm eating 1400. When I adjust it it says I'll lose 50 in the next year. I'll accept that. :)

    weight loss is never linear.
    If done correctly you can lose weight faster even at higher levels.

    The trick to to run optimally as opposed to cutting cals too deeply and bottoming out hormonally.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 639 Member
    repeated studies have shown that many people who begin an exercise program lose little or no weight. Some gain.

    Actually this makes sense to me. You know how MFP tells you to eat more when you exercise, well people who exercise eat more, but too much more and think it's ok since they exercise. Someone I barely know at the gym told me my workouts were really paying off because I looked great, I told her it's not the workouts, it's the calorie counting. My workouts haven't changed and I see the same people coming to my gym for months who haven't lost a lb.

    All the article says is that most people are able to be fat if they eat poorly. It says very little about the study that shows, there are a lot of variables at play, so I can't take the findings as fact. For me I follow the philosophy that if I eat every 2 hours and lift weights my metabolism will stay up, I don't know if people in that study did that.

    I once was 46 lbs heavier and during that time I remember eating a whole box of mac and cheese and still be hungry afterwards. Today I get full after eating half a box, I literally can't eat more. That means my stomach is smaller and that stops me from eating more so I don't have to panic about ballooning up again.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    I stumbled upon this truth last year. I went on my "go to diet" the six week body makeover..and lost more easily and steady without my rigorous exercise that I did before when I dieted.

    Along with this; I saw a doctor on the Dr. Oz show who delivered this kind of news about losing weight. In his research he found it was diet that made people lose weight..and that exercising actually derailed them. He said exercise made them more hungry and they fell off plan. He did say, however, that exercise was key in people maintaining their weight or keeping it off. that his studies showed that.

    I believe him.
  • PrncessBre
    PrncessBre Posts: 444 Member
    Bump to read later
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    That calculator lacks MANY variables... let me see if I can dig up the government one that is FAR superior... someone else just recently linked it today actually...
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    BAM... here we go...

    http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    further depression can be found in studies that show reduced calorie expenditure during exercise after weight loss, by about 10%. At least 10% of not much isn't a lot.

    http://www.clinsci.org/cs/105/0089/cs1050089.htm
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    it's telling me "current intake is 2721" but I'm eating 1400
    The 2721 is what they think your TDEE is to start with, so if you're eating 1400 you have a 1321 deficit already.
  • Martina_Who
    Martina_Who Posts: 172 Member
    Bump
  • LovingLisa2012
    LovingLisa2012 Posts: 775 Member
    Are you eating the same amount of calories that the calculator is giving you?

    It is telling me I eat 2500 a day and if I reduce that to 2000 I will lose 20 lbs in 12 months.

    it says I am currently eating 3,000 calories a day (not true) .. I used to eat 3,000 calories a day and was over 300 pounds ...

    eat at a deficit and the pounds will come off :)

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