Is losing weight more diet or more exercise?

lporter229

Definitely more diet, and although any calorie deficit will result in weight loss you'll get better results with a quality over quantity mentality. Clean, unprocessed foods are best including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Exercise has many benefits besides weight loss so it shouldn't be overlooked. It improves cardiovascular strength, immune function, and builds muscle which burns more calories than fat to maintain and gives you a lean figure.

Very well put. I couldn't agree more.

mfoulkebrown

Alright. I'll admit it. I eat badly. I eat processed junk food for most meals BUT I always eat within my calorie limit. I exercise everyday for at least and hour, usually more (high impact Zumba, jogging, walking, eliptical, yoga ect.) I've been in a long plateau, and recently I've upped my calorie intake, started eating back some of my exercise calories, even weight training (>_<) to no avail.
Am I just being impatient? Or do I honestly just need to eat better?

Definitely diet, but exercise is huge for me, too. Just today, I broke a 2 week long plateau. I was keeping under my calories every day, but couldn't lose an ounce. I wasn't exercising very much at all. I added in some strength training and reduced carbs and in 2 days I've dropped 2 pounds.

One thing to consider with the processed foods is the sodium. I've found that many processed foods can be very low calorie but EXTREMELY high in sodium. For example, one of my favorites for a quick meal was matzo ball soup mix. It's like 43 calories a serving (most would eat 2-3) and over 1100 mgs of sodium. Not great for weight loss (with water retention) or heart health!

Are you unwilling or unable to cook at home? If you can't/won't cook, have you considered take out from some of the healthier options?

elisa123gal

Losing weight is diet...and keeping it off means exercise. Bring in the exercise when you are at goal. That is my plan. Not going to exercise until I hit a plateau and near my goal.

Last year I stumbled upon the truth after years of working out five or six times a week and feeling good but never being at my ideal weight. Then last year I dieted during an odd time when I quit exercising. I lost faster without exercising. I couldn't believe it. I also saw a doctor on the Dr. Oz show.. a real diet critic. He says studies show exercising doesn't really work for weight loss..but does work for keeping the weight off after goal. I am with him on that.

ladypeoria1

I think eating healthy is important to not only weight lost but the way it makes your skin glow and a better attitude!

ricky_j_b

the best excersise program cannot make up for a poor diet!!!

neverstray

Losing weight is diet...and keeping it off means exercise. Bring in the exercise when you are at goal. That is my plan. Not going to exercise until I hit a plateau and near my goal.

Last year I stumbled upon the truth after years of working out five or six times a week and feeling good but never being at my ideal weight. Then last year I dieted during an odd time when I quit exercising. I lost faster without exercising. I couldn't believe it. I also saw a doctor on the Dr. Oz show.. a real diet critic. He says studies show exercising doesn't really work for weight loss..but does work for keeping the weight off after goal. I am with him on that.

Whatever works for you. But, if you really dig down and think about that for just a few minutes, I don't think it makes any sense. But, that's me. Again, if it works, great. Dr. Oz says idiotic things all the time. If someone starts out with "Dr. Oz said", I know to tune out quickly before my brain rots from bad information.

xshortiex

Neither. It's calorie deficit.
- It doesn't matter how much you eat as long as you exercise to burn off enough so that you are in caloric deficit.
- It doesn't matter how much you exercise or don't exercise as long as you eat within your calorie allowance so that you are in deficit at the end of the day.

Edit: Notice I said "how much you eat," not "what you eat." What you eat does matter. Eat healthily, and your body will be healthy. You really do become what you eat, so keep that in mind.

abbylg1983

My husband and I argue about this daily. He doesn't believe the saying "abs are built in the kitchen". His theory is, it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you exercise (sidenote- he means exercise to the point where you are burning off whatever you eat, so if you are ingesting 4,000 calories you better be burning them).

My husband eats a ton of crap. Yet he works outside all day in 100+ degree weather doing very physical labor. He has a hard time just maintaining his weight- he usually drops about 5-10 pounds in the summer. He is a very trim guy, yet he has a gut which does not decrease even as he loses weight. I have no doubt he IS burning whatever calories he's eating, as he's either losing weight or maintaining. I say the reason he doesn't have a flat stomach is that he eats tons of donuts and egg cheese mcmuffins and chips. He says the reason is he doesn't do enough ab work. I say it wouldn't matter how developed his ab muscles were because his stomach is where he stores fat and until he changes his eating habits, that's not going to change. He insists I am wrong because his friend eats worse than he does yet exercises his whole body daily and does have a six pack. I unfortunately cannot counter this claim because I really don't know what his friend eats. We are at an impasse.

But my understanding is, while it's best to do both, if you're only going to do one, watching what you eat is better, and will give you quicker results.

jcstanton

Losing weight is more diet. You get a better looking body (more toned) through exercise. And, yes, exercise does help to burn a few extra calories. But diet is key.

I'm not sure how long you have "upped your calorie intake", but you should give it at least a month.

This! I can maintain by eating what I want, as long as I am exercising every day. However, I won't lose weight unless I am eating as clean as possible and not more than 1500cals.

Amazon_Who

Weight loss is more about diet.
Exercise is about fitness.