"In General, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless"

lina1131

IMO, this article goes against everything I have learned. How is exercise useless for weightloss?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html

Discuss.

kellykat

I don't lose weight unless I exercise. I'm sure that's not the way for everyone, but whenever I start getting active and exercising the pounds come off.

hlanders

I think that it is perfect for toning, and feel good hormones, general well being,...and eating more calories....!!! I am finding that out!
As for weight loss.....nutrition and consumption is Key to weight loss!

SugarHi

If you don't exercise you then become what is considered "Skinny Fat" exercise helps tone your muscles, boost your metabolism and will keep you heart healthy; plus may other fabulous benefits.

I'm not a person that goes on here-say. If it works for me I'm going to do it. I'm sorry but it only makes sense to eat healthy and exercise.

wolf23

Once heard that weight loss is 80% psychological, 10% diet and 10% exercise. Although not very scientific, judging from my experience, I tend to believe it

tansyf

Exercise totally works for me, I lose weight, it makes me feel so much better in myself, makes me not want to eat bad stuff generally and means I can totally keep up with my four children xxxx

SuadElTurk

Its true if you eat what you want and exercise you will not loose weight but will maintain your weight( that happened to me i would go to the gym work out then go eat a big plate of pasta and whatever i wanted but i didnt gain weight but stayed the same.),
But if you control food calories and fat absorption whilst exercising you will begin to see the difference, Its always said food and exercise go hand in hand.
If people exercise and starve themselves then they will binge eat but if you eat a proper amount of food with very little fat/ sugar/refined carbs you will be satisfied and full while also burning fat.

lina1131

Yes, I have cut calories in the past and maybe lost a pound or two, but I was definitely not healthy. I do not lose weight while becoming healthy without exercise. To me, this article sounds like they are saying "exercise is a waste of time if you are trying to lose weight" which is absolutely ridiculous. Or maybe i'm just reading it wrong.

They were talking about this on the morning show radio station I listen to and the entire time I was like what the hell? The DJ was saying that basically you can eat one meal a day, and as long as you are at a low level of calories, you will lose weight AND LIVE LONGER. On top of that, it didn't matter what you ate for that one meal. If you set your calorie goal for 1600 per day and ate a 1600 calorie cheeseburger or several small meals that equal 1600 calories it was the same exact thing. To me, it's BS. It is definitely not the same thing.

scarecrow41

While excercise burns calories, which is essentially weight, you won't lose fat unless you adjust diet. I think this is essentially what the articles trying to say.

Its so very easy in our culture to overeat by 1000 calories in a day, while burning an extra 1000 calories is equivalent to a very rigorous hour long excercise...or a at least a two hour walk.

I'll admit, I'm definitely more ravenous on days when I workout the hardest so it makes sense.

Let's say your BMR is 2000 and you've chosen to eat 1300 calories a day for a 700 calorie defecit. Let's say you have a tough cardio session in which you burn 500 calories in 30 minutes. Come 8-9pm you're body's probably going to start telling you that you are hungry. For some of us, it can be ignored while others can have a serving of low-fat cottage cheese (filled with casein protein to boost muscle growth during sleep). Most of us, however, grab that bagel that's been staring at us all day or the cookies your husband/wife/mom made earlier for the kids.

Before you know it you've eaten 900 calories of sugar and fat at the worst possible time of night. You are now at a 200 calorie defecit for the day, and while its still a defecit, all that sugar is going to be stored on your body in the "problem" areas.

The good thing is that most people on this site focus on their nutrition as much as their excercise. I got the impression that the author of the article probably didn't spend as much time and dedication to nutrition as they did on excercise. If you don't fuel your body every 2-3 hours with the proper nutrients while working out, your appetite will increase drastically and you'll soon find yourself eating more than your limit.

If you eat well and don't excercise your weight is probably good. If you excercise and don't eat well your weight probably isn't where you want it to be. Do them both and you lose the weight AND have a fit body that increases your ability to do ALL other activites.

Ellie113

I don't understand this though.....how does exercise help with weight loss if you are supposed to eat back all the calories you burn off??

lina1131

Right. I guess it would have been nice to educate the people who are reading the article properly. For someone that doesn't know much about losing weight will read this article and think "hmmm, I don't need to exercise" which is crap. Maybe if they wrote the article to add in the nutritional side of it, it wouldn't be so, what's the word...crap! :bigsmile:

Not sure why this article struck a nerve with me. Dang. :laugh: :laugh:

bathori

This article doesn't say that exercise won't help you lose weight, it says that if you reward yourself for hitting the gym with tonnes of extra calories you won't lose weight.

Calories in vs Calories out.

♥Faerie♥

They were talking about this on the radio on my way to work this morning, very interesting. Kinda makes sense to me though, I know for me, I don't overdo the exercise, I try to aim for about 30 mins. a day, and I watch what I eat at all times, with the occasional indulge. This is what has worked for me, and I sit at a current 107 pounds, with a BMI of 18.4, and although most would say that I am a little underweight, according to this new study this may be what helps me to live longer. I eat tons of fruits and veggies, so I am not unhealthy in my opinion.
It also got me to thinking about my Grams, who lived until 99. She always ate what she wanted in moderation, and she was never over 95 pounds her entire life. She did not "work out", but she was constantly active, gardening, painting the house inside and out, cleaning, cooking, refinishing floors, I mean, she just never stopped. So this article does make a lot of sense to me.
But everyone is different, and this could be what works for the DNA in my blood, who knows......

lina1131

Maybe I just misread the article or took it the wrong way.

nolan_84

It aids in weight loss. You can't blame exercising for being hungry and indulging in junk food, that's a choice! And yes, if you exercise, you are gonna need more calories, that's just how the body works. Weight lifting builds muscle, the more muscle you have the more fat you burn every day which will aid you in weight loss. And exercise will also increase a calorie deficit which is NEEDED to lose weight as well. I think making a statement saying 'useless' is irresponsible. Why on earth would we give people ANOTHER excuse not to exercise? Just stupid...

It's one thing to be thin and another to be in shape... I think people often confuse the two as one in the same. If you have two people that are the same height and weight, yet one played basketball in high school and college & the other has never exercised a day in his life, which is going to be in better shape at 22 years old?

I actually believe body fat percentage is a number that we need to pay more attention to... it really lets us know where we stand when it comes to being in shape versus just being thin. Think about it! Two people at 6'0 and 200 lbs, but one has 9% body fat compared to the other who has 20% body fat... Which would you rather be?

erickirb

I don't understand this though.....how does exercise help with weight loss if you are supposed to eat back all the calories you burn off??

It aids in weight loss as you don't have to cut calories as much to loose weight. Say your maintenance calories are 2000, and you eat 2000 cals everyday, you will loose weight by exercising, say 500 cals burned per day, this would put you at a 500 cal deficit and in 7 days you should loose 1 pound even without adjusting your diet.

MFP tells you to eat them based on the goals you set up with. If your goal was to have a 500 cal deficit per day it doesn't matter if it is due to decreasing you calories by 500 or increasing your calories burned by 500, you will still have a 500 cal deficit. The difference is exercise allows you to eat more than not exercising while trying loosing weight.

rheign

Don't believe everything you read. Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's true.

SHBoss1673

that article is the most tunnel visioned, "take specific parts of a concept to fit my argument" article I've ever read.

Useless and written solely to cause controversy IMHO.

I don't know anyone who has done even a modicum of research that says "if you exercise you lose weight". What is this?

All someone needs to do is speak to anyone in the health care industry and they will immediately tell you that you need to eat right, eat at a reasonable deficit, and yes, include exercise to lose weight.

Obviously, exercise is important, but it's important NOT to lose weight, but to increase your metabolic rate, the strength of your heart and lungs, increase core strength, increase muscle strength, balance, stamina...etc. THIS is why you exercise, not to lose weight. Is losing weight the end result if you do this and incorporate a healthy diet that has a moderate caloric deficit? Yes, but is exercise the reason alone? Of course not. And nobody with any knowledge on health and nutrition makes these claims (that I'm aware of).

stormieweather

I read a study recently with results that showed the best way to lose weight was by creating a deficit with a combination of calorie reduction + exercise. The group (in the study) who just cut calories DID lose weight, but more of it was muscle than in the group whose deficit was a combination. The group who did exercise did not lose more than the group who did not exercise, so the exercise by itself did not cause a greater weight loss. But they lost more FAT and less MUSCLE.

So phooey on this article. I'll keep exercising, thank you.:flowerforyou:

izobel

Whenever I have trained for marathons (2-4 hour slow jogs) I could not AFFORD the amount of food I craved!! I'm in training to cycle from Lhasa to Kathmandu later in the year and I have the same problem with intense hunger after long but gentle rides. For my body jogging is a fatburner, but cycling is not and I do have to watch the weight not creeping on.

aerobicgirl

why do they tell you that you need to burn more calories than what you take in to lose weight. im confused/ so then is working out just for toning. bc i need to burn fat not tone just yet.

SHBoss1673

why do they tell you that you need to burn more calories than what you take in to lose weight. im confused/ so then is working out just for toning. bc i need to burn fat not tone just yet.

so, here's the thing. Exercise does three things, it works a muscle group, it works the overall endurance and oxygen capacity of the body (lungs, heart, muscles...etc.) and it burns extra calories.

what does this do? It causes you to increase muscle size (if needed) and/or muscle functionality, increase stamina and aerobic capacity (which allows you to work out longer and harder), and it allows you to consume more calories to remain at the same weight. Now, if you don't compensate for those calories burned by exercise, yes you should lose weight (assuming no other issues).

But more importantly, those first two functions make you healthier, and stronger, more able to overcome viral attacks, bacterial attacks, and exeternal environment conditions (better balance, better stamina...etc.).

So as you can see, exercise is very important for health, but it doesn't directly cause weight loss, it's an indirect contributor compared with calories in vs. calories out.

simona1972

I read that article some time ago and I agree with some of it's points. Exercise IS useless to anyone who uses it to lose weight IF they reward themselves with high calorie junk food afterwards.

I exercised this morning, burned 400+ cals. That would be fruitless if I then went and bought my pre MFP breakfast that is 1000+ calories. Instead I stay within my calorie range [+ exercise cals].

Cals in vs. Cals out.

BrendaLee

Execise isn't necessary for weight loss as long as you maintain a calorie deficit. I lose weight in weeks I don't exercise, and I lose weight in weeks I do. Exercise makes me ravenous, and I do eat those calories back, so there's no added calorie deficit. I think, however, exercise is vital to a healthy lifestyle, and we all know- we feel better about our weight loss efforts when we exercise.

emberd

Sounds to me that the problem is actually that many people tend to over eat after exercising and if those choices are not calorie-conscious ones then it can negate the exercise. That's what I took from it. I'll keep my exercise, thank you.