Exercise perfect but my diet sucks!!

shaney13

Will I still get benefits from the exercise? I'm doing JMBR and have not missed a workout in the first month and plan to keep going. I just can't get my diet trimmed down - it's pretty clean just WAY TO MUCH FOOD! And of course there is red wine
any suggestions ? thanks

AmyRhubarb

Can't see your diary, so not sure what to suggest. I do know for me, it was a process getting my food and eating habits dialed in. Took me awhile to make some of the changes, focusing more on protein, figuring out what to eat to hit all the numbers and still enjoy life!

If you make your diary public, that would help us make suggestions. And for what it's worth, I still drink wine (and beer, and eat burgers, pizza, desserts) and lost the weight. Just not every night. :drinker:

Cyclink

I guess a lot hinges on what you mean by "can't", what your dietary goals are, and what you have tried so far.

elyelyse

If you are not burning more calories than you consume, you will not lose weight. "you can't out-exercise a bad diet." as they say.

jdad1

If you are eating to much calories then the main thing your excercise is doing for you is keeping you from to large a surplus. This is assuming your excercise is cardio, if you are doing strength training then your excercise will provide you with many benifits even if you are eating over on calories at times.

Colbyandsage

If you are trying to lose weight, then obviously diet will play a big part in that.

It's all about moderation, I never gave up any foods. I just only had them on certain days.

Saree1902

I can relate to this - I run 2-3 times a week, walk 1.5miles to work and back and go to the gym a couple of times a week....but I'm a food monster!

One thing which definitely helps is increasing the protein - my morning cereal bar is now a small pot of cooked chicken and it seems to keep me a bit fuller. I also try to eat more 'good fats' like olives and nuts as snacks (within the calorie limits usually)

Plus I start with a smaller portion in the evening, telling myself I can have more in half an hour if I'm still hungry (belly takes a while to catch up...)

FATJAKE5

If you read your own question, you already have the answer. "Too much food". With 3,500 calories in 1 lb of fat it takes a bit of deficit eating vs exercise to lose a pound. Secondly, you are most likely converting fat into muscle if you have just started your exercise program. So, if you feel more energetic, stronger, etc, then your are winning. The third thing you may want to pay attention to is sodium intake, which is my BIG problem. I am 3 lbs heavier today than yesterday and I centainly didn't have a calorie surplus of 10,500 calories. But I did take in as much sodium in one day as the previous 6 days combined which makes me retain a lot of water which I drink a lot of.

elyelyse

Secondly, you are most likely converting fat into muscle if you have just started your exercise program.

no. I wish people would stop saying this. especially to women. it takes a hell of a lot of work and time (plus extra calories) to put on "muscle weight". Now, water retention weight? THAT might occur at the beginning of a new exercise regimen.

AliciaC81

It depends on how much you're eating and whether you're really eating over what you need to lose weight. A lot of people think they need to eat far less than they actually do, so if you're eating over what your goals are set to it's quite possible you're still eating at a deficit to your TDEE. When I was first starting out I had my limits at 1565, which for my height and weight was too low. I was struggling to stay under that and if I did I was hungry and grumpy. I ended up going over by hundreds of calories daily and was shocked when I was still losing weight. I later found out that I had my goal set too low and the days I was eating over were the days that I was actually eating where I needed to be.

kdiamond

Any and all exercise is beneficial, but diet is 80% of getting in shape, if you really want to meet your goals you'll need to get a control over your diet.

Sucks but its the truth.

shaney13

Thank you! That is helpful. Never thought of chicken at breakfast ! Brilliant!

ndj1979

If you read your own question, you already have the answer. "Too much food". With 3,500 calories in 1 lb of fat it takes a bit of deficit eating vs exercise to lose a pound. Secondly, you are most likely converting fat into muscle if you have just started your exercise program. So, if you feel more energetic, stronger, etc, then your are winning. The third thing you may want to pay attention to is sodium intake, which is my BIG problem. I am 3 lbs heavier today than yesterday and I centainly didn't have a calorie surplus of 10,500 calories. But I did take in as much sodium in one day as the previous 6 days combined which makes me retain a lot of water which I drink a lot of.

how exactly does one covert fat into muscle? I would like to learn this process....

ldrosophila

Have some good old fat. Everyone always underestimates it's ability to satiate. Also, if you are moving that much you probably are hungry your body might just be asking for more fuel.

Listen to it. Record the portions and log your diary.

bostonwolf

Diet is about 80% of weight loss.

Just do it.

bcattoes

YES!!! You will get benefits from exercise. Whether you lose weight will depend on whether you have a calorie deficit, but exercise has benefits beyond weight loss.

Depending on what you have your calories goal set to, you may have a deficit even if you go over your goal everyday. In which case, you'll still lose, just more slowly. That might even work out better in the long run.

So, keep exercising while you work on the diet part.

1ConcreteGirl

You cannot out-exercise a bad diet.

Figure out your TDEE-20% and eat that number of calories. Purely for weight loss purposes, you'd be better off getting your diet down and not exercising at all than doing the opposite.

josiereside

I have the same problem... red wine included! trying to figure it out myself... I know I am an emotional/stress eater so that does not help..

madrose0715

I lost my first 45 pounds last year through exercise and a pretty active lifestyle. I ate everything I wanted. To lose these last 25 pounds though, I had to tackle the food issue. I approach weight loss as a layering process. Correcting one bad habit at a time when I am ready to conquer it.

SideSteel

What are your goals?

SnicciFit

I personally feel that you get more benefits (better health, weight loss...etc.) by cleaning up your diet than by exercising. BUT... if you do both, you're golden :happy:

I really don't believe that you can "outrun" a bunch of bad food choices and overeating day after day. Especially when you're overweight. If you are trying to maintain a healthy weight and have a very vigorous exercise program, then MAYBE you can eat more crap and not gain weight, but you probably won't be real healthy.

taso42

So you're eating over TDEE, or?

AlongCame_Molly

Ever heard the expression "you can't out-train a bad diet"? It's like that. You HAVE to have a calorie deficit to lose weight. It's that simple.

jamebb

You'll get benefits (ie gain muscle or increase your endurance), but if you have a calorie surplus you won't see much or any weight loss.
I'm a good example of this. I started exercising last August, but didn't start watching my food intake till mid-November. From August to November I lost between 5-10 lbs and definitely saw myself getting stronger and being able to go further and faster, but since I've adjusted my eating habits(mainly by working on portion control) I've lost an additional 40lbs, which kind of speaks for itself.