Have you heard this...?

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  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    I would disagree...I don't diet, although I watch portion control. I have had much success just working out & using Chalean Extreme. BUT I think it all depends on the person. Not everyone can just work out only.

    I think for some of us, when we use the term "diet" we mean portion control... for me I don't use "diet" to mean a crazy restriction of calories or restrictions on specifically what I can eat... I just use it to mean that I try and generally eat healthier food choices in reasonable portions.
    I am not sure about the percentages but from experience I would definitely say diet is more important in LOSING weight. However I think exercise is key to keeping it off. Let's face it once we have lost the weight if we want to keep it off we better stay active!

    I completely agree with this. I'm sure that once I get to a healthier weight, exercise will become much more important in keeping the weight off and also building a fitter body - muscles, etc. I do think exercise is important (even now), but unless I can control what I eat, exericse isn't going to do me much good.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    My personal experience has shown its about 80% exercise 20% diet.
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    I have heard that before and it is based on the energy in vs energy out equation. I apologise that I don't have the exact info in front of me and had a rubbish day at work so won't go look it up :P but it goes something like:

    A 30 year old male with a light activity level burns about 10000kj per day. A certain amount of exercise (I think they use an hour walking or something like that) burns 2000kj, thus the remainder for the balance to be equal is 80% (the impact of diet).

    Sorry, this is a poor poor effort of putting it into words, but you get the gist?

    Of course, depending on your type and duration of exercise, that figure could be swayed quite a lot. I guess the point of it is that it actually takes a lot more exercise to burn foods off than people realise. I think the concept isn't designed to discourage people from exercise but more to discourage the common misconception that if you exercise, you should be able to eat whatever you like.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,737 Member
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    I would disagree...I don't diet, although I watch portion control. I have had much success just working out & using Chalean Extreme. BUT I think it all depends on the person. Not everyone can just work out only.
    I think for some of us, when we use the term "diet" we mean portion control... for me I don't use "diet" to mean a crazy restriction of calories or restrictions on specifically what I can eat... I just use it to mean that I try and generally eat healthier food choices in reasonable portions.
    Excellent point. For me diet just means the food I eat.
  • lwebsmfp
    lwebsmfp Posts: 297 Member
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    I haven't tried one without the other so I don't know. For me, I think my body responds well to both eating less and exercising. I notice that my weightloss is slower when I exercise less but it's faster when I include exercise.
  • AbiLuV
    AbiLuV Posts: 47
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    I guess there is no "regular" or "normal" result for this for, as everyone has found different things and levels that work for them and the results that they are seeking. I know one thing no matter the % a healthy diet AND an active lifestyle are a must for a healthy life. Thanks everyone for your comments!
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    I've found that just food changes will result in weight loss, but toned, nice looking results will come from exercise. Since more exercise earns you more food, exercise provides a nice level of motivation all its own. You can do just food changes, so I guess that would mean it gets a higher percentage, but the best results come from a combination
  • canstey
    canstey Posts: 118
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    It seems to me that it is 100% diet. It is all about the "up to 1000 calorie deficit" and that you should eat your exercise calories. Therefore any caloric deficit benefit to exercise is eliminated by following the guidelines. So when you talk about pure "weight loss" as in what the scale reads, it can only be controlled by diet because you have to eat enough to create the 1000 calorie deficit and you don't need exercise to reach a healthy 1000 calorie deficit.

    There are plenty of benefits to exercise but it appears from the research that increasing muscle mass while losing weight isn't really one of them. It is possible to gain a slight amount of muscle and still lose weight but not enough to make a significant change to body composition whether you exercise or not. If anyone has any research data indicating otherwise I would love to see it because the current research is rather depressing. I exercise because I want to increase my fitness and the extra calories help me maintain my 1000 calorie deficit more easily.

    Also exercise does not have an "after burn" where a person will burn additional calories after the exercise is over. I can't find the original paper I read but here is a link to a news article referencing the research and also discusses that strength training is over rated for increasing metabolism.
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826120/
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    Here is a post I wrote on my MFP Blog back in January about this subject.

    "I worked out today, so I can eat that."

    The above statement is something I had been telling myself for years. For the most part I have always been pretty active. Mt Biking, swimming, golf, weight lifting.

    Because of that I would justify my bad eating habits with the statement above. I worked out, rode, swam, today so it's ok for me to slam a 44 oz of Mt dew and polish off 20 chicken wings.

    It wasn't until I started this process last January that I began to realize the error of my ways..besides feeling like crap, looking like crap, and buying larger clothing. A trainer on another fitness website made the statement "You can't out excersise a bad diet". I began to understand. However, it was until I started logging at MFP that the situation was really illustrated to me. If you put it in numbers it becomes very obvious. A 44oz of Mt Dew, depending on the ice, runs between 600 and 500 calories... just on a drink.

    That's 2.5 miles of running for me, an hour and a half of walking, or an hour of strenuous swimming. Mix in the wings I mentioned above, you're looking at 4600 calories in just one meal. I'm not even going to contemplate what I'd have to do to break even on that. The math just isn't on anyones side.

    Last week was kind of a free-for-all week nutritionally. However, that thought entered my mind. And it annoyed/scared me. That's the mentality that got me in this situation in the first place....never again. The new mentality is You can't out excersise a bad diet.

    I like to excersise, it's my favorite part of the whole fitness process. For every 4 times I visit the Fitness forum, I visit the Nutrition forum once. You get the point.

    There are a lot new people on MFP with NYR trying to get their lives in order. If they're like me they have limited resouces in both time, money and energy.

    Spend your time, money, and energy on the nutrition side of this process. You just don't decide to eat healthy one day and you immediatly know what to eat and buy. Granted there are some obvious things you can do. It's a never ending process. In order to maintain long term success you need to spend some time researching foods, and recepies. You need to find meals that you honestly enjoy eating. That way you don't feel deprived, and you're less likely to fall off the wagon.

    Don't feel overwhelmed. Change one meal, one drink at a time. Get comfortable with your change, and then find something else you can change.

    However you do it, just remember: Eating THAT is what got you here.
  • BullDozier
    BullDozier Posts: 237 Member
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    It seems to me that it is 100% diet. It is all about the "up to 1000 calorie deficit" and that you should eat your exercise calories. Therefore any caloric deficit benefit to exercise is eliminated by following the guidelines. So when you talk about pure "weight loss" as in what the scale reads, it can only be controlled by diet because you have to eat enough to create the 1000 calorie deficit and you don't need exercise to reach a healthy 1000 calorie deficit.
    I think the exercise comes in two factors here. First, exercise makes it much easier to consume the right number of calories to maintain the propper deficit. IE, if I need to consume 1700 calories a day to lose a pound a week, that is incredibely hard for me to limit myself to that number of calories. I'm always hungry. I love certain high calorie foods (many that are healthy, but high calorie). Three 500 calorie meals and 2 100 calorie snacks, and I'll be hungry from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep. Exercising gives me more calories to play with, which makes it easier to get through the day, which makes it easier to stay on a program.

    Second, exercise is plain and simple good for your body. I would think an out of shape person who uses exercise to lose a significant amount of weight, will fall in love with exercise and it could remain a part of the rest of their life, which in turn will help that person maintain a healthy weight.

    Can you do it on diet alone? Yes, but I think exercise makes it easier, which is why I wouldn't say diet is 100%.
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    Here is a post I wrote on my MFP Blog back in January about this subject.

    "I worked out today, so I can eat that."
    Definitely heading over to read up on your blog!! Glad you shared, yet another blog I think I'll enjoy keeping track of!:drinker: Thank you!!!

    Also wanted to say I enjoyed reading what you shared on this thread as well.:wink:

    Becca:flowerforyou:
  • selbyhutch
    selbyhutch Posts: 531 Member
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    Interesting post. Last year I lost 25lbs in 2 months on South Beach Diet with very limited carbs & sugar... and NO exercise due to some health issues.
  • Emorriso165
    Emorriso165 Posts: 23
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    My mom always tells me you can't exercise away a bad diet. It's so true. I struggle with stress eating and even though I work out a lot (min 90 mins a day - elliptical, running, p90x, etc) if I don't watch my diet I'm right back where I started.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,737 Member
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    My mom always tells me you can't exercise away a bad diet. It's so true. I struggle with stress eating and even though I work out a lot (min 90 mins a day - elliptical, running, p90x, etc) if I don't watch my diet I'm right back where I started.
    Your avatar kills me. I :heart: it!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I'm not sure of the percentages....but my mom had been eating normally and exercizing and I was watching what I ate and not exercizing and we had lost the same amount.

    However since I added exercize I have lost way more.....so I think it's more like 75% food 25% exercize
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    I have heard several times it (weightloss) is 80% diet and 20% working out. Would you say you agree?

    I have always been told that weightloss is 90% what you eat and 10% exercise, but maintaining is 75-80% what you eat and 20-25% exercise..............

    That came from my endocrinologist.

    I feel that is true. Exercise for me, helps to sculpt and re-shape my body, where as just losing weight leaves me looking mushy without exercise.
  • kiffypooh
    kiffypooh Posts: 1,045 Member
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    bump
  • unknownndoll
    unknownndoll Posts: 161 Member
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    i agree with what you eat has more impact than exercise.

    EDIT- BUT i have read that 2 groups of people who lost the same amount (one group diet and exercise, the other just diet)... that the group that exercised and continued to exercise could eat regularly without regaining the weight back and the group that didn't exercise gained back weight. I believe it was a new york times magazine article study i read??? something like that.
  • geekyjen
    geekyjen Posts: 103 Member
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    i agree with what a lot of people are saying
    WEIGHT LOSS is mostly diet
    WEIGHT MAINTENANCE is largely exercise

    People are really bad at estimating how many calories their food has relative to how hard they worked out unless they're doing something like MFP so often over indulge post-exercise.

    I also think my weight loss would have plateaued more if I didn't exercise the way I do. And I doubt I would be seeing the fun muscles I'm seeing develop =)
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    Here is a post I wrote on my MFP Blog back in January about this subject.

    "I worked out today, so I can eat that."
    Definitely heading over to read up on your blog!! Glad you shared, yet another blog I think I'll enjoy keeping track of!:drinker: Thank you!!!

    Also wanted to say I enjoyed reading what you shared on this thread as well.:wink:

    Becca:flowerforyou:

    thanks, maybe I'll write more If I know someone reads it.

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