Losing Weight is 80% Diet- BS

missdibs1

agreed

BOLO4Hagatha

OP, stick to whatever works for you. We are all different in our needs.

ninerbuff

I keep reading that losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise and I just have to say that it just does not hold true for me, and never has.

I can eat 1200 calories and GAIN weight if I am not exercising..even though I am well below my BMR at 1200 calories.
(ie I could NOT lose weight on nutrisystem)

The bottom line is I can not lose weight unless I exercise, so for me the role of exercise is SO much bigger than 20% and I have a feeling I am not the only one.

Even now, the hardest days for me are my rest days. On my rest days it is a battle to stay within my calorie goals...
I don't think it is just a mental thing, I think the big picture is so much more than just diet (or exercise for that matter)

When I exercise I am not hungry, except for right after the work out. I am motivated and I am disciplined when I exercise. My hormones are more in check when I exercise and emotional eating is NOT an issue on my exercise days...it is on my rest days...I even fast longer on my rest days to get a handle on my eating...UGH

Is it just because I am bored...no I don't think so. I feel on my rest days like I am fighting chemistry and a whole lot more.

Yep I know it is all about the calorie deficit...but in reality for me it really is not...4-2 does not always equal 2 unless I add some cardio and lifting to it...

How about you? Is it all about diet for you?

Sorry but your conclusion is anecdotal. Maybe you're sodium sensitive. Or carb sensitive. Or your hormones are incorrectly regulating. But the idea that diet isn't the main reason for weight loss would be incorrect for the GENERAL POPULATION.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

If a person has any metabolic resistance issue or autoimmune disease (I have two, hypothyroid and PCOS) and many people 50 lbs overweight or more DO have those issues, then the whole calorie deficit issue is not going to be as effective for them and they need to look for others solutions to improve metabolism.

And this is why you perceive that it's not your diet. As I mentioned in an earlier post HORMONES have a direct effect on your metabolism. So go to an endocrinologist to help get your hormones regulating normally.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

yasminchy

Sure you can eat less and gain. But in this case you are not eating a proper food but junk food. Here, because of that you can actually gain.

ninerbuff

The whole point is the math does not work with calorie deficit and it should if a calorie deficit is the sum total of weight loss.

Math works. It doesn't work when formulas done to figure out problems are misunderstood.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

laurie62ann

100% health eating for me ( I don't use the word diet) ... However I do work out everyday for my Mental Health and to keep my muscles tone!

I would guess your not eating enough!!! Do your research, there is a lot of info out there regarding how much calories you need!

Good Luck!!

xoxsashaxox

I do feel like its 80% diet for me. I lost my first 10 pounds on diet alone. I was 139 and niw im 123. It wont reflect on this app because when i lost the first bit i wasnt useing it. But i can maintain my 123 with absolutly no excersie. When i do excersize i dont tend to loae any more weight, i tone and sometimes gain a a couple pounds in muscle. I have even been to 120 lbs with no excersize at all.

tomg33

Math works. It doesn't work when formulas done to figure out problems are misunderstood.

I didn't get this for a long time. What I didn't realise was that your body instinctually decreases your NEPA in response to a caloric deficit.

TAsunder

I'm in the 80% exercise 20% diet camp. I lost about 35-40 lbs primarily through exercise and very slight diet modifications. I went from maybe 2 hours of light exercise per week to 8-12 hours of intense exercise per week. I was steadily losing 1.5 lbs per week that way. During that time it was more like 95% exercise.

I plateaued eventually and the last 10-15 lbs have required calorie counting and more noticeable dietary changes. I am currently off calorie counting while I wind down training for a half marathon, and have at best stayed even and possibly gained 1lb despite the ridiculous amount of exercise I am doing. At some point exercise alone stopped working for me, because I am more efficient at the exercises I do and my metabolic needs are reduced to the weight I have lost.

Still, there is no way I could lose weight if I didn't exercise a lot, even if you ignore the calorie burn it achieves. It regulates my appetite and stress levels. It helps me sleep better. It helps me set goals and achieve them. It makes me more social and less stir crazy. I'm less bored.

I don't understand how people do it with primarily dietary changes. They are like alien creatures to me with their willpower.

carissar7

I'm in the 80% exercise 20% diet camp. I lost about 35-40 lbs primarily through exercise and very slight diet modifications. I went from maybe 2 hours of light exercise per week to 8-12 hours of intense exercise per week. I was steadily losing 1.5 lbs per week that way. During that time it was more like 95% exercise.

I plateaued eventually and the last 10-15 lbs have required calorie counting and more noticeable dietary changes. I am currently off calorie counting while I wind down training for a half marathon, and have at best stayed even and possibly gained 1lb despite the ridiculous amount of exercise I am doing. At some point exercise alone stopped working for me, because I am more efficient at the exercises I do and my metabolic needs are reduced to the weight I have lost.

Still, there is no way I could lose weight if I didn't exercise a lot, even if you ignore the calorie burn it achieves. It regulates my appetite and stress levels. It helps me sleep better. It helps me set goals and achieve them. It makes me more social and less stir crazy. I'm less bored.

I don't understand how people do it with primarily dietary changes. They are like alien creatures to me with their willpower.

A deficit is a deficit is a deficit, regardless if it comes from diet or exercise. By burning calories you are creating a deficit, which is the same exact thing other people do with just diet alone. I bet you could lose just as much weight from just diet if you had more willpower.

dbmata

I keep reading that losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise and I just have to say that it just does not hold true for me, and never has.

100% diet for me. For a couple reasons, and I think these are reasons, that if applied to all losers, it will cause it to be 100% diet for them too.

When I "diet" I:
1. weigh everything
2. manage and analyze intake
3. avoid extra intake
4. choose the most efficient and optimal whole foods possible
5. weigh everything

Yup, said it twice. It's a huge thing. You may *think* you're eating a certain amount but don't know it until you weigh and analyze. Now, when I work out, I don't put in a half measure either, so if I don't manage it right, my leaving everything in the gym, may end up increasing my intake significantly. So for me, working out is to be managed to insure I don't take in more than needed. That's all. The working out is helpful and helps me ensure I'm losing fat and not muscle... but it's not what I rely upon for fat loss, doing that would not be the most efficient use of my effort.

ahmadfahmy

OP.. oh OP... if anything, it's 100% about the diet.

This ^^

pcastagner

I'm in the 80% exercise 20% diet camp. I lost about 35-40 lbs primarily through exercise and very slight diet modifications. I went from maybe 2 hours of light exercise per week to 8-12 hours of intense exercise per week. I was steadily losing 1.5 lbs per week that way. During that time it was more like 95% exercise.

I plateaued eventually and the last 10-15 lbs have required calorie counting and more noticeable dietary changes. I am currently off calorie counting while I wind down training for a half marathon, and have at best stayed even and possibly gained 1lb despite the ridiculous amount of exercise I am doing. At some point exercise alone stopped working for me, because I am more efficient at the exercises I do and my metabolic needs are reduced to the weight I have lost.

Still, there is no way I could lose weight if I didn't exercise a lot, even if you ignore the calorie burn it achieves. It regulates my appetite and stress levels. It helps me sleep better. It helps me set goals and achieve them. It makes me more social and less stir crazy. I'm less bored.

I don't understand how people do it with primarily dietary changes. They are like alien creatures to me with their willpower.

A deficit is a deficit is a deficit, regardless if it comes from diet or exercise. By burning calories you are creating a deficit, which is the same exact thing other people do with just diet alone. I bet you could lose just as much weight from just diet if you had more willpower.

Willpower is a muscle. You might be born with more naturally, you might not, butny CAN build it.

trojanbb

Losing weight is 100% about diet. Exercise only affects the energy you need to consume

towens00

OP.. oh OP... if anything, it's 100% about the diet.

Yup, All about diet!!! Exercise is secondary, wish it wasn't

Timshel_

I can eat 1200 calories and GAIN weight if I am not exercising..even though I am well below my BMR at 1200 calories.
(ie I could NOT lose weight on nutrisystem)

You also cannot exercise your way out of gaining weight eating 4000+ calories daily, unless all you do is exercise.

People can control calories in much better than caolires out, which is why they say for most people weight loss is about diet.

ChaseAlder

It's all about diet for me. The only time I can out-train my diet is at the end of half-marathon training when I'm burning 1000+ calories in a day. Other than that, I have to keep my food choices in check. Burning 300-400 calories does not do enough if I'm not watching my portions as well.

Cutemisscoco

My diet is making me lose weight and working out (weight lifting in my case) is making me look good, I wouldn't want to do this without doing both personally.

Granville_Cocteau

I find it extremely difficult to eat less than maintenance if I don't exercise, so I would not do well just with cutting intake. For me, it's about the exercise allowing me the room to do a 20 percent cut to maintenance calories.

I'd say it's about 60 percent exercise for me, 30 percent diet (and everything that goes with that: willpower, making sure I shop for nutritious, filling foods rather than eat at high-cal places) and 10 percent miscellaneous such as rest.

The food part of the diet is there for health reasons--sources of macro and micro-nutrients my body needs for proper function. I don't eat or avoid particular foods under the assumption they will make me lose/gain weight (though someone who is insulin resistant obviously needs to control sugar intake to lose weight).

pcastagner

I find it extremely difficult to eat less than maintenance if I don't exercise, so I would not do well just with cutting intake. For me, it's about the exercise allowing me the room to do a 20 percent cut to maintenance calories.

I'd say it's about 60 percent exercise for me, 30 percent diet (and everything that goes with that: willpower, making sure I shop for nutritious, filling foods rather than eat at high-cal places) and 10 percent miscellaneous such as rest.

The food part of the diet is there for health reasons--sources of macro and micro-nutrients my body needs for proper function. I don't eat or avoid particular foods under the assumption they will make me lose/gain weight (though someone who is insulin resistant obviously needs to control sugar intake to lose weight).

Sooo... It's actually 100% diet and your exercise helps you stick to the diet, and improves the quality of it?

Granville_Cocteau

I find it extremely difficult to eat less than maintenance if I don't exercise, so I would not do well just with cutting intake. For me, it's about the exercise allowing me the room to do a 20 percent cut to maintenance calories.

I'd say it's about 60 percent exercise for me, 30 percent diet (and everything that goes with that: willpower, making sure I shop for nutritious, filling foods rather than eat at high-cal places) and 10 percent miscellaneous such as rest.

The food part of the diet is there for health reasons--sources of macro and micro-nutrients my body needs for proper function. I don't eat or avoid particular foods under the assumption they will make me lose/gain weight (though someone who is insulin resistant obviously needs to control sugar intake to lose weight).

Sooo... It's actually 100% diet and your exercise helps you stick to the diet, and improves the quality of it?

No. If I don't exercise, it is difficult for me to hit below maintenance calories and thus lose weight.

Which is to say--in a universe where I just cut calorie intake 80 percent of days and exercised 20 percent of days, I would not lose weight--or my progress would be negligible.

pcastagner

I find it extremely difficult to eat less than maintenance if I don't exercise, so I would not do well just with cutting intake. For me, it's about the exercise allowing me the room to do a 20 percent cut to maintenance calories.

I'd say it's about 60 percent exercise for me, 30 percent diet (and everything that goes with that: willpower, making sure I shop for nutritious, filling foods rather than eat at high-cal places) and 10 percent miscellaneous such as rest.

The food part of the diet is there for health reasons--sources of macro and micro-nutrients my body needs for proper function. I don't eat or avoid particular foods under the assumption they will make me lose/gain weight (though someone who is insulin resistant obviously needs to control sugar intake to lose weight).

Sooo... It's actually 100% diet and your exercise helps you stick to the diet, and improves the quality of it?

No. If I don't exercise, it is difficult for me to hit below maintenance calories and thus lose weight.

Which is to say--in a universe where I just cut calorie intake 80 percent of days and exercised 20 percent of days, I would not lose weight--or my progress would be negligible.

But in that same universe, if your food intake were controlled by a robot, and not up to you, you would lose weight.

So again, exercise makes this feasible for you, but it's still your calorie deficit creating the weight loss.

I very much agree with you in a sense. Doing this without the exercise isn't really living and for me it isn't sustainable. Actually eating only 1650 sucks *kitten*. I could never pull this off without the workouts. Not alone anyway, but if you take people prisoner, and give them rations that are below their tdee, it's a simple fact they will lose weight.

One_Last_Time

It's about diet for me. Exercise makes me hungrier and I tend to binge more. Yes binge like 2,000 calories at once, not a snicker and single serving bad of chips. Just eating healthy and light exercise (walking, body weight exercise) = weight loss.

crissi725

I feel like there are two different definitions of "diet" in this feed. Some people are taking "diet" as solely what kind/types of food you eat and others are taking it as solely how much you eat.

For me, diet means how much I'm eating. Sure, I feel much better when I eat as cleanly as possible but there have been some weeks when I've eaten whatever I wanted but stayed within my caloric goals and still lost weight because of I'm still working myself to a deficit. So I think that if you aren't keeping your caloric goals in check, and you aren't working out enough to be in a deficit then, no, you won't lose anything.

I would say that "diet" by definition of HOW MUCH you eat is a large part of your weight loss success. And while I believe people should eat as cleanly as possible for long term health-- I certainly don't think that you can only lose weight by only eating cleanly. An apple is good for you but if you eat 3000 calories worth of apples and you only burn 2000 calories a day....you ain't losin' nothin'.

MargaretSobers

In my opinion Diet and Exercise both are equally important. This will be more clear to you by reading 3 P’s for weight loss.
There are 3 P's that are important to understand for weight loss.
First P is for Psychology- You must have a definite, measureable, realistic, and time bound weight loss goal.
Second P is for Physiology- Begin by eating 500 less calories/day, walking 10,000 steps/day, sleeping 8 eight hours/night, and taking a multi-vitamin.
And last third P is for Physical- Once you have your mind right and your calories under control, now begin an exercise plan to "get fit". Be patient and Be persistent.

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snazzyjazzy21

If I gained weight eating 1200 I would see a doctor...

crissi725

Oh good, another "special snowflake" thread.

You are soooo much cooler and better than us. 100%.

KingofWisdom

I'm in the exercise to lose camp. If you have the willpower to eat less and don't need exercise, more power to you. But I can never stay in a calorie deficit otherwise. I feel like I'm hungry all the time.