More important - diet or exercise??

For me right now, it's about diet. I'm an emotional eater and I will run to the worst foods for the smallest reason. So, keeping myself in check is very important. Right now I only do Cardio 3-4 times a week. But my diet must be daily.

Somewhere there is a quote about not being able to exercise away a bad diet.

Diet for me. I need to get my body used to eating right before I go and shock my heart and joints with a buttload of exercise.

Lose the weight without exercising. Have a thin, untoned, body with poor cardiovascular health.

Everything I've read and studied (check out bodybuilding.com) says that 90% of weight loss is diet. The other 10% is working out.

This is what I've read too, although both are extremely important to me.....and I agree with the other comments about being "skinny-fat", etc. Also from bodybuilding.com--"you can't out-train a bad diet".

I guess what motivated me to ask the question was I always think i overdo my cardio with the 6 sessions a week, but I have been reading many people on here that do 7+ haha

You absolutely CAN over-do the cardio! Your body adjusts and becomes very efficient at whatever you do on a regular basis, and actually will start burning fewer and fewer calories doing the same activity over time. It's important to change things up, and not over-do! What IS highly recommended from everything I've read are HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts 2 to 3 times per week, where you do spurts of max. effort for 1 min., followed by 1 - 2 min. rest periods where you do lower intensity and let your heart rate return to a regular pace. These workouts generally last from 15 - 30 min. depending on your ability to "recover" during rest periods. This kind of workout helps you to continue to burn calories for hours after you train, vs. a regular LSD (long, slow distance) endurance workout. I incorporate both kinds of workouts into my week, but weight training is my priority. Building muscle = building a better metabolism, not to mention a better physique! Too much cardio can actually "catabolize" or burn your muscle for fuel, instead of using fat for fuel. I'd recommend visiting the forums on bodybuilding.com, as well as researching their articles for more info. on how much cardio to do. Hope this helps! I'm not an expert, but I'm gaining more experience and knowledge every day as fitness and nutrition are really important to me.

Yep, i've been doing HIIT for a while actually 2 mins at a time, then 5 low intensity then 2 mins again...I do that 2 times per week. I never do the same activity at the gym, I love to mix it up - mostly because of being heavy and the impact on my joints by running all the time for example, but I had also heard its best to mix things up anyway

I just love going there and the buzz you get when you leave!

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I'm totally with you on that!! Do you also weight train?

Im not gonna lie, I was a terrible emotional eater. So for me, weight loss was about diet.
Ive lost all this weight sitting on my butt - its about math.
Now, I know thats all well and good but Im not so naieve as to believe that I wouldn't have to exercise... I know I will. But for a while my sheer weight burns calories all on its own. I wager I will have another two months before a serious regime is required but for now, modest stuff on occasion works. By then I should have the eating thing down pat too. Sometimes adding too many major changes throws me off

Diet, & eating mindfully is the key! Exercise is a tool, but having a healthy diet is the main foundation, in order to have a great deal of weight loss, and keep it off. Of course no one wants a skinny saggy body, that's why as you begin to lose, you incorporate cardio & toning exercises. But what got you to being over weight? It wasn't not exercising 6 times a week, it was eating junk and lots of it.

I have lost almost 100lbs. in about 9 months. I worked out for give or take 3x a week for 4 of those months. I then began my Fall semester and working full-time, so it was not feasible to work out like I was before. For my life, now, exercising everyday is not realistic. But I watch every single thing I put into my mouth, and that is what has made me truly successful. I have changed my eating mentality forever!

what you eat is way more important, but you still have to exercise to have a healthy lifestyle

Congratulations on your weight loss. You must feel fantastic! I have 150 lbs to lose and I am just getting started. I feel lighter but have a ways to go. You are my hero!!!