Calorie Deficit = Weight Loss + Exercise...?

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mommyshortlegs
mommyshortlegs Posts: 402 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My mother and I were discussing this topic just tonight. If MFP essentially already allows for weight loss by factoring a calorie deficit into our days, and if when we exercise we are only increasing that deficit (hence the frequent admonition to "eat back" our exercise calories so as not to create a deficit too steep), it could be argued:

Why, then, exercise at all?

To speed the weight loss process? To tone/build muscle as the weight is lost?



[Thoughts spawned by this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/post/new/846079-eating-calories-earned-by-exercise]
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Replies

  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
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    Well technically based on your post your right you don't have to exercise to lose based on mfp's calculations. BUT you will not ultimately creat a fit you. The exercise is to help create lean muscle mass which burns more calories and raises you metabolizing, among the other wonderful things it does to shape your body.
  • lllliiiinnnnzzzz
    lllliiiinnnnzzzz Posts: 1
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    Right-- because it feels good and you'll be stronger and healthier. And if you don't eat all of the extracalories from exercise you'll lose weight even faster.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    Because exercise isn't for weight loss, and the benefits are many.
  • mommyshortlegs
    mommyshortlegs Posts: 402 Member
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    lllliiiinnnnz wrote:
    And if you don't eat all of the extracalories from exercise you'll lose weight even faster.
    That said, is it even safe for someone consuming the minimum required calories (1,200/day) to NOT "eat back" their exercise calories? Aren't any calories below the baseline too few calories?

    (I appreciate your explanations, BTW, I'm still rather new at this, and my mother newer still.)
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
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    So you can eat more!! Duhh..

    Just kidding, but it is a factor. Exercise is more than just for weight loss. Its for gaining muscle, getting your heart pumping blood, releasing feel good hormones!
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
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    To answer your original question, exercise (both cardio and resistance) have their own benefits in addition to using up energy.

    Resistance will help you to retain as much lean muscle mass as possible whilst eating at a deficit, it is also good for increasing functional strength useful in day to day life, good for bone density and protection against osteoporosis etc etc. Cardiovascular exercise will improve fitness levels and also has many other health benefits. The other benefit is raising your metabolism.

    In the most basic sense the net benefit from burning and eating 500 calories worth of energy is greater than having not moved off the couch at all. Makes sense even on an intuitive level doesn't it!?
  • fight_for_fit
    fight_for_fit Posts: 137
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    Yes logically you don't need it for weight loss. However Exercise keeps you healthy and strong. Plus with it you will look a whole lot better than without it, especially if the weight loss amount is high. IMO
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
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    For your health!!
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    as has been answered, because it's good for your body. it reduces risk of multiple diseases -- including dementia and alzheimer's later in life -- and helps you think better and feel good about yourself. plus the fact that the more bank of calories you build, the more you can eat and still be on track.

    so when you can get the benefit of bacon and ice cream on top of all that? why wouldn't you?
  • rlu1028
    rlu1028 Posts: 23 Member
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    Remember that fat doesn't magically go away, exercise is needed to burn it. Without burning fat, you can lose weight, but you still retain the fat you had, and its in a smaller body.
  • loricolt
    loricolt Posts: 2 Member
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    I know that I do not eat back my calories from exercise, i just eat my original 1200 a day.
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
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    I know that I do not eat back my calories from exercise, i just eat my original 1200 a day.

    well that doesn't sound like much fun -- or much food.
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
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    I know that I do not eat back my calories from exercise, i just eat my original 1200 a day.

    urdoinitwrong
  • mag2906
    mag2906 Posts: 57 Member
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    Why, then, exercise at all?

    To look and feel better (both mentally and physically). There's a lot of benefits of exercise and being able to eat more is one of them. :)

    Even 30 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week makes a big difference.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Remember that fat doesn't magically go away, exercise is needed to burn it. Without burning fat, you can lose weight, but you still retain the fat you had, and its in a smaller body.
    Not true. Weight loss purely from caloric deficit will be a combination of fat and lean body mass. Exercise (especially strength training, along with adequate protein intake) helps spare lean body mass while the fat is lost, but you will still lose some degree of muscle/LBM along with the fat (albeit a smaller percentage than from losing the weight by diet only).

    To answer the OP's question: Exercise has health benefits. Cardio training helps increase your cardiovascular fitness (fittingly enough!) and also creates more of a calorie deficit (which you should fill, at least in part, by eating some of the exercise calories back). Strength training helps maintain muscle mass so that when you arrive at your goal weight you don't have the "skinny fat" look - slender, but with high levels of body fat and no muscular definition.
  • rlu1028
    rlu1028 Posts: 23 Member
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    You may have read it wrong - unless you exercise, the fat in your body does not decrease.
  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
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    You may have read it wrong - unless you exercise, the fat in your body does not decrease.

    Um, yes it does.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    What is the point of exercise? Are you seriously asking this?

    Go ask a 5th grader. They can probably tell you.
  • ChassityGetsFit
    ChassityGetsFit Posts: 173 Member
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    Like most everyone else is saying, if you don't exercise you will lose weight from calorie deficit alone, but you will lose muscle in the process as well. You will lose weight for some time but then your body will get used to that routine (or lack there of) and stop losing weight, putting you in a plateau. Eventually you will need to exercise to continue to lose weight, but you should definitely exercise from the beginning in order to build lean muscle mass and increase the amount of calories your body will burn at rest! :)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    You may have read it wrong - unless you exercise, the fat in your body does not decrease.

    Huh?

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