Is exercise pointless?

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  • Mirlyn
    Mirlyn Posts: 256
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    I think i just need to qoute "Elle" from leagally blonde. Excersice gives you endorphines, endorphines make you happy! Happy people just don't kill people. They just don't.

    Hahah that says it all! :)
  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
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    Yes it SEEMS pointless spending 1 hr doing cardio to "only" burn 500 calories which would equate to:

    2 doughnuts
    a prepackaged BLT sandwich
    1 can of coke, choccy bar and packet of crisps (chips for you guys over the pond) - this was my fave mid afternoon snack !

    I could go on with a shed load of foods that add up to 500 calories - such a small amount of food in comparison to such a huge amount of cardio.

    500 calories is a LOT if you're eating the right foods.

    500 calories, for me, is both breakfast and lunch some days.


    Cardio is crap (in my opinion) unless you can find something you love doing and don't see it as mundane repetative cardio exersise.


    Yeah, cardio can suck and be repetative, but it's SO GOOD for your heart. And it burns far more calories than any other form of exercise. Of course the ideal exercise plan includes a combination of strength training, cardio and flexibility training.
  • rlinson
    rlinson Posts: 62 Member
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    Let's get something straight - A calorie is actually a unit of ENERGY!!! It takes 3500 calories to lose or gain 1 pound. To lose that pound you can do it by eating less, working out more or both. Most likely doing both will provider the faster and more beneficial loss.

    Basically think of it like this, if you eat 200 calories worth of food, that is 200 calories of energy you need to do something about. Our bodies need a certain amount of energy every day just to function normally. Simply put, going over that amount will create weight gain, and going under will create weight loss. I think there is a lot more proof on this site that exercise and food consumption control is VERY beneficial and not pointless. In the 5 months I have been doing this I have lost more weight than I expected and realize that my goal IS attainable. Great posts on here btw.
  • crobby
    crobby Posts: 29 Member
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    Yeah, that's what I do on most days but I always get the "starvation mode" warning, so I wasn't sure if it was a good to exercise and not make up the calories.
  • kgasser
    kgasser Posts: 333 Member
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    Besides...how else you gonna eat them M&M's and lose weight????
    (Oh, come on, you know you all wanted to say it, but everyone else was being so healthy minded that you couldn't!:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :laugh: :bigsmile: )
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
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    Or you could just not make up the extra calories that you burn from exercising and you will just lose the weight even quicker. If you exercise enough to lose 500 calories a day for 7 days that is 3500 calories extra you burned that week which equals one pound of fat that you just burned off your body in a week. if you are set to lose 1 pound a week through diet, then you just doubled your weight loss for that week., and I think losing weight is the biggest point of being on this site, so no, exercise is not pointless.

    NOT necessarily! As has been stated MFP has a deficit already calculated... if you exercise and burn a lot of calories and then choose not to eat them back - depending on your current state of health, caloric intake, etc... you may actually slow your rate of loss.

    Crobby - if you're getting the starvation mode warning - you need to eat back more of your calories. You do not want to net under 1200... your body will begin holding onto as much as it can instead of allowing you to burn the excess.
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
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    Besides...how else you gonna eat them M&M's and lose weight????
    (Oh, come on, you know you all wanted to say it, but everyone else was being so healthy minded that you couldn't!:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :laugh: :bigsmile: )

    Mine is not for M&M's - but yeah, I've been known to find myself on the treadmill at 8PM so that I can earn my Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich!
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    Am I the only one that doesn't see the purpose of exercising just to eat a few more calories? It seems to just cancel itself out!

    Umm, how do you want your body to look? Lean, long and strong? Or, flabby, weak and "skinny fat"?

    That is what you need to ask yourself.

    Besides, exercise has a lot more benefits than that..............

    Better sleep quality
    More Energy
    Less Stress
    Builds Self Confidence
    Better Sex Life (higher Libido)

    And that is just to name a few!!!!
  • lds25
    lds25 Posts: 68
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    I think i just need to qoute "Elle" from leagally blonde. Excersice gives you endorphines, endorphines make you happy! Happy people just don't kill people. They just don't.

    I have to say that I have occassionally lived by this quote. I agree that endorphins definately makes me a much happier person!!
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
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    I'd like to hijack this thread a little and put a twist on it:

    Exercising 30 minutes 3 days / week & eating back burned calories

    vs

    Exercising 45 minutes 5 days / week & eating back burned calories

    vs

    Exercising 60 - 100 minutes 1 or 2 days / week & eating back burned calories

    ...
    Ultimately, is there really a significant difference between the three when it comes to weight-loss? I'm not saying exercise isn't beneficial, but I'm wondering where the necessity to do it everyday comes from? It is really that imperative that we need exercise and attend the gym the amount of times we do or could we get close to the same results in a less time consuming manner? Trying to find the most efficient time to exercise relationship...
  • spiralgirl71
    spiralgirl71 Posts: 374 Member
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    Diet and weight loss aside...exercise is important for a healthy heart. I just lost my mom due to heart failure and I have wondered for years if this was avoidable had she exercised at some point in her life...at any point. Based on the age of death of others in her family...she lost 10 years and we all lost having her a bit longer. Exercise is very important. Also, if you build your muscle strength you can avoid some aches and pains because you have a strong body.
  • jrlenig
    jrlenig Posts: 364 Member
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    No not at all, my constant back pain no so constant anymore. My body now has curves instead of lumps and hey I get to wear clothes from a normal store. I think maybe while you are exercising reminding yourself of why you are doing it will help you remember that exercise is not the point but only the method we have to travel to get to the point!
  • Yurippe
    Yurippe Posts: 850 Member
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    I agree with Vinjama.
    Do not feed the troll!
    Troll?? I'm lost, but that's not unusual.
    Maybe hangin' out under a bridge somewhere, looking for goars, I'da know.

    LOL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

    "Do not feed the trolls" and its abbreviation "DNFTT" redirect here. For the Wikimedia essay, see "What is a troll?".
    In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[2] In addition to the offending poster, the noun “troll” can also refer to the provocative message itself, as in that was an excellent troll you posted. While the term troll and its associated action, trolling, are primarily associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels highly subjective, with 'trolling' being used to describe many intentionally provocative actions outside of an online context.
  • Jcrowe0317
    Jcrowe0317 Posts: 35 Member
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    Think of exercise as a way of taking care of you. I know that exercise helps prevent many diseases. A good strong body can fight off health. Do the exercise not to loose weight but to improve your overall health. Walking is a good start! By the way, you don't necessarily eat all the calories you burn.
  • crobby
    crobby Posts: 29 Member
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    Okay, so I think I've answered my own question. Last week, I was exercising and not eating back the calories, usually leaving an extra 500 hundred or so. The results weren't great
    THIS WEEK, i decided to eat back the calories after the gym... 4 pounds lost!
    booo yeah! mfp is a god.
    thanks everybody
  • peggyann47
    peggyann47 Posts: 22
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    JUST have to say - I love your profile picture. And I understand your thoughts on exercise.
  • crobby
    crobby Posts: 29 Member
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    JUST have to say - I love your profile picture. And I understand your thoughts on exercise.

    thanks :)

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