So exercising and eating right to lose weight is a hoax?
Francl27
Posts: 26,371 Member
I've always been told that you need to eat right (ie, no junk) and exercise to lose weight and be healthy.
But the more I read about it, the more I realize it just really doesn't seem accurate. It's no wonder it's so hard to diet for some people. You take the right steps, cut all junk, start to exercise... and you still don't lose weight. 'Oh you don't eat enough calories' (I'm not hungry!). 'Oh you might be underestimating what you're eating' (possible but that's why I don't eat my exercise back and I try and stay 100 under my goal).
Sorta depressing.
But the more I read about it, the more I realize it just really doesn't seem accurate. It's no wonder it's so hard to diet for some people. You take the right steps, cut all junk, start to exercise... and you still don't lose weight. 'Oh you don't eat enough calories' (I'm not hungry!). 'Oh you might be underestimating what you're eating' (possible but that's why I don't eat my exercise back and I try and stay 100 under my goal).
Sorta depressing.
0
Replies
-
Hoax?
No. It's science, it's reality, and it works.
Your profile says you've lost 17 pounds so something is working.
Maybe you just haven't seen the scale move in a week or two and you're getting depressed about it? Your diary is closed so we can't say much more.0 -
You joined 2 months ago - it's possible that it's just taking your body some time to catch up to its newer, healthier self. Weight loss isn't quick and it isn't linear. I've gone a month now without a single pound, a single inch falling off. But time and patience is key here.0
-
is it possible that you are underestimating a lot more than you think? One thing that surprised me since I started tracking was that I was that my estimations were WAY off.0
-
I've always been told that you need to eat right (less junk) and exercise to lose weight and be healthy.
This, and patience are what you need to lose weigh!0 -
oh, I didn't see that you had already lost a lot...congratulations on that. you must be doing something right. Try to be patient. I know how it feels to do good, then see progress come to a screeching halt. It's very discouraging, but hang in there.0
-
This content has been removed.
-
I don't believe it's a hoax.
I think you need to take into consideration what exactly your eating. You can eat 1200 calories of things that are bad for your body, and you won't see the kind of results you're looking for. I don't know what your routine is or what your diet is, to really make a comment on why it might not be working for you -- but overall I've learned, through my continuous attempts to lose weight and failing, that you're not going to see the pounds drip off. It doesn't work that way. You need to stick with a plan and set mini goals for yourself.
I have a hard time avoiding ALL junk food, so I keep small quantities around. This makes it easier so I don't lose control and go eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's. I also don't feel like I've had a good workout unless I'm dripping with sweat afterwards, so I workout daily.
Keep it up and maybe look at your workouts and the foods your eating to see what could be hindering your success.
Good luck! 0 -
I've always been told that you need to eat right (ie, no junk) and exercise to lose weight and be healthy.
But the more I read about it, the more I realize it just really doesn't seem accurate. It's no wonder it's so hard to diet for some people. You take the right steps, cut all junk, start to exercise... and you still don't lose weight. 'Oh you don't eat enough calories' (I'm not hungry!). 'Oh you might be underestimating what you're eating' (possible but that's why I don't eat my exercise back and I try and stay 100 under my goal).
Sorta depressing.
consistent under-eating over a period of time can/will mess with your cortisol and leptin levels. those affect your ability to shed stored fat and your appetite. you can still be under-eating while not feeling hungry. that's the black hole that sucks in anorexics and makes it hard for them to bump up their calories.0 -
I have hit a few spans where my calories were in goals, and I exercised. Turns out what the machines displayed I did did not accurately reflect how much I burnt, nor were my food estimates right.
That doesn't mean eating right and exercise doesn't work. Notice I switched them around? That's because eating right is the important part. If you eat right and don't exercise all that much, you can still lose weight. If you exercise your butt off, but don't eat right, it's all for naught.0 -
Calculators for BMR and TDEE only dissect our magic weight loss numbers in terms of:
Gender
Height
Weight
Age
Activity level (in the most generic terms)
So basically they assume all 20 year-old, 5' 5", 130lb females, who sit at desk all need to eat roughly the same amount of calories to loose weight. You may have heard people say "all you need to do is eat 20% below your TDEE and you will find success." This 20% allows enough wiggle room for the majority to be successful at varying rates however there will always be outliers.
Take our two "identical" 20 year-olds for example. One might work harder in the gym than the other, one might smoke cigarettes (increasing her metabolism by as much as 200 calories a day), they eat different things, and they have different genetic make-ups and medical hurdles. There are so many additional factors that need to be take into account.
This is just my own personal thoughts on the subject as to why so many are frustrated but I am by no means an expert. I just found the numbers that work for unique me through trial and error.0 -
i lost 23 lbs since january 2nd by dieting (eating right) and exercising vigorously. if it was a hoax, i imagine i wouldn't have seen results. in contrast, i gained a bunch of weight last year by being lazy and not exercising topped off by eating crap.
no, it isn't a hoax. it isn't the absolutely only way to lose weight, but it isn't a hoax. it is the most tested, easiest method to drop pounds. it also increases your health. what is not to like about that?0 -
This is what a hoax looks like I guess:
0 -
I've always been told that you need to eat right (ie, no junk) and exercise to lose weight and be healthy.
But the more I read about it, the more I realize it just really doesn't seem accurate. It's no wonder it's so hard to diet for some people. You take the right steps, cut all junk, start to exercise... and you still don't lose weight. 'Oh you don't eat enough calories' (I'm not hungry!). 'Oh you might be underestimating what you're eating' (possible but that's why I don't eat my exercise back and I try and stay 100 under my goal).
Sorta depressing.
It's not a hoax at all, it just takes willingness to learn the science, time and commitment to do things the right way (like weighing your food and entering your own recipes) and patience to let it work.
Your ticker says you've lost 17 lbs in 2 months. That's excellent progress, much better than I did when I joined. I do think it's around the time when the honeymoon period ends. After that you have to rely on good habits and commitment because often motivation takes a dip.0 -
I tried all SORTS of 'diets' but it wasn't until Janaury that I found MFP and realised that the best diet is one of eating in moderation and having what you want when you want by planning ahead - so you get a nutritional balance. My diary is open and I am first to admit that I am a long way from eating a healthy balanced diet but I'm closer and I think that's what makes each day progress and successful even if the scales haven't changed or muscles don't seem to be more honed and toned. Baby steps is what makes success happen 0
-
There are a few reasons why you aren't able to lose the weight:
1. You have a food intolerence or other medical condition that is preventing you from losing (such as pcos or hypothyroidism).
2. You aren't exercising vigorously enough. Unless you spend some time really working it (intervals of 30-60 seconds going as hard as you can) the rest of the time spent walking on the treadmill is going to do nada.
3. You may not be aware of what "Junk Food" actually is. Subway is NOT healthy. Neither are most foods that come out of a package (cereal, bread, pasta, or anything pre-made) or a can or a jar or a drive-up window. If you can't hunt it, farm it or gather it yourself, you should probably not eat it. This takes some time to learn how to do, and if you can get yourself to eat 80% natural food, you should be well on your way to a healthy diet.
4. Portion control. Weigh and measure every morsel that goes into your mouth. This is the only way to know for sure if you are getting your macros correct. A tablespoon serving of peanut butter is a dollop about the size of your thumbnail. A teaspoon of sugar is what is in a single packet at restaurants. Serving sizes are small, ridiculously so. A typical dinner at the Olive Garden contains enough calories to sustain me for 2.5 days. At maintenance. (Maintenance for me is 1800-1900 kcal)0 -
There are a few reasons why you aren't able to lose the weight:
1. You have a food intolerence or other medical condition that is preventing you from losing (such as pcos or hypothyroidism).
2. You aren't exercising vigorously enough. Unless you spend some time really working it (intervals of 30-60 seconds going as hard as you can) the rest of the time spent walking on the treadmill is going to do nada.
3. You may not be aware of what "Junk Food" actually is. Subway is NOT healthy. Neither are most foods that come out of a package (cereal, bread, pasta, or anything pre-made) or a can or a jar or a drive-up window. If you can't hunt it, farm it or gather it yourself, you should probably not eat it. This takes some time to learn how to do, and if you can get yourself to eat 80% natural food, you should be well on your way to a healthy diet.
4. Portion control. Weigh and measure every morsel that goes into your mouth. This is the only way to know for sure if you are getting your macros correct. A tablespoon serving of peanut butter is a dollop about the size of your thumbnail. A teaspoon of sugar is what is in a single packet at restaurants. Serving sizes are small, ridiculously so. A typical dinner at the Olive Garden contains enough calories to sustain me for 2.5 days. At maintenance. (Maintenance for me is 1800-1900 kcal)
Your body doesn't care one whit whether the calorie you just consumed is considered "healthy." The term healthy and unhealthy has no meaning when it comes to weight loss.
Weight loss comes from calorie differential and nothing else. There is no one on earth who is running a proper calorie differential but failing to lose weight because the foods they eat are from Subway instead of the local coop.0 -
I've always been told that you need to eat right (ie, no junk) and exercise to lose weight and be healthy.
But the more I read about it, the more I realize it just really doesn't seem accurate. It's no wonder it's so hard to diet for some people. You take the right steps, cut all junk, start to exercise... and you still don't lose weight. 'Oh you don't eat enough calories' (I'm not hungry!). 'Oh you might be underestimating what you're eating' (possible but that's why I don't eat my exercise back and I try and stay 100 under my goal).
Sorta depressing.
It's not a hoax at all, it just takes willingness to learn the science, time and commitment to do things the right way (like weighing your food and entering your own recipes) and patience to let it work.
Your ticker says you've lost 17 lbs in 2 months. That's excellent progress, much better than I did when I joined. I do think it's around the time when the honeymoon period ends. After that you have to rely on good habits and commitment because often motivation takes a dip.
I agree with this. Also, "eating right" has a variety of definitions and some of those are ridiculously strict. I focus on calories, getting enough protein and fat, and making sure I satisfy my micronutrient needs. I have cut out absolutely no foods that I enjoy. I just eat less ice cream and pizza, and drink less beer and whiskey.0 -
I opened my diary. If all these "processed and fast foods are super unhealthy and the reason you aren't losing weight" people looked at it, they'd think I was on the verge of death and couldn't possibly lose weight that way. That's obviously nonsense.0
-
Nonsense.
3. You may not be aware of what "Junk Food" actually is. Subway is NOT healthy. Neither are most foods that come out of a package (cereal, bread, pasta, or anything pre-made) or a can or a jar or a drive-up window. If you can't hunt it, farm it or gather it yourself, you should probably not eat it. This takes some time to learn how to do, and if you can get yourself to eat 80% natural food, you should be well on your way to a healthy diet.0 -
Where is this from?This is what a hoax looks like I guess:0 -
Doesn't everyone have their own interpretation of what "healthy" or what a "diet" is???0
-
Where is this from?This is what a hoax looks like I guess:
That's my past month. It's a little screwy in the beginning because I was pretty dehydrated, but the trend is clear.0 -
You can eat only the healthiest foods and still eat too many calories. It isn't about cutting out all junk. It's about a calorie deficit. Unless there is something physically wrong with you (thyroid or something else), it will work.0
-
I have felt the same way, getting frustarted and depressed because I was not losing what I thought I should (or what all the calculators say I should based on calories vs. calories out...) but I have come to realize one thing: I want to be healthy! I feel better when I am "eating right" (which for me means staying in my calories range and controllling my carb intake) and I feel better when I am exercising! And if the weight is coming off slowly, so be it. I will be fat but I will be the healthiest fat person I know!0
-
There is so much conflicting information out there; not all of it can be right. The program I'm working with now (Jamie Eason on BodyBuilding.com) teaches that you need muscle mass to burn fat, so the first stage is muscle building. When I talked about that here, the naysayers attacked.
Good luck to them and to me. The primary directive here on MFP (calories in/calories out) wasn't working for me.0 -
2. You aren't exercising vigorously enough. Unless you spend some time really working it (intervals of 30-60 seconds going as hard as you can) the rest of the time spent walking on the treadmill is going to do nada.
i just wanted to comment on this point. you may be correct in so far as cardiovascular fitness and the amount of calories burned (i.e., exercise at a faster pace to improve both), but walking at a slower pace will still burn plenty of calories. just moving your muscles requires energy, so you'll burn calories even if you walk at a fixed pace for any length of time. i walk 6 miles at a 3mph pace as my cardio. i don't ever break a sweat and i still burn a lot of calories (currently it's about 850 calories each time i walk). i've proven my cardio calculations to be correct over a several month period by tracking everything on a spreadsheet. predicted weight loss matches actual weight loss within a small error margin.
periods of vigorous exercise are certainly better for your overall cardiovascular health and endurance (thus the popularity of HIIT right now), but less vigorous levels of exercise work too.
i just wanted to point that out for anyone reading this who might think they have to "kill themselves" at an unsustainable pace to have any effect.0 -
There is so much conflicting information out there; not all of it can be right. The program I'm working with now (Jamie Eason on BodyBuilding.com) teaches that you need muscle mass to burn fat, so the first stage is muscle building. When I talked about that here, the naysayers attacked.
Good luck to them and to me. The primary directive here on MFP (calories in/calories out) wasn't working for me.
How are muscle building and calories in/calories out conflicting?0 -
What I meant is that it's nowhere as easy as people say. Spend more calories than you eat, for example... it's not accurate.
I'm eating 1300-1400ish calories a day (maybe a bit more if I underestimate some stuff), exercise for 40 minutes 6 times a week (and I sweat and I constantly have sore muscles), I'm 196lb for 5'5". If it was just eating right and exercising, I should lose consistently. But I'm not. Yes I lost a lot since I started, but I'm guessing cutting junk suddenly and starting to work out suddenly had something to do with it. I haven't lost anything in 2 weeks, if anything I've gained 1 lb.
But it's more complicated than that. Which is what my point was. Eating right (by that I mean cutting down processed foods, high fat and sugar foods pretty much) and exercising isn't always enough... Hence the 'hoax' thing.0 -
What I meant is that it's nowhere as easy as people say. Spend more calories than you eat, for example... it's not accurate.
I'm eating 1300ish calories a day, exercise for 40 minutes 6 times a week (and I sweat and I constantly have sore muscles), I'm 196lb for 5'5". If it was just eating right and exercising, I should lose consistently. But I'm not. Yes I lost a lot since I started, but I'm guessing cutting junk suddenly and starting to work out suddenly had something to do with it. I haven't lost anything in 2 weeks, if anything I've gained 1 lb.
But it's more complicated than that. Which is what my point was. Eating right (by that I mean cutting down processed foods, high fat and sugar foods pretty much) and exercising isn't always enough... Hence the 'hoax' thing.
It's not easy, but it is simple. It really is simple.
Your BMR is about 1653, making your sedentary TDEE around 1983. So you should net about 1500 calories per day. Before exercise. If you're burning 500 calories a day exercising, then you should be eating around 2000 calories on those days.
You say you're eating 1300 calories a day, which means your calorie deficit on all those exercise days is more like 1200 than 500. That's huge. Maintaining a 1000+ calorie deficit for months when you're not that obese is quite sub-optimal, and I've seen many people who do that report plateaus.
Long story short: eat more.0 -
Weight loss is simple. Not easy.
Weight loss isn't linear. Nobody ever claimed that it was. You're going to gain a pound here, lose 2 there.....but it will keep going down if you keep it up.
It took years to put the weight on. It isn't going to fall off immediately and in some neat little straight line down a graph. Hormones, etc. will impact how quickly you shed the pounds, and how you retain water will impact the scale.
Stop weighing yourself for a month and just keep going. It's not a race to some finish line. It's a lifetime thing. Don't let two tiny weeks ruin what has been working so far.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions