which plays bigger role? Food or exercise?

It appears the majority have spoken. My own results would have to agree. I have worked out hard so far this week, however my eating has been horendous. I have gained 3+ pounds since Sunday. UGH!

Food, unless you exercise all day log. I mean, if you are training for the Olympics, maybe exercise.

I'd say it's 70% diet, 30% exercising. You can't out-exercise a bad diet.

I saw this the other day. Your comment reminded me of it....



sorry if its too big, not sure how to make it smaller

However, im interested in which plays the bigger part, exercise or food.

Food

You cannot out exercise your food.

A nice warm pancake breakfast with egg on toast. 800 cals?
A lunch of ceasar salad with a lot of dressing and some bread on the side? another 800-1000 cals
A dinner of a pizza hut pizza Chicken Supreme 12" is about 2200 cals.
drinking with this 1,5l of coca cola add another 700


So without adding a bag of crisps (200 gr, 1000 cals) there's people who easily eat about 4500 calories in a day. Say they need 2400. That's 2100 too many. Or about 3 hours of running. Now if you add some candy and crisps and maybe a bigmac late at night because you're hungry.. Well, you get the picture. If you do not watch what you eat you can exercise all you want and it will not help you.

I agree with this, 'cause I've done it all. As my trainer syas, it's all about portions. Enjoy, just don't go nuts!

I agree diet is far more important than exercise when trying to lose weight. I started on MPF on February 4 and have logged every day since then. For the first 60 days I did basically no exercise. Mostly because I do not like treadmill, etc and the weather was too cold to do anything outside.... During the first two months here I lost 25 pounds or so... So for me food was nearly 100 percent responsible for my loss.....

I did make a promise to myself that when Spring arrived I would add cardio to my regime..... I do biking, hiking, yard work and also my activity level is higher at work as the weather gets nicer..... I agree with the other posters that exercise is important to having a toned fit body... My issue when I started was I was freaking huge.... I just needed weight off... Being toned is something I will work on. It was just not important when you have a huge amount to lose... After reading a lot of articles in the forums I may even add some weight training in the future....

Now for the controversial part.... I do not eat clean... Never have, never will.... I am quite ok with the concept of clean eating.... It is just not for me... I eat nearly the same foods today as I did before I started MFP... Just less quantity and less often.... I even have fast food on occasion.... Peanut buster parfait at DQ last night ..... 700 calories of bliss...... Prior to joining here, I might have fast food three times per day.... So for me it has been a lifestyle change... I hope it continues long after I reach my goals.... My diary is open by the way....

You will hit a stretch where the scale stops moving even though you are eating at a deficit... Just keep eating what MFP tells you and the weight will come off.... I will add this caveat....As long as you use the tools here correctly....

I hope this helps... Take Care and keep the faith... This place has worked well for me.. I wish you all the success as you move to a healthier you.....

I agree with a lot already said, but will go further to say: I've seen some people eat whatever they want food-wise but watch their calorie intake. You don't have to give up certain foods to get in shape. Mind you, you might see faster results if the cals you do eat come from clean and unprocessed foods as opposed to eating sugary cereals and drinking soda - but it won't break you by any means.

If what you are doing is working, I say keep at it!

Food plays a bigger role. I DO exercise, but not as much as I probably should. I've been active on here since January and have had pretty good success with my weight loss (started at 191 and obese, now 141 and considered a "healthy weight.") I have exercised some, but most of it was due to changing how much I eat. I don't eat "clean" (whatever that means to you) though. In fact, I just ate leftover pepperoni pizza for breakfast. *shrug* I eat what I want (in moderation) as long as it fits into my daily goals.

The only exception I see to this is say a person is eating at maintenance but is overweight. Suddenly they start doing 1 hour work outs 6.7 days a week burning 500 calories per workout but continue to eat at maintenance They are going to start losing weight right? They will have to adjust their maintenance calories once they start losing weight but it is inevitable that they will start losing since they are creating a deficit.

Or they can decrease calories by 500 per day and not exercise yet still lose
Like you said,"eat at maintenance".
It's all diet.

Food for weight loss.

Exercise for heart, lung, and cardiovascular health (cardio, interval training) or building and preserving muscle mass (resistance training).

It's far easier to restrict a few hundred calories in your diet than exercise it off.