Whats more important diet or exercise?
Replies
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You guys are forgetting that diets are unsustainable long-term no matter how "reasonable" they may seem. People eventually fall to temptation no matter what - I mean honestly, how many people do you guys know who lost a lot of weight actually kept it off for years? Even if they kept the bulk of it off i can guarantee that they did eventually regain some of their weight and if they didn't, they are adhering to a regular exercise regimen.0
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You guys are forgetting that diets are unsustainable long-term no matter how "reasonable" they may seem. People eventually fall to temptation no matter what - I mean honestly, how many people do you guys know who lost a lot of weight actually kept it off for years? Even if they kept the bulk of it off i can guarantee that they did eventually regain some of their weight and if they didn't, they are adhering to a regular exercise regimen.
I think you mean "calorie deficit", not "diet". Diet just means you choose your food for a purpose rather than having no control.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my diet, why would this be unsustainable.
If you aren't enjoying your diet, I think you are doing it wrong.0 -
how much you weight: diet
How you look at said weight: exercise0 -
It's no harder to maintain a reasonable caloric deficit than it is to maintain a reasonable exercise program. Both require dedication, commitment and self-discipline. I see just as many people fall off the exercise wagon as people who fall off the calorie deficit wagon. For many people it's more difficult to find/make the time to exercise than it is to eat.Even a reasonable caloric deficit is hard to maintain - the only people who can keep trim are those who maintain a regular exercise program.
If you're speaking solely of your personal experience/struggles, that's one thing; if you're putting it forth as a broad generalization which applies to everybody, it's presumptuous and invalid.
[ETA:] From looking at some of your prior posts, I can see why you've had trouble maintaining a caloric deficit:My goal is to lose as much fat as possible in 2 months - I've down excessive running + 1200 cal diet before, PSMF, and crash fasting diets and while I can usually get the weight down as much as 15 lbs in 3-4 weeks, I end up regaining everything and sometimes more... so this time I want to do it right but still fast!
No wonder you find a caloric deficit so difficult to maintain. That's why I specifically refer to a reasonable caloric deficit. 1200 calories and/or crash fasting diets are not reasonable - nor sustainable.Trust me - I used to run 8-13 miles 3x a week on 1200 net calories with mostly carbs and the weightloss stalled after 2 months.
You also seem to agree that exercise programs are just as difficult to sustain and require dedication:I like running and lifting - it's just I overdo them and get burned out and stop after a few months (my longest lifting stint was 8 months, running like 4)0 -
It's no harder to maintain a reasonable caloric deficit than it is to maintain a reasonable exercise program. Both require dedication, commitment and self-discipline. I see just as many people fall off the exercise wagon as people who fall off the calorie deficit wagon. For many people it's more difficult to find/make the time to exercise than it is to eat.Even a reasonable caloric deficit is hard to maintain - the only people who can keep trim are those who maintain a regular exercise program.
If you're speaking solely of your personal experience/struggles, that's one thing; if you're putting it forth as a broad generalization which applies to everybody, it's presumptuous and invalid.
Well think about this for a second.
A calorie deficit is, by definition, not sustainable forever. You wind up dying.0 -
Well think about this for a second.
A calorie deficit is, by definition, not sustainable forever. You wind up dying.
Pedantic, but true. Which is exactly why I said, in an earlier post:
One does not need to, nor should they, sustain a deficit "forever". One needs to sustain it until their goals are met (and adjust it along the way to ensure that the deficit remains reasonable), at which point they would adjust their intake to meet whatever goals they have (maintenance, recomposition, bulking, etc.).t depends upon what you mean by "diet". If you're talking about a short-term, unsustainable fad/crash diet, I agree. If one is talking about "diet" in the sense of creating a reasonable caloric deficit and adjusting it according to results and desired goals as time goes on, that's not necessarily the case at all.0 -
Well think about this for a second.
A calorie deficit is, by definition, not sustainable forever. You wind up dying.
Which is exactly why I said, in an earlier post:
One does not need to, nor should they, sustain a deficit "forever". One needs to sustain it until their goals are met (and adjust it along the way to ensure that the deficit remains reasonable), at which point they would adjust their intake to meet whatever goals they have (maintenance, recomposition, bulking, etc.).t depends upon what you mean by "diet". If you're talking about a short-term, unsustainable fad/crash diet, I agree. If one is talking about "diet" in the sense of creating a reasonable caloric deficit and adjusting it according to results and desired goals as time goes on, that's not necessarily the case at all.
Sorry lol, lack of sleep is affecting my reading comprehension. We seem to be in agreement. How boring!
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Yes but did you notice that I did say that exercise plus diet helped maintain my crash diet results far better than dieting alone? When I don't exercise I can only hold onto weight loss for a couple months at max. So considering exercise can help me maintn crash diet results for 8 months or longer, imagine the maintainence on a more reasonable diet?
It's no harder to maintain a reasonable caloric deficit than it is to maintain a reasonable exercise program. Both require dedication, commitment and self-discipline. I see just as many people fall off the exercise wagon as people who fall off the calorie deficit wagon. For many people it's more difficult to find/make the time to exercise than it is to eat.Even a reasonable caloric deficit is hard to maintain - the only people who can keep trim are those who maintain a regular exercise program.
If you're speaking solely of your personal experience/struggles, that's one thing; if you're putting it forth as a broad generalization which applies to everybody, it's presumptuous and invalid.
[ETA:] From looking at some of your prior posts, I can see why you've had trouble maintaining a caloric deficit:My goal is to lose as much fat as possible in 2 months - I've down excessive running + 1200 cal diet before, PSMF, and crash fasting diets and while I can usually get the weight down as much as 15 lbs in 3-4 weeks, I end up regaining everything and sometimes more... so this time I want to do it right but still fast!
No wonder you find a caloric deficit so difficult to maintain. That's why I specifically refer to a reasonable caloric deficit. 1200 calories and/or crash fasting diets are not reasonable - nor sustainable.Trust me - I used to run 8-13 miles 3x a week on 1200 net calories with mostly carbs and the weightloss stalled after 2 months.
You also seem to agree that exercise programs are just as difficult to sustain and require dedication:I like running and lifting - it's just I overdo them and get burned out and stop after a few months (my longest lifting stint was 8 months, running like 4)0 -
Whoa.0
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Both ultimately, but some depends on your personality and current diet. If current diet good, then exercise probably more important than the minor improvements. But if the diet + exercise are poor, I would start with diet first.
I try to work on both. But there are days when I've known that I'm not set up for success with food prepped in food I will forgo an exercise session to get myself ready for the week with meals prepped. Means food sorted for next 3-4 days and it is easier to get to gym/go out for run.0 -
For health and fitness, both.
To lose weight, diet. You can't lose weight without a deficit.0 -
It depends on the person. For me, I can easily stay within an appropriate calorie range if I work out. If not, then it's a struggle.
For people with a large amount of weight to lose, it probably hinges more on how much you eat, since you've been at a larger calorie surplus. For people like me just looking to shed a few pounds, working out several times a week with no change in diet may be all that's needed.0 -
I know they go with one another but for a begginer starting out do you think its more important to start improving their diet or start with exercise? again I know ultimately you need both but where is a good starting point to help see results and build up that motivation and desire to hit it hard
I started with diet and when I felt a little more body confident I started a small work out and built it up. I lost a lot of weight at the begining and felt great then when I added in my exercise my weight doesn't come off so quick but what I can physically do is improving every week but I'm at a point where I am no longer embarassed about how I look so I can really enjoy my work outs0 -
I started with exercise as I always found it hard to change my diet in the past. After 2 months it gave me a kick to change my diet as I was seeing results but very, very slowly with just exercise.0
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I've actually been doing a 3 month study for my final dissertation and it's come down to this after talking to many medical professionals: diet really matters. It really matters what you put into your body as far as the restriction of calories go and what type of nutrients you're getting. Most medical professionals also agree that yes, exercise can really help but it is mainly for changing your physique.0
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The results from a reasonable diet would be irrelevant. All the metabolic damage caused by the crash dieting is why you regain the weight, it has nothing to do with exercising. Someone who maintains a healthy, reasonable deficit will not suffer the same metabolic and hormonal damage that you do, and thus will not have to worry about regaining the weight.Yes but did you notice that I did say that exercise plus diet helped maintain my crash diet results far better than dieting alone? When I don't exercise I can only hold onto weight loss for a couple months at max. So considering exercise can help me maintn crash diet results for 8 months or longer, imagine the maintainence on a more reasonable diet?
It's no harder to maintain a reasonable caloric deficit than it is to maintain a reasonable exercise program. Both require dedication, commitment and self-discipline. I see just as many people fall off the exercise wagon as people who fall off the calorie deficit wagon. For many people it's more difficult to find/make the time to exercise than it is to eat.Even a reasonable caloric deficit is hard to maintain - the only people who can keep trim are those who maintain a regular exercise program.
If you're speaking solely of your personal experience/struggles, that's one thing; if you're putting it forth as a broad generalization which applies to everybody, it's presumptuous and invalid.
[ETA:] From looking at some of your prior posts, I can see why you've had trouble maintaining a caloric deficit:My goal is to lose as much fat as possible in 2 months - I've down excessive running + 1200 cal diet before, PSMF, and crash fasting diets and while I can usually get the weight down as much as 15 lbs in 3-4 weeks, I end up regaining everything and sometimes more... so this time I want to do it right but still fast!
No wonder you find a caloric deficit so difficult to maintain. That's why I specifically refer to a reasonable caloric deficit. 1200 calories and/or crash fasting diets are not reasonable - nor sustainable.Trust me - I used to run 8-13 miles 3x a week on 1200 net calories with mostly carbs and the weightloss stalled after 2 months.
You also seem to agree that exercise programs are just as difficult to sustain and require dedication:I like running and lifting - it's just I overdo them and get burned out and stop after a few months (my longest lifting stint was 8 months, running like 4)
In other words, your issues are caused 100% by YOUR DIET, not by whether you exercise or not.0 -
From personal experience (70lb lost). To begin with a moderate amount of exercise (walking etc) was the first step i took. Once that became habit i tweaked my diet (cut down sugar and started eating salad for lunch).
Once that became habit i upped my exercise (resistance training), then once that habit was in place adjusted my diet again. (healthier main evening meal, minimizing "treats")
its been 2 years now of incremental adjustments, at no point has it become depressing (quite the opposite). at no point has it been too hard, yeah i had the odd curry the odd pizza. yeah my weight plateaued occasionally but you know what...
I can squat 110kg and deadlift 130kg. I can run a half marathon. I am in the best shape of my life.
Is diet more important that exercise no...
Is Exercise more important than diet no...
But getting them balanced to work around your life that is the key. and adjusting slowly has given me better results than i ever thought I could.
Just saying0 -
My first attempt at becoming less fat involved increasing my exercise without dieting. I was able to loose 12.5kg/28lbs and then reached a plateau. This also required a high level of exercise and a big time committment. As soon as my personal circumstances changed and I could not give that much time to exercise the weight went back on.
Following reports from a colleague at work that he had slimmed considerably from dieting alone I decided it was time to try. What I found is that as I lost weight from dieting I naturally felt more energetic and and took up more opportunities for exercise.Ok I just noticed that u said beginners - yeah diet is most important but ur gonna regain all the weight and more once u get off the diet. Trust me, I've been doing this yo-yo dieting junk for 9 years I know what works and doing it through diet alone is a short-term, unsustainable way to lose weight.
The key phase there is "once you get off the diet". If you're luckly enough that following your instincts with regard to what to eat and exercise to take leads to being slim and healthy then fine but I'm guess you're not like that as otherwise why would you be here? Whatever change you make to your lifestyle, both to diet and exercise has to be for the long term.0 -
And the evidence? Isn't it upward of 80% of people who lose weight regain it. It is natural for us to store fat because our bodies were designed for long periods of fasting as a result of insecure food supplies. What I am saying is that the majority of people will eventually cave in and start eating badly and regain weight - the only way to counter-act this change is to exercise. Ignore my own experiences because they may be at the extremes of diet/exercise, but the statistics don't lie. Most people who lose weight through dieting will regain it. Period. However, the majority of people who have a regular exercise regimen do not suffer from obesity, revealing which has the greatest value in terms of long-term weight-loss.My first attempt at becoming less fat involved increasing my exercise without dieting. I was able to loose 12.5kg/28lbs and then reached a plateau. This also required a high level of exercise and a big time committment. As soon as my personal circumstances changed and I could not give that much time to exercise the weight went back on.
Following reports from a colleague at work that he had slimmed considerably from dieting alone I decided it was time to try. What I found is that as I lost weight from dieting I naturally felt more energetic and and took up more opportunities for exercise.Ok I just noticed that u said beginners - yeah diet is most important but ur gonna regain all the weight and more once u get off the diet. Trust me, I've been doing this yo-yo dieting junk for 9 years I know what works and doing it through diet alone is a short-term, unsustainable way to lose weight.
The key phase there is "once you get off the diet". If you're luckly enough that following your instincts with regard to what to eat and exercise to take leads to being slim and healthy then fine but I'm guess you're not like that as otherwise why would you be here? Whatever change you make to your lifestyle, both to diet and exercise has to be for the long term.0 -
And the evidence? Isn't it upward of 80% of people who lose weight regain it. It is natural for us to store fat because our bodies were designed for long periods of fasting as a result of insecure food supplies. What I am saying is that the majority of people will eventually cave in and start eating badly and regain weight - the only way to counter-act this change is to exercise. Ignore my own experiences because they may be at the extremes of diet/exercise, but the statistics don't lie. Most people who lose weight through dieting will regain it. Period. However, the majority of people who have a regular exercise regimen do not suffer from obesity, revealing which has the greatest value in terms of long-term weight-loss.My first attempt at becoming less fat involved increasing my exercise without dieting. I was able to loose 12.5kg/28lbs and then reached a plateau. This also required a high level of exercise and a big time committment. As soon as my personal circumstances changed and I could not give that much time to exercise the weight went back on.
Following reports from a colleague at work that he had slimmed considerably from dieting alone I decided it was time to try. What I found is that as I lost weight from dieting I naturally felt more energetic and and took up more opportunities for exercise.Ok I just noticed that u said beginners - yeah diet is most important but ur gonna regain all the weight and more once u get off the diet. Trust me, I've been doing this yo-yo dieting junk for 9 years I know what works and doing it through diet alone is a short-term, unsustainable way to lose weight.
The key phase there is "once you get off the diet". If you're luckly enough that following your instincts with regard to what to eat and exercise to take leads to being slim and healthy then fine but I'm guess you're not like that as otherwise why would you be here? Whatever change you make to your lifestyle, both to diet and exercise has to be for the long term.
I can ignore everything but the lack of critical thinking in your reasoning.
If you select a group of people who consistently exercise, you've selected a group of people making an effort to look after themselves. In other words a group very likely to make better food choices.
I think you should take your own failings as a sign that you need to take some of the advice you get, an maybe think twice about handing any out.0 -
I managed to regain some (about 20lbs) of my lost 9st despite keeping up with my running/exercising because I lost focus with the food. What you eat is really more important if staying in a healthy weight range is important to you.
As a beginner, I'd say address your diet first but don't go for any super-crazy dramatically fast, big-deficit plans. Just make each food choice a better one. you will start to see the weight coming off which is encoraging and will make you want to keep going. Start thinking about how you can do more exercise than you currently do. this doesn't mean launching into anything extreme, just build in a few extra walks a week. Then build on that.
The feeling you get from being fitter and healthier will carry you on to make better choices, and (in my case anyway) the more active I got the better I felt, so I got more active. I went from 20st couch potato to somebody that runs about 20 miles a week and generally enjoys being active in a variety of ways.
But start with your food. You'll get there in the end!0 -
DIET.0
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What you said also supports the reality that people who exercise generally eat better, along with burning calories and building muscle that contribute to long-term weight-loss! I just started my cardio/IF plan - and am not going to stop exercising after I reach my goal because I realize after years of dieting that the only thing that has kept my weight down has been running.And the evidence? Isn't it upward of 80% of people who lose weight regain it. It is natural for us to store fat because our bodies were designed for long periods of fasting as a result of insecure food supplies. What I am saying is that the majority of people will eventually cave in and start eating badly and regain weight - the only way to counter-act this change is to exercise. Ignore my own experiences because they may be at the extremes of diet/exercise, but the statistics don't lie. Most people who lose weight through dieting will regain it. Period. However, the majority of people who have a regular exercise regimen do not suffer from obesity, revealing which has the greatest value in terms of long-term weight-loss.My first attempt at becoming less fat involved increasing my exercise without dieting. I was able to loose 12.5kg/28lbs and then reached a plateau. This also required a high level of exercise and a big time committment. As soon as my personal circumstances changed and I could not give that much time to exercise the weight went back on.
Following reports from a colleague at work that he had slimmed considerably from dieting alone I decided it was time to try. What I found is that as I lost weight from dieting I naturally felt more energetic and and took up more opportunities for exercise.Ok I just noticed that u said beginners - yeah diet is most important but ur gonna regain all the weight and more once u get off the diet. Trust me, I've been doing this yo-yo dieting junk for 9 years I know what works and doing it through diet alone is a short-term, unsustainable way to lose weight.
The key phase there is "once you get off the diet". If you're luckly enough that following your instincts with regard to what to eat and exercise to take leads to being slim and healthy then fine but I'm guess you're not like that as otherwise why would you be here? Whatever change you make to your lifestyle, both to diet and exercise has to be for the long term.
I can ignore everything but the lack of critical thinking in your reasoning.
If you select a group of people who consistently exercise, you've selected a group of people making an effort to look after themselves. In other words a group very likely to make better food choices.
I think you should take your own failings as a sign that you need to take some of the advice you get, an maybe think twice about handing any out.0 -
You need both equally, you cannot eat bad and then 'work it off' or eat very healthy but expect to lose fat and gain muscle without exercising.
You need both to get the best and healthiest results.0 -
I know they go with one another but for a begginer starting out do you think its more important to start improving their diet or start with exercise? again I know ultimately you need both but where is a good starting point to help see results and build up that motivation and desire to hit it hard
Funny I see this today. While I was at work today the doc kept saying that "diet is more important. You can work out all you want, but until you eat less food you will not really loose the weight."0 -
Diet.0
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Both
But if I had to pick.....diet is 80% ....exercise 20%0 -
From personal experience (70lb lost). To begin with a moderate amount of exercise (walking etc) was the first step i took. Once that became habit i tweaked my diet (cut down sugar and started eating salad for lunch).
Once that became habit i upped my exercise (resistance training), then once that habit was in place adjusted my diet again. (healthier main evening meal, minimizing "treats")
its been 2 years now of incremental adjustments, at no point has it become depressing (quite the opposite). at no point has it been too hard, yeah i had the odd curry the odd pizza. yeah my weight plateaued occasionally but you know what...
I can squat 110kg and deadlift 130kg. I can run a half marathon. I am in the best shape of my life.
Is diet more important that exercise no...
Is Exercise more important than diet no...
But getting them balanced to work around your life that is the key. and adjusting slowly has given me better results than i ever thought I could.
Just saying
Well said. Definitely incorporate both to look and feel your best. I still have a good chunk of weight to lose, but making gradual dietary changes and adding in more and more exercise has me in a smaller clothing size than when I was at this weight before, and feeling better and stronger than I have in years. Couldn't be going this direction without good nutrition (with a calorie deficit) and plenty of exercise.0 -
Diet.0
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I would say diet, personally. It's not impossible, but it is quite difficult, to out-exercise a bad diet!
I always recommend people change their diet slowly though. Not go for a "diet" but to make overall lifestyle changes that are healthy and sustainable for the long term. Slowly but surely - it doesn't create the quickest initial body changes, but that sustainability bit makes a huge difference over a long period of time!
^This!0
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