Diet or exercise?

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  • GregJennings
    GregJennings Posts: 4
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    I've read articles that say that diet is actually MORE effective for weight control than exercise alone. That said, a 50 minute brisk walk a day is exercise.

    I'd look to your diet. Target 1-2 pounds per week and hang in there! Make sure that you weigh first thing in the morning when you weigh. Most folks say to weigh once per week or once every other week.

    I've found that I have a huge tendency to underestimate the food that I'm eating. You might have to get pretty detailed about it with the kitchen scale and measuring cup and spoons.

    I also made mistakes early on believing the "Calories Burned" on treadmills and such at home and the gym. They are almost always hugely optimistic even when they have you enter your vital stats.

    My answer has been to be very detailed, and conservative, about my food intake and to take 80% of what the monitoring devices report for calories burned. It sounds like double negative cheating or something, but it works for me.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    "A smaller marshmallow is still a marshmallow"

    Losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing.

    I've known this but never seen it put this way. Love it!
  • bethanyfranco1
    bethanyfranco1 Posts: 41
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    I noticed that your profile says you don't want your thighs to touch when you stand. For some people, this is nearly impossible. I am 5'3" and at my lowest (unhealthy) weight of 99 lbs, my thighs still touched. You have to have wide hips and a certain body shape.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
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    What you are doing is perfect. You will lose a lot with time.
  • JerZRob
    JerZRob Posts: 68
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    I noticed that your profile says you don't want your thighs to touch when you stand. For some people, this is nearly impossible. I am 5'3" and at my lowest (unhealthy) weight of 99 lbs, my thighs still touched. You have to have wide hips and a certain body shape.

    It's only a matter of time before they make spanx for thighs. Never understood this new obsession with "thigh gap"
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I've read articles that say that diet is actually MORE effective for weight control than exercise alone. That said, a 50 minute brisk walk a day is exercise.

    I'd look to your diet. Target 1-2 pounds per week and hang in there! Make sure that you weigh first thing in the morning when you weigh. Most folks say to weigh once per week or once every other week.

    At your starting weight, no 2 pounds a week isn't going to happen. 1 pound a week on a regular basis is also very unlikely. You should be aiming for .5 a week. The closer you are to a healthy weight, the slower it comes off, this is going to take patience. Aiming for 2 pounds a week is a bit of a recipe for frustration (and losing too fast may leave you a little mushy).

    as for diet being more effective... yes, your diet (noun, not verb) is going to be the biggest influence on your weight loss, but as others have said, if you just go for pounds lost, you may be losing too much muscle. Incorporating exercise, specifically strength training, will help you hold on to your lean body mass, and you will look better then if you "just" lost weight according to the scale.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    Losing weight is done by creating a calorie deficit. You can do this with just diet alone or you can eat the way you have been but add in exercise. You don't NEED exercise to lose weight. You NEED exercise for health and preserving muscle mass along the way.

    If you only want to lose 14lbs, set your weekly weight loss goal to 0.5lbs per week. Striving for a faster weight loss will not give you enough calories to fuel your body properly and it will increase the amount of your losses that come from muscle especially since you are not exercising. I would have your walking put in as part of your daily activity level or add it as exercise and eat those calories back. You want to net your daily goal.

    It's best to add in some exercise though for health. Your heart and lungs, your muscles, etc. As someone else mentioned, you may not be able to get a thigh gap regardless of how much you diet or exercise. For some people it's just not genetically possible.
  • bethanyfranco1
    bethanyfranco1 Posts: 41
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    I noticed that your profile says you don't want your thighs to touch when you stand. For some people, this is nearly impossible. I am 5'3" and at my lowest (unhealthy) weight of 99 lbs, my thighs still touched. You have to have wide hips and a certain body shape.

    It's only a matter of time before they make spanx for thighs. Never understood this new obsession with "thigh gap"

    ohhh they make spanx for thighs, lol. they ae like bike shorts. they don't do it either. i've lost the thigh gap obsession since i had a baby, though. just want to look not pregnant now.
  • joleenl
    joleenl Posts: 739 Member
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    Yes, you can lose weight by diet alone because weight loss is caused by a calorie deficit.

    Yes, walking is exercise. The problem with walking the same path (time, distance, degree of difficulty) is that your body gets used to it and becomes more efficient so it learns to use less calories to do it over time.

    Being that you don't have much to lose and have been walking that amount for a while, it will be difficult but not impossible to lose weight on diet alone. Your weight loss will probably be very slow, like around 0.5 lbs a week. (Remember weight loss is not a linear process.) The problem you might find with this style of weight loss is that once you achieve your goal your body still might not look the way you want it too. You form and shape your body with exercise, primarily through strength training,

    Whomever said,

    "A smaller marshmellow is still a marshmellow" and "Losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing" is bang on the money! Great quotes!
  • Binkie1955
    Binkie1955 Posts: 329 Member
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    first question - yes (diet over exercise)
    second question - no - calories aren't as meaningful as low carbohydrate methods. cut carbs to under 50 grams of carbs a day. start there. let your appetite dictate your calories but keep your carbs under 50 grams (net) a day.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    "A smaller marshmallow is still a marshmallow"

    Losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing.

    If that is the OP in the profile pic, she looks nothing like a marshmallow and has little fat to lose.

    OP your plan sounds fine. With so little to lose you should expect a slow rate of loss. Just stick to your plan and have patience.
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
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    The only way to lose weight is to have a deficit of calories. Period. You can create calorie deficits in two ways: 1) eating less, and 2) moving more. What choose to do is down to your priorities.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    "A smaller marshmallow is still a marshmallow"

    Losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing.

    <3 it

    explains "Skinny fat" quiet well.
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
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    Not to sound like an *kitten*, but you want to lose more weight by discontinuing exercise? If you want to be 'healthy' while losing weight, yes, you need both. This is a lifestyle...not so much a diet. It's all about eating in moderation and burning some cals. Easy concept. Try switching up your routines...changing your caloric intake...
  • Vivian06703188
    Vivian06703188 Posts: 310 Member
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    I disagree that carbs are more important than calories. I am one of those people who can cut their carbs drastically and have no benefit whatsoever. But I will drop pounds rather quickly controlling my calories. I am disabled and have to restrict my exercise. I do what I can and count that even though what I count most people would not. Exercise is exercise and for me if I do it, it counts. I am a true believer that exercise is important even critical to how you will look as a finished product. I am doing everything for a healthier me with that in mind I take one day at a time.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,634 Member
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    Is it still effective to lose weight with dieting alone and no exercise? I do a brisk walk for 50 minutes 5 days a week, but that's all as it's my journey to and from work each day, will I still lose weight ifI stick to a low calorie diet of around 1200 - 1500? As I have been doing this for about 4 weeks now and lost next to nothing.
    Doesn't look like you have anything left to lose.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,634 Member
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    first question - yes (diet over exercise)
    second question - no - calories aren't as meaningful as low carbohydrate methods. cut carbs to under 50 grams of carbs a day. start there. let your appetite dictate your calories but keep your carbs under 50 grams (net) a day.
    Lol, good thing you didn't ask if she was diabetic or not.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
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    "A smaller marshmallow is still a marshmallow"

    Losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing.

    Ooohh I loved that quote! Such an eyeopener for me :)! Diet AND exercise it is!!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    You're actually right on track!! With only a stone (14 pounds) to lose, a healthy weight loss rate is 1/2 a pound per week. After 4 weeks you've lost 2 pounds (according ot your ticker) so Congratulations!

    Keep eating right and exercising and be patient.
  • grampajimmy
    grampajimmy Posts: 18
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    You bet you will! and you will build muscle where there usedto be fat! The best part is the way you will feel, physically as well as mentally. I walk or Bike (stationary) 5 days a week. Took me a while to build up the stamina to "work out", but now I feel great and I feel good about myself. More is better than lwess, but you must let your body tell you how musch is enought. It knows.

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