"generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise"

Options
tartansheep
tartansheep Posts: 122 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I've heard that losing weight is " generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/exercise-vs-diet-for-weight-loss_n_5207271.html)

But if I were to burn 500 calories a day through intense exercise, could I still eat 2000 and therefore lose weight? Does exercise count for much at all?

Somewhat confused as to whether I am eating too much or too little

Replies

  • RyanG2106
    RyanG2106 Posts: 29
    Options
    I'd actually say its 0.1% diet, 0.1% exercise and 99.8% mental strength....................
  • yogacat13
    yogacat13 Posts: 124 Member
    Options
    My experience has been that you can't out-exercise a bad diet. As an example, I had a weekend away with my fiance last weekend, complete with amazing meals out, drinks and just one ice cream treat, and despite tons and tons of walking over the time we were away, it will still take me a couple of weeks to get back to where I was beforehand.
  • JoeCampbell85
    JoeCampbell85 Posts: 140
    Options
    My experience has been that you can't out-exercise a bad diet.

    This. Not only that but the time-work-calorie expenditure of exercise is much smaller than people realize and the calorie amounts of food/serving is much more than people realize. You can lose weight doing no exercise with minimal effort; just by reducing calories in. Losing weight by doing nothing but exercising while maintaining a normal western diet would usually take an enormous amount of exercise.
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
    Options
    So, I've heard that losing weight is " generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/exercise-vs-diet-for-weight-loss_n_5207271.html)

    But if I were to burn 500 calories a day through intense exercise, could I still eat 2000 and therefore lose weight? Does exercise count for much at all?

    Somewhat confused as to whether I am eating too much or too little

    If you eat 2000 calories a day and burn 500 (assuming your TDEE is 2000) then you should lose roughly 1lb a week. If you eat 1500 calories and no exercise, you should lose roughly 1lb a week.

    Personally I find it best to do a mix of the two. It's not an exact science and tracking calorie burns can be flawed. But yes, as long as you create a calorie deficit through less food, exercise, or both then you should lose weight.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Options
    Are you thinking that 75% of your deficity has to come from diet and 25% has to come from exercise? Because that is not what that saying means. It means that 75% of your focus needs to be on diet and 25% on exercise. You can create the deficit any way you want--all of it can come from eating less, all of it can come from more exercise, anything in between.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
    Options
    I blogged about this a couple of years ago. Basically the math on exercising your way to lost weight is heavily against you.

    Yes if you were only eating 2,200 calories a day then 500 calories worth of exercise would give you a deficit of some sort (if you are an average or above sized male at least). But people don't get overweight by only eating 2,200 calories a day. That's why the focus has to be on the diet first.

    That said... you absolutely can earn "bonus" calories (for the eating of ice-cream and cake) by adding some exercise to your daily routine.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    Options
    People say that, basically because diet should definitely be your first lookout when it comes to losing weight. Very few people stay trim just eating whatever the hell they like. Though it depends if your goal is to be trim or not. I've heard marathon runners and the like can get away with stuffing themselves quite a bit. But for the average joe the calorie burn of exercise on a normal day isn't enough to give you much leeway.

    It's kind of where i want to be tbh. I want a body that burns so many calories that I can afford to stop counting and just listen to my bodies queues. That's still a long way off for me though. Still starting the C25K program next week so you never know might do well with that.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Options
    Losing weight is about how many calories you consume compared to how many you use each day.

    Exercise is for fitness, heart & lung health, etc. though it factors into how many you burn each day as well.

    Personally I eat at a deficit thru careful weighing, logging of my food. And I make efforts to move more (thru general activity & added exercise) so that my TDEE is not too low. If I lived a sedentary, lazy life (which is natural to me - but I'm working to change that) then I'd only burn a total of ~1700-1800 calories per day. I don't want to live lazily. I want to be active.
  • JoanneLynn
    JoanneLynn Posts: 156 Member
    Options
    I'd actually say its 0.1% diet, 0.1% exercise and 99.8% mental strength....................


    ^^^This!
  • jos05
    jos05 Posts: 263 Member
    Options
    I'd actually say its 0.1% diet, 0.1% exercise and 99.8% mental strength....................


    I have to agree with this person... until you mentally decide to stay on track...you're not going to achieve your goals!

    Diet is the most important part...every time I try to go off and stop counting calories, drink alcohol, or snack ...it catches up to me. But if I stay strong mentally and stay on my diet and exercise routine... the weight comes off! It's all mental strength!

    Good luck!
  • thedarkwombat
    thedarkwombat Posts: 123 Member
    Options
    The problem is, the industry continues to make money off of poor souls who think that an "ab-cruncher" machine = weight loss.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    So, I've heard that losing weight is " generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/exercise-vs-diet-for-weight-loss_n_5207271.html)

    But if I were to burn 500 calories a day through intense exercise, could I still eat 2000 and therefore lose weight? Does exercise count for much at all?

    Somewhat confused as to whether I am eating too much or too little

    I think when people say that its like saying that something is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, it doesn't mean that invention requires that you sweat 99% of the time its just a saying. It isn't meant to be taken as a math equation to be applied literally.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    Options
    In theory, yes, but there's no guarantee that you will have the stamina to burn 500 calories a day (or really a way to monitor your exact burn) so it's better to create the deficit with your diet. Based on the numbers you mentioned, you seem to want to net about 1500 calories a day. I had a lot of success eating 1700-1800 daily and working out 3-4 times a week, without eating the exercise calories back.

Categories