80% food intake VS 20% exercise

Weight loss is 100% food intake... if you want to look like a smaller version of what you currenty look like. Exercise becomes important if you want to change/improve your body shape while you are losing.

Wellll...not exactly. Ultimately, it IS "calories in, calories out" but there are many factors that influence the "calories out" part of the equation. Having lots of lean body mass (males and younger people of both genders generally have more) greatly influences the rate at which you burn calories--even while you are sleeping! "Simple" carbohydrates (read sugar and starch) are immediately available to the gut and raise blood sugar levels further and faster than more "complex" carbohydrates--thus driving the high insulin that causes the high blood glucose to be stored (and guess where it gets stored) rather than burned. Which means that you will get hungry in a short while and want to load up on some more simple carbs. And the cycle continues. There are many other hormones that influence fat storage, fat burning and hunger, such as adiponectin (which relies on adequate levels of serum magnesium) leptin (and almost all obese women are leptin-resistant), and estrogen (high estrogen makes the female body "prefer" to metabolize lean body mass over body fat). Calorie deficits that are too high make the body "think" that it is starving and it cuts calorie burning accordingly. A body that is "starving" (as in a very low calorie diet) will actually cannibalize muscle at an increased rate over body fat because maintaining muscle is very "expensive" as opposed to maintaining body fat. Eating at a small deficit is very difficult to judge but exercise makes the difference because it does two things 1) it gives you a higher "expense account"--it gives you a bit more "wiggle room" on the calories and 2) it helps to maintain lean body mass (in addition to burning calories at an increased rate while exercising). I would hate to try to lose body fat without exercise. I've tried it before and IT DOES NOT WORK in the longer term--and after all, what is the point of losing body fat if you are just going to pile it back on when you go to "normal" eating? Without exercise, you will not maintain. All it takes is a miscalculation of 100 calories to put on 50 pounds in five years. And that 100 calories is very difficult to judge unless you are very anal about weighing every morsel. In addition, that assumes that everything remains exactly the same and the body is constantly changing.

Yes exactly...

note* please use paragraphs next time.

I see what you did and it was obnoxious (and against the rules of this site to pick at someones literary style). As I said before I was rudely addressed--it is ultimately "calories in-calories out" . BUT there are many things that influence calories out and exercise is a very important part of that influence.

oh what did I do ?

Disagree with you? okay I still disagree...weight loss is 100% intake...regardless of how our bodies metabolize those calories. Marcro nutritional health and exercise is for cardio/bone/muscle health.

As for attacking someone's literary style is not against ToS, nor did I attack but rather made a valid suggestion for all others who may consider reading some of your future posts as that one was very difficult to get through.

a) Do not attack, mock, or otherwise insult others. You can respectfully disagree with the message or topic, but you cannot attack the messenger. This includes attacks against the user’s spelling or command of written English, or belittling a user for posting a duplicate topic.

"...I still disagree...weight loss is 100% intake...regardless of how our bodies metabolize those calories. Marcro nutritional health and exercise is for cardio/bone/muscle health..."

Anyone can restrict calories to the point where body mass is lost but maximizing fat loss requires a bit of thought, finesse and working toward minimizing the loss of lean body mass. What is it about that you don't understand or are you simply wanting to stir the pot?

Thanks for the reminders everyone of me having to not only just eat healthy but the exercising portion is just as important. Hard to get a good balance when my work demands 60-78 hrs a week infront of a computer, but I'll just have to find the time somewhere. Thanks to all who posted, I appreciate the advice and the knowledge put forth.

My coworkers have a standing desk and a stepper. Problem solved for cardio.

Unfortunately with the situation I'm in, I get a desk that is given to me, I can't ask for a certain type, not only that but everything that comes in to my worksite goes through security. Long story but that wouldn't work.