Clean Eating vs Exercise

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Replies

  • TrainerLB
    TrainerLB Posts: 42 Member
    In certain scenarios I'm sure you could have a piece here and there and still achieve a nice physique, but if it's a daily thing and the majority of your calories and nutrients are coming from pizza, I'm going to say possibly no.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    I think clean eating is good and/or important because it helps a person stay under or at their calorie target. I can eat a huge plate of veggies and a piece of lean meat for lower calories than say... a pizza :smile:

    Just because you're lost in the woods isn't to say your compass is broken.
  • kelleybean1
    kelleybean1 Posts: 312 Member
    edited October 2014
    It's really quite simple. Eat less than you burn=weight loss. Exercise increases the amount of your burn so you can eat more and still lose. Eating clean will probably increase the volume of food (depending on your choices and definition of clean eating) and leave you feeling fuller. Also, exercise will tone your muscles making you look better (and smaller). Move more so you can eat more, but stay in a calorie deficit to lose.
  • kc_112
    kc_112 Posts: 98 Member
    Thanks for this thread There is a lot of good info/feedback :)
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    I dont find this clean eating talk positive at all. I think we should concentrate on all things in moderation. i have people on my friends list who freak out when they eat things like pizza, then try and get rid of it.

    I agree with the comments re calorie deficit is what is needed. exercise is an added bonus.
  • Unknown
    edited October 2014
    This content has been removed.
  • sunman00
    sunman00 Posts: 872 Member
    I find the thing about eating clean is that you can eat more of it; pizzas & fast foods are calorie dense so the enjoyment is short lived, & my body definitely feels better when I put good things in it.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    General rule of thumb is that losing weight is 80% about diet and 20% about exercise. How "eating clean" fits into that I don't know. I would think as long as you're getting your daily intake of vitamins, minerals and macros, your diet would be fine (assuming you're also restricting calories to create a deficit)
  • TrainerLB
    TrainerLB Posts: 42 Member
    Let me clarify, if you have a balanced, healthy diet, you will see results in combination with exercise and lifestyle. I'm using the pizza-all-day example as an extreme to indicate excluding the healthy diet factor.

    You can eat pizza! In moderation and balance, mow down. But some people go to the gym and then think mistakenly they can eat it or other junk food very frequently and then don't see results.

    Lemme just say it one more bloody time so I don't get continually crucified: you can eat pizza.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    TrainerLB wrote: »
    @hornsby haha, I really didn't mean to turn this into a debate about the merits of eating pizza. Can we just say that some humans could eat pizza all the time and look great while some cannot?

    I fall into the second category but I totally believe you if you're part of the pizza-all-the-time-crew. I live with one of those. Super jealous. I was just offering advice for the semi-average person who generally can't eat pizza all the time and be hella fit.
    Hehe I think the only reason you might fall into category 2 is if you just LOVE pizza to much and eat too much of it! As in more than 1 - 2 slices at a time... (depending on your calorie allowance).
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    TrainerLB wrote: »
    In certain scenarios I'm sure you could have a piece here and there and still achieve a nice physique, but if it's a daily thing and the majority of your calories and nutrients are coming from pizza, I'm going to say possibly no.

    I think everyone agrees that the majority of your calories and nutrients should not come from pizza, although I'm sure somewhere out there, there is someone who kicks *kitten* in the kitchen and could come up with recipes that would allow a person to eat pizza all day and still get all their macros and micros. But for the average person, no, and no one here is saying that anyone can or should do that.

    What are these "certain scenarios" in which a person could have a piece here or there and still achieve a nice physique? Because it still sounds like you consider eating pizza, even occasionally, and having a nice physique as being mutually exclusive for everyone but a certain subset of people.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    I exercise and lose more when I'm exercising.

    I've heard people say that exercising doesn't make you lose weight, too. I don't know where it came from, but whatever. I thank them for the input, but it's dismissed before they're even done talking.

    Semantics, but exercise doesn't make you lose weight but it helps. Being under your maintenance calories makes you lose weight.
    You can eat over your maintenance calories and still lose weight if you're exercising.

    The idea that losing weight is solely about what you eat is just not true. It gets said a lot. I know that. But it isn't true.

    It's the end result. If you use up more than you take in, you will lose weight, even if you take in more than the numbers say you should.

    No you cant. If you are losing weight it is because you are eating at a deficit or losing water weight.
    I think you're both saying the same thing using different words.
  • JZ_Evolution_Mark2
    JZ_Evolution_Mark2 Posts: 63 Member
    Well it depends on goals... In my opinion most people dont want to just lose weight. They want to lose weight and tone (tighten) their body. That being said I can not disagree more with the idea that exercise is not important.
    Here are my reasons:

    If you are in a caloric deficit you will lose weight (assuming your macros are in order as well). As we all know starving yourself is NOT the way to go as it destroys metabolism.

    Also, exercise fights muscle atrophy. Your muscle exist for a reason. That reason is to move your body. If you never do anything to use them you will not be healthy, strong and could develop other health issues.

    Another thought is that exercise releases stress. The stress of life will affect you. The mind controls the body... thats not just a proverb. Its science. You will release endorphins with exercise... your muscle will release lactic acid... you'll sleep better...

    I could go on and on..

    Also, if you workout as you drop weight you'll tighten that lose skin and look and feel much better.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited October 2014
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    I exercise and lose more when I'm exercising.

    I've heard people say that exercising doesn't make you lose weight, too. I don't know where it came from, but whatever. I thank them for the input, but it's dismissed before they're even done talking.

    Semantics, but exercise doesn't make you lose weight but it helps. Being under your maintenance calories makes you lose weight.
    You can eat over your maintenance calories and still lose weight if you're exercising.

    The idea that losing weight is solely about what you eat is just not true. It gets said a lot. I know that. But it isn't true.

    It's the end result. If you use up more than you take in, you will lose weight, even if you take in more than the numbers say you should.

    No you cant. If you are losing weight it is because you are eating at a deficit or losing water weight.
    I think you're both saying the same thing using different words.

    Possibly.
    You can eat over your maintenance calories and still lose weight if you're exercising.

    The idea that losing weight is solely about what you eat is just not true. It gets said a lot. I know that. But it isn't true.

    It's the end result. If you use up more than you take in, you will lose weight, even if you take in more than the numbers say you should.

    These two things contradict each other so Im not sure exactly what they meant. The first two lines are incorrect by themselves but the last line is correct.
  • Lots of helpful information, don't worry people you can still have your pizza
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    Am I the only one that finds the term "clean eating" extremely annoying?

  • Negative_X
    Negative_X Posts: 296 Member
    Deficit.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    Am I the only one that finds the term "clean eating" extremely annoying?
    annoying and unnecessary
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
    edited October 2014
    If you seek peak fitness and optimal health, you need to exercise both cardio and strength while striving toward proper nutrition. If your goals are a lessor version of yourself, do whatever and be glad for any results you get.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    It's all about calories in vs. calories out. I've heard the saying that you diet to look good in clothes, and you exercise to look good naked. You must have a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. That can be achieved by eating less, or by adding exercise.

    Clean eating won't get you to your goal faster at the same calorie level as other foods. It is/may be (there are some naysayers) better for you, but a calorie is a calorie.

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  • berz82
    berz82 Posts: 100 Member
    msalamun wrote: »
    Yes, as long as you are under your calorie requirements for TDEE (i.e. eating at a deficiet), you will lose weight. Exercise helps burn more calories for faster results. However, without a proper diet, you will soon plateau and will not see the further results you want. You will not get that much lower body fat percentage that shows off those great abs and toned muscles. You CANNOT out-exercise a bad diet! Period. If you have a long way to go, eating "better" (but not "right") and working out will still yield results of a lower number on the scale. However, the closer you are to your goals, the much more important nutrition becomes. Your body NEEDS those nutrients and macros in the right amounts, not only to fuel you body for more vigorous exercise, but also to lose that weight!

    which is why macro nutrients come intoplay the closer you get to your goal?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    kgeyser wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    TrainerLB wrote: »
    @solar_cat that's a great point. Although in my experience most people do one or the other (food or exercise) and then don't really get the result they're looking for. You can train your butt off in the gym, but if you go home and eat pizza you may lose weight, but your body will still be, let's say, less toned.

    But I agree with you.

    So you can't be toned and eat pizza?

    Apparently not. Which is weird, because I eat pizza, and I keep seeing the outline of muscles visible under my skin.

    what happens if you eat pizza AND ice cream....will you never see gainz????????????????
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    Calorie intake (which mostly driven by the number of calories you consume) largely dictates whether you will experience fat loss or not. Its my opinion that eating more real food and less processed foods/science experiments is helpful (without getting into too much detail on this....real foods generally have a lower glycemic index value, meaning they are processed slower...so you stay fuller longer, and they do not cause an insulin spike...meaning more food is processed as energy as opposed to being stored as body fat). Regardless, fat loss comes from a caloric deficit, whatever the foods you're eating. Eating more processed foods will simply require more will power because you'll be hungry more often and less satiated.

    Exercise generally burns fewer calories than you might think (or MFP/a machine might estimate). The burned calories are factored into your caloric deficit, but as reflected in the attached video, its very easy to eat more calories than you realize and there's not a whole bunch you can do to overcome that with exercise. Saying this, exercise has benefits outside of fat loss. It helps with cardiovascular healthy, body composition, etc. ... but, when it comes to fat loss, that's mostly controlled in the kitchen.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbuzsY_34Q
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Do the math and figure out how many calories you need for a small deficit, eat back at least a portion of the exercise calories and tweak as needed. The better you eat (good quality nutritional foods) the better off you will be. Clean eating is a very vague term and means different things to most people. Yes it can be done by exercise or diet alone but when you balance the two I think you will be ahead of the game.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I think clean eating is good and/or important because it helps a person stay under or at their calorie target. I can eat a huge plate of veggies and a piece of lean meat for lower calories than say... a pizza :smile:

    Just because you're lost in the woods isn't to say your compass is broken.

    I eat pretty dirty and I hit my calorie and macro goals..

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    can we define clean for the purpose of this thread?

    are you talking like wash all food in washing machine and then soak it in bleach...?

    or are you just talking rinse it off???
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  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    kgeyser wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    TrainerLB wrote: »
    @solar_cat that's a great point. Although in my experience most people do one or the other (food or exercise) and then don't really get the result they're looking for. You can train your butt off in the gym, but if you go home and eat pizza you may lose weight, but your body will still be, let's say, less toned.

    But I agree with you.

    So you can't be toned and eat pizza?

    Apparently not. Which is weird, because I eat pizza, and I keep seeing the outline of muscles visible under my skin.

    what happens if you eat pizza AND ice cream....will you never see gainz????????????????
    Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. Rookie.

    it was a rhetorical question ....
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    kgeyser wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    TrainerLB wrote: »
    @solar_cat that's a great point. Although in my experience most people do one or the other (food or exercise) and then don't really get the result they're looking for. You can train your butt off in the gym, but if you go home and eat pizza you may lose weight, but your body will still be, let's say, less toned.

    But I agree with you.

    So you can't be toned and eat pizza?

    Apparently not. Which is weird, because I eat pizza, and I keep seeing the outline of muscles visible under my skin.

    what happens if you eat pizza AND ice cream....will you never see gainz????????????????

    I plan on having both tonight, so I will report back, provided my muscles have not liquified and rendered me unable to type.
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