Exercise or nutrition?

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roz112
roz112 Posts: 77 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How much of an impact does exercise really have on overall weight loss? Do you believe its as important as people say? (speaking strictly about weight loss and fat loss, not health)
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  • TossaBeanBag
    TossaBeanBag Posts: 458 Member
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    It really depends on how much you are eating. A calorie deficit needs to occur one way or another.
  • Uhfgood
    Uhfgood Posts: 128 Member
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    Most people say nutrition is the biggest deal, because it's harder to work off calories than to adjust your diet to be under. It probably depends on how much exercise and what you're doing. If you're a runner or are lifting weights (and packing on muscle) then it's probably a big impact, but for most of us it's going to be the diet. (Which is why I'm going to start jogging soon)
  • njmark72
    njmark72 Posts: 99 Member
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    Exercise helps your body burn more calories. The more you move, the more fit you are the more calories you will burn. Also, the more you exercise the less time you will have to stuff your face.

    Get out and move around. Being healthy isn't only about being at your target weight goal.

    Mark
  • micheleld73
    micheleld73 Posts: 914 Member
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    80% diet, 20% exercise.
  • anachronicles
    anachronicles Posts: 109 Member
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    I've generally heard that in terms of body recomposition it's 80% diet, 20% activity
  • roz112
    roz112 Posts: 77 Member
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    The reason why i ask is because i use to be pretty consistent with going to the gym and doing weights but now that i have an office job im so tired to workout after, if i eat healthy and have a calorie deficit i can still achieve my goals, but it'll just be more difficult?
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    For weight loss it's nutrition. People say to add exercise to help with the deficit and to retain muscle mass because when people say weight loss they mean fat loss.
  • LaurenCheek
    LaurenCheek Posts: 34 Member
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    In my experience, weight loss is almost entirely about nutrition. Keeping close track of my calories and macronutrients (protein, fat and carbs) has been the secret to my 90 pound loss. Exercise, specifically strength training, is helpful in changing the shape of one's body due to increased muscle mass, but its ability to help you lose fat is underwhelming. Cardio exercise will burn calories in the short term, but many people find it just makes you tired and chronic cardio (more than 45 minutes of running, jogging, etc a day) can lead to increased stress hormones (cortisol) which actually can make losing fat harder.

    In order to lose weight, it is SO crucial to maintain a caloric deficit. I would argue it is 90-95% of the equation, with sleep, hydration and exercise playing a significantly smaller role (5-10%).

    I hope this is helpful! Good luck!
  • ithrowconfetti
    ithrowconfetti Posts: 451 Member
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    tumblr_inline_mimsnqkVz91qz4rgp.gif
  • rgauthier20420
    rgauthier20420 Posts: 52 Member
    edited November 2014
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    You've asked 2 questions: weight loss & fat loss. If you're looking for simply weight loss, then do nothing and eat at a deficit and you'll lose weight. If you're looking for primarily fat loss, then adding 3-4 days of heavy weight full body type lifting while eating a deficit is needed to attempt to lose more fat and conserve whatever muscle possible. Granted you're bound to lose some muscle even doing this, but it'll be much less than doing nothing and eating at a deficit. Oh, and YES, I 100% believe that lifting while losing weight will produce a much better result than the latter.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
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    I lost my first 45lbs only counting my calories. I just added exercise in 4 months ago in hopes of toning up all my excess skin and I've also lost another 14lbs since then.
  • roz112
    roz112 Posts: 77 Member
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    How do you know that your weight lifting and workout is strenuous enough? I mean after i workout im exhausted and can barely walk down the stairs but i havent seen any major changes since i stopped working out about 2 weeks ago. Thats why im curious if working out actually makes a difference
  • 13shark77
    13shark77 Posts: 65 Member
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    As for question you stated. Booth are good to keep up. But I don't always eat well, I do like to enjoy a slice of cake here and there. Mater of speaking. Not everyday. I do workout about 3-4 times a week. Nothing wrong in being active. Even if its just walking your doy for an hour. Im sure they love it too!
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
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    It takes time for workouts to start showing improvements. Like for instance, if you do the rowing machine everyday for your cardio it can take 12 weeks before you start seeing results. It can take 4-8 weeks with weight lifting to see results depending on how much of it you're doing. It's never fast.
  • Dawmelvan
    Dawmelvan Posts: 133 Member
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    I've always found that when I've lost weight due to a caloric deficit without working out, I'm thin, but not toned...it's not cute lol. But yes, you CAN lose weight without working out based only on nutrition.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
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    http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/muscle-definition
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    roz112 wrote: »
    How do you know that your weight lifting and workout is strenuous enough? I mean after i workout im exhausted and can barely walk down the stairs but i havent seen any major changes since i stopped working out about 2 weeks ago. Thats why im curious if working out actually makes a difference

    What's your workout?

    If you are tired after work, go before work.

    You can lose weight without exercise, but for overall body comp exercise is critical.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    roz112 wrote: »
    How much of an impact does exercise really have on overall weight loss? Do you believe its as important as people say? (speaking strictly about weight loss and fat loss, not health)

    Your weight loss is going to be largely about your consumption. Exercise simply increases your body's energy (calorie) requirements which can make it easier to adhere to a calorie deficit because you can eat more and accomplish the same things.

    Diet for weight control; exercise for fitness. I've been in maintenance for 19 months + and I train like mad...because of fitness...obviously not trying to lose weight if I'm maintaining.

    Ultimately, you need to separate the two...they work congruently together, but really you should have separate goals for each...you should have independent fitness goals outside of just burning calories or trying to lose weight or whatever. One of the reasons so many people ultimately fail to keep the weight off is that they only think about exercise as a part of weight loss...they fail because they fail to see the bigger picture here. There's so much more to exercise and fitness than weight control.
  • Rambo529
    Rambo529 Posts: 170 Member
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    micheleld73 wrote: »
    80% diet, 20% exercise.

    This^^^
    You can't outwork a crappy diet. The key is to balance between the two, as you eat healthier you have the energy to complete your exercise of choice (not saying you don't eat healthy now as I didn't look at your diary, but I'm pointing out what I've noticed in myself).
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    You can lose weight without exercise, but that doesn't mean you'll end up with the body you think you will.

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