Why exercise and eat more calories? Why not just only eat 12

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Kutty1101
Kutty1101 Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am just asking this in a very simplistic way, hoping to get a supportive evidenced answer. I "think" I know the general answer to this question. (ie: exercise helps build muscle, cardiovascular stregnth, increase metabolism, etc.).....but I have been pretty fir most of my life until the childbearing years. Now I have lost of muscle, but also fat too. I have always had pretty bulky muscles, and now want to just loose weight (while keeping tone) without bulking up.

If I can eat 1200 calories/ day and loose weight without exercise......then why run for 45-60 mins a day, only to have to consume more calories (say 1800?)

I am just fairly confused the more I do this program. I'm just looking for some good rationale. Thanks!

*****Some additional info: Even when I was "fit" and a cross country skier in the Jr Olympics....I was 'thick with muscle'. I also raced competitively on Mountain bike, and was a burly girl. = ( I just wish there was a good way to loose the weight without looking thicker! I already run about 45-60 mins/4-5 times a week. I have shins that buldge out in the front, and don't feel like a girl at all. Now that I am exercising even more....I'm not losing much weight, but just my clothes sizes ARE changing. I was just hoping for a way to look leaner......even though I haven't ever been that way before.

I have looking into getting the Bodybugg...thinking that maybe it would help me better understand how well/poor I burn calories. Maybe I am doing something wrong.
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Replies

  • Furrytreats
    Furrytreats Posts: 132 Member
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    It's good for you. Plain and simple I can't think of a better reason. I think there are a lot of skinny people out there who don't exercise, but I think those are the people that are referred to as "skinny fat".
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    if you eat the 1200 (assuming this is the right amount for you), and don't exercise, you'll drop weight, but have no muscle under. Good health is about more than just being the "right weight" for your age/height/sex it's about keeping your body healthy.

    exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, skeletal system, immune system, your voluntary muscles, and releases the correct hormones and enzymes into your body to keep you strong and healthy.

    The term skinny fat comes to mind with eating at a deficit without exercise.
  • blondie76
    blondie76 Posts: 552 Member
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    if you eat the 1200 (assuming this is the right amount for you), and don't exercise, you'll drop weight, but have no muscle under. Good health is about more than just being the "right weight" for your age/height/sex it's about keeping your body healthy.

    exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, skeletal system, immune system, your voluntary muscles, and releases the correct hormones and enzymes into your body to keep you strong and healthy.

    The term skinny fat comes to mind with eating at a deficit without exercise.

    yup this!! I just fuigured it out!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I am just asking this in a very simplistic way, hoping to get a supportive evidenced answer. I "think" I know the general answer to this question. (ie: exercise helps build muscle, cardiovascular stregnth, increase metabolism, etc.).....but I have been pretty fir most of my life until the childbearing years. Now I have lost of muscle, but also fat too. I have always had pretty bulky muscles, and now want to just loose weight (while keeping tone) without bulking up.

    If I can eat 1200 calories/ day and loose weight without exercise......then why run for 45-60 mins a day, only to have to consume more calories (say 1800?)

    I am just fairly confused the more I do this program. I'm just looking for some good rationale. Thanks!

    Can you say skinny fat. Thin with a high body fat %, not very healthy or attractive.
  • lipt8611
    lipt8611 Posts: 60 Member
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    I, for example, have a few reasons why I exercise. I like feeling strong and having a toned body, which is only accomplished through exercise. If I diet alone, I will get skinny- but will I have toned arms along with it? Probably not. Also, some days I struggle to only eat 1,200 calories (I am awake so early for work and have to eat often throughout the day). By exercising after work, I earn extra calories so I am not always eating a salad for dinner.
  • greeneyed84
    greeneyed84 Posts: 427 Member
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    Exercise helps your body get healthier. I can give you the perfect example: ME! I had elevated BP, very high in my pregnancies, i am only 26 and could hardly run half a mile without being totally out of breath and coughing ( i do not smoke). I am "only" overweight, never been obese. Now, i am fitter, stronger and i can run 2 miles straight without a problem. And my BP is in a great healthy range as well.
    If you work out your body it will thank you, trust me. You will see improvement in your health and shape. We are meant to be active!
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    Because you'll end up "skinny fat" and that isn't a good look. You want to build up that muscle & get toned.
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
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    If you wanted to stay the same weight you are for the rest of your life you would probably eat more around 1800-2000 calories, to lose weight MFP puts you at a deficit of 1200 calories... when you exercise and burn 300 calories then its really like you are only eating 900 calories 1200-300=900 calories.

    900 calories is NOT SAFE and VERY HARMFUL.

    So you must eat those 300 calories back to bring your body to 1200 calories.

    You need to think about work out as not a help to losing weight. Working out is more for strengthening your body not burning calories.

    When you tire your body you must eat to refuel it. Working out tires the body, eating the calories burned back refuels it. don't use exercise as a means to create a deficit in calories, MFP already sets the deficit.
  • bigredhearts
    bigredhearts Posts: 428
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    if you eat the 1200 (assuming this is the right amount for you), and don't exercise, you'll drop weight, but have no muscle under. Good health is about more than just being the "right weight" for your age/height/sex it's about keeping your body healthy.

    exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, skeletal system, immune system, your voluntary muscles, and releases the correct hormones and enzymes into your body to keep you strong and healthy.

    The term skinny fat comes to mind with eating at a deficit without exercise.

    yup this!! I just fuigured it out!!


    Agreed! You most definately want to be healthy and exercise as you lose those lbs!
  • noexcuses1218
    noexcuses1218 Posts: 332 Member
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    Because when the zombies come, it's all gonna be about the cardio. The ones who can't run will be eaten first ;)
  • jfer1977
    jfer1977 Posts: 139
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    if you eat the 1200 (assuming this is the right amount for you), and don't exercise, you'll drop weight, but have no muscle under. Good health is about more than just being the "right weight" for your age/height/sex it's about keeping your body healthy.

    exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, skeletal system, immune system, your voluntary muscles, and releases the correct hormones and enzymes into your body to keep you strong and healthy.

    In addition to this....You need to exercise to keep it off. About three years ago I lost 20lbs just watching what I eat and how much I eat. Then my body got used to my way of eating and I gained 15lbs back before I realized I needed to add in exercise.
  • sarvalfon
    sarvalfon Posts: 58 Member
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    Because looking and feeling lean and toned and healthy once you've lost weight is so much more enticing. Not to mention that if you put in some extra calorie burning during the day, you can have a little extra "treat" every so often. Sooooo worth it!
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
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    if you eat the 1200 (assuming this is the right amount for you), and don't exercise, you'll drop weight, but have no muscle under. Good health is about more than just being the "right weight" for your age/height/sex it's about keeping your body healthy.

    exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, skeletal system, immune system, your voluntary muscles, and releases the correct hormones and enzymes into your body to keep you strong and healthy.

    The term skinny fat comes to mind with eating at a deficit without exercise.

    Exactly! I want to be the healthiest me I possible can be so when I reach my 70s, 80s I will be still able to get up and go. I luv seeing the elderly women in the gym in better shape than I am. It gives me something to strive for.
  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
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    From my understanding its everything you listed health wise. You gain muscle (with burns more calories while your just sitting on your butt...increases weight loss), you overall health becomes better. walking/running has been proven to do things like lower blood pressure etc.

    But for VAIN reasons lol...its to help keep you body from being squishy....which I think mostly depends on the amount of weight loss needed. Having tighter muscles will actually help flatten your stomach vs still being stuck with a pooge (because when your abdominal muscles get weak you can still have a pooge with little fat), it helps everything tone, including things like skin (for those of us who worry about loos skin) because it pulls the skin up and tighter...etc....

    So that's just what I've heard....and the pros (even if not perfectly proven) outweigh the cons to me. :)
  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
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    Because when the zombies come, it's all gonna be about the cardio. The ones who can't run will be eaten first ;)

    LOL :laugh:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It depends on your goal. If your goal is to be thin, then you can achieve that without exercise. If your goal is to be fit, as in lean and healthy, then you must exercise. Personally, I exercise just so I can eat more calories. :bigsmile:
  • ch0c0lati3r
    ch0c0lati3r Posts: 11 Member
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    Exercise also increases your metabolism. Strength training is supposedly really effective because muscles burn fat. Growing up in my teenage years, I would go on a diet to get to my goal weight and look thin but I wished I had exercised. I know personally what skinny fat is.. :) Hope this helps!
  • matwood74
    matwood74 Posts: 111
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    I'm still grasping the concept of this whole thing..... eating more calories when I do alot
    of exercise. It's hard to wrap your head around the idea that if you exercise, you can
    actually eat more and lose weight!!! I exercise every single day, just to ensure that I
    have room in my calorie bank for the day. I always have calories left over!!
  • Kutty1101
    Kutty1101 Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    Even when I was "fit" and a cross country skier in the Jr Olympics....I was 'thick with muscle'. I also raced competitively on Mountain bike, and was a burly girl. = ( I just wish there was a good way to loose the weight without looking thicker! I already run about 45-60 mins/4-5 times a week. I have shins that buldge out in the front, and don't feel like a girl at all. Now that I am exercising even more....I'm not losing much weight, but just my clothes sizes ARE changing. I was just hoping for a way to look leaner......even though I haven't ever been that way before.

    I have looking into getting the Bodybugg...thinking that maybe it would help me better understand how well/poor I burn calories. Maybe I am doing something wrong.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Options
    Even when I was "fit" and a cross country skier in the Jr Olympics....I was 'thick with muscle'. I also raced competitively on Mountain bike, and was a burly girl. = ( I just wish there was a good way to loose the weight without looking thicker! I already run about 45-60 mins/4-5 times a week. I have shins that buldge out in the front, and don't feel like a girl at all. Now that I am exercising even more....I'm not losing much weight, but just my clothes sizes ARE changing. I was just hoping for a way to look leaner......even though I haven't ever been that way before.

    I have looking into getting the Bodybugg...thinking that maybe it would help me better understand how well/poor I burn calories. Maybe I am doing something wrong.

    So really you're asking a different question then right? Are you trying to figure out whether or not to eat your exercise calories? Because that's a different question than whether you should exercise or not (and quite common I might add).

    EDIT: Oh I see, you just added that last part. I thought I was going crazy because I didn't read that the first time. Well, if you're looking to lose lean mass as well as fat, then yeah, extra exercise is probably un-necessary, it's a very unusual request though, which is why it wasn't something we touched on. If you have large muscle mass volumes you want to reduce, then yeah, you'd want to limit your exercise amounts and keep your exercise moderate. It's hard for me to even say that because it's counter to about 99% of what people on here need, but that's the gist of it.

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