Who Is Trying To Lose Weight Just By Counting Calories Alone? And Why?
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There is a local park I used to go to where five laps equal a mile. I would walk three miles and then run the last lap. The first time I barely made it. I started this in March. After a while I was able to increase it to two laps, then three and finally I managed to run a full mile. That took me about a month walking every two or three days. I didn't take the running seriously or call myself a runner until the middle of May.
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How do you guys exercise for 1 hour staright and burn 500 calories.I get tired on my treadmill after 20 minutes no matter how hard I try to push myself.
I had trouble walking a mile at a 4mph pace 7 months ago. I just kept doing it until it got easier. Then just kept adding a half mile, and so on. Now I can do 3 miles easily.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Interesting question, especially coming from someone whose food diary shows a whole bunch of days with only just over 1000 calories logged...0 -
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Edited to remove a mistaken quote.
I'm a strong believer in the benefits of exercise but to be successful in weight loss you need to find something that is maintainable. If someone isn't going to keep walking/running/biking/zumbaing, whatever, xx hours a week, after weight loss, what is the point of doing that during weight loss. For some people, exercise just isn't at the top of the list and that is their choice. Do what you can sustain for the long term, whether that is 20 hours of exercise per week or none or where ever in between.
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »
So true. Since I got my bicycle, the only thing I use my elliptical for is to hold my bike up.0 -
How do you guys exercise for 1 hour staright and burn 500 calories.I get tired on my treadmill after 20 minutes no matter how hard I try to push myself.
Well it's a gradual process.
Rome wasn't built in a day, we don't become experts in our professional field in a week, and we don't get to the point where we can run a treadmill to death without practice!
Just like it takes 3-4 years in university to get a degree, and further training on the job to become good/or reasonably efficient at it, running is the same!
Alot of it is mental as much as it is physical. If I put you in a class full of aeronautical engineer students (Assuming that isn't your industry lol) and expected you to excel in it when your interest and ambitions are say, to be a doctor - you just wouldn't adapt as well, or for most people, they would just fail or just barely scrape by and be absolutely miserable about it. Everyday would be a battle.
When I first started out I couldn't jog for more than a minute without being absolutely winded. I started by walking. The brisk walking. I wasn't sure what my goal was except that I wanted to be able to get to a point I could run around the park at least for a round WITHOUT stopping and WITHOUT getting winded. I downloaded an app to help me with the timing (interval running app - C25K, couch to 5k) and I repeated the weeks as needed if it was going too fast for me.
It took consistency - running 4 days a week. At the beginning it was a struggle to just get up and go out. Laziness, weather, depression, work, school - everything was a reason. Then I just made it a mini goal to get up, and just go out for a stroll AT LEAST even if I didn't want to run, just to take me out of the house and build the habit of waking up and going out for fitness.
Gradually over a year or so later I'm running 4-6 miles a day (depending on my mood) at the crack of dawn because I've actually developed an enjoyment of doing so - the air, the smells, the sights, the jog helps me clear my mind, and I don't even have to force myself. If I don't feel like to run, I just do a nice, easy, steady jog.
And this is the view I reward myself with:
Followed by a full-bodied, super strong Vietnamese coffee (I love kaapi too, but I couldn't find it near where I live) which I recently discovered is as delicious as a good Italian espresso. (SCANDALOUS!)
(This coffee one isn't mine haha but not much too different from how I have it - enjoying the warm morning sun on the porch with the sounds and smell of morning after a fresh shower and endorphins from the workout)0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »[
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
More like "curious", that being said, someone losing weight without exercise is lazy? Judgemental much??
Um, weren't you the one who trotted out the "laziness"?
Um, the OP brought it up in the very first post:bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Well, aren't you amazing?! Congrats on being so perfect from Day One of your weight loss journey!
Some of us mere mortals take things slowly, working on one thing (say, logging all we eat), and when that gets comfortable, adding another (weighing/measuring food) and when that feels good, adding another (exercise).
But you know, I guess because some people don't do it the way you do it, they're doing it wrong.
One day at a time - the best way I reckon! Keep plugging away at it, and keep positive! The only time it's ever "wrong" is if you end up killing your mind, body and spirit overpressurising and overexerting yourself!
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@bcalvanese Why are you so concerned with whether or not a person exercises while losing weight?0
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bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Who said anything about it being a battle? Or a lifelong battle at that? If you make practical choices when planning your meals for the day, you shouldn't be so hungry that you're dreaming about food constantly; if you are, you're doing it wrong. Good choices become habit over time. Once it becomes habit, it's not a battle, if it ever was one to begin with.
And is it worth it? I exercise a lot, but even if I didn't it's worth it. I'd rather be skinnyfat (or a lump on a log as you put it) than typeIII obese with a myriad of health problems.0 -
booksandchocolate12 wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »[
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
More like "curious", that being said, someone losing weight without exercise is lazy? Judgemental much??
Um, weren't you the one who trotted out the "laziness"?
Um, the OP brought it up in the very first post:bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Oops.
I totally misread that and thought it was the OP who I was quoting. My bad and apologies.
ETA - also, I swear that when I frist read this it was written by FatFreeFrolicking. Not sure if my computer is glitchy or if I am losing my mind.0 -
Why? Because they aren't you. Different people have different goals, priorities and ways of doing things. Wouldn't it be a boring world if they didn't? If everyone ate the same foods, exercised the same way, had the same opinions...boring! Boring boards, boring world.
Surely you know someone in real life who doesn't exercise.
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bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Well there are a lot of reasons.
Everyone's situation and life circumstances are different.Sometimes it can be as strange as cultural reasons. For example in Japan exercise is not a norm and women there attain their frames by rigid portion control, the typical diet fads, or just the culture of the way food is eaten there makes it a little more difficult to have your weight out of control. Plus there seems to be the underlying thinking that exercise "bulks" you up and "softness" and "womanliness" is seen as feminine rather than being toned.
Assuming you have a 9-5 job somewhere like most people do, I could be a business owner and look at you and say, "Why? Why put yourself through wage slavery tolling for 9-5, your only hope of a raise or a promotion on the whims of some manager who may or may not "deserve" to be there because they didn't "work as hard as you/everyone else" or had an extra piece of qualification or had daddy's connection or whatever. Why be a slave to the wages making SOMEONE ELSE money, paying off a dead-end mortgage or rent or whatever?"
Everyone does what works for them at the time. It may not be the "best" or most "ideal" scenario for them from your point of view, but life as a journey is different for everyone and it's up to every individual to work out what's best for themselves - provided they are not selfishly affecting/exploiting the people around them by their actions.
Weight CAN be lost without exercise yes, and if it works for them why do you feel the need to judge?0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »[
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
More like "curious", that being said, someone losing weight without exercise is lazy? Judgemental much??
Um, weren't you the one who trotted out the "laziness"?
Um, the OP brought it up in the very first post:bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Oops.
I totally misread that and thought it was the OP who I was quoting. My bad and apologies.
ETA - also, I swear that when I frist read this it was written by FatFreeFrolicking. Not sure if my computer is glitchy or if I am losing my mind.
Why can't it be both?
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bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Well there are a lot of reasons.
Everyone's situation and life circumstances are different.Sometimes it can be as strange as cultural reasons. For example in Japan exercise is not a norm and women there attain their frames by rigid portion control, the typical diet fads, or just the culture of the way food is eaten there makes it a little more difficult to have your weight out of control. Plus there seems to be the underlying thinking that exercise "bulks" you up and "softness" and "womanliness" is seen as feminine rather than being toned.
Assuming you have a 9-5 job somewhere like most people do, I could be a business owner and look at you and say, "Why? Why put yourself through wage slavery tolling for 9-5, your only hope of a raise or a promotion on the whims of some manager who may or may not "deserve" to be there because they didn't "work as hard as you/everyone else" or had an extra piece of qualification or had daddy's connection or whatever. Why be a slave to the wages making SOMEONE ELSE money, paying off a dead-end mortgage or rent or whatever?"
Everyone does what works for them at the time. It may not be the "best" or most "ideal" scenario for them from your point of view, but life as a journey is different for everyone and it's up to every individual to work out what's best for themselves - provided they are not selfishly affecting/exploiting the people around them by their actions.
Weight CAN be lost without exercise yes, and if it works for them why do you feel the need to judge?
You type fast.0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »[
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
More like "curious", that being said, someone losing weight without exercise is lazy? Judgemental much??
Um, weren't you the one who trotted out the "laziness"?
Um, the OP brought it up in the very first post:bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Oops.
I totally misread that and thought it was the OP who I was quoting. My bad and apologies.
ETA - also, I swear that when I frist read this it was written by FatFreeFrolicking. Not sure if my computer is glitchy or if I am losing my mind.
Uh, it was definitely not written by me.0 -
booksandchocolate12 wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »[
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
More like "curious", that being said, someone losing weight without exercise is lazy? Judgemental much??
Um, weren't you the one who trotted out the "laziness"?
Um, the OP brought it up in the very first post:bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Oops.
I totally misread that and thought it was the OP who I was quoting. My bad and apologies.
ETA - also, I swear that when I frist read this it was written by FatFreeFrolicking. Not sure if my computer is glitchy or if I am losing my mind.
Why can't it be both?
Entirely possible .0 -
why do you care? I could care so beyond less what you do with your body.0
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arditarose wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Well there are a lot of reasons.
Everyone's situation and life circumstances are different.Sometimes it can be as strange as cultural reasons. For example in Japan exercise is not a norm and women there attain their frames by rigid portion control, the typical diet fads, or just the culture of the way food is eaten there makes it a little more difficult to have your weight out of control. Plus there seems to be the underlying thinking that exercise "bulks" you up and "softness" and "womanliness" is seen as feminine rather than being toned.
Assuming you have a 9-5 job somewhere like most people do, I could be a business owner and look at you and say, "Why? Why put yourself through wage slavery tolling for 9-5, your only hope of a raise or a promotion on the whims of some manager who may or may not "deserve" to be there because they didn't "work as hard as you/everyone else" or had an extra piece of qualification or had daddy's connection or whatever. Why be a slave to the wages making SOMEONE ELSE money, paying off a dead-end mortgage or rent or whatever?"
Everyone does what works for them at the time. It may not be the "best" or most "ideal" scenario for them from your point of view, but life as a journey is different for everyone and it's up to every individual to work out what's best for themselves - provided they are not selfishly affecting/exploiting the people around them by their actions.
Weight CAN be lost without exercise yes, and if it works for them why do you feel the need to judge?
You type fast.
*snort*
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I've lost 35 lbs in 6 months with no regular exercise. The only routine I have is walking my dog everyday. I average between 4000 and 5000 steps a day.
I will occasionally do a set or two of body weight exercises. I hate pretty much all cardio.
As long as I choose the right foods, I'm not hungry. I don't think this will be a life long battle at all. I'm happy to know that I can easily control my weight by controlling my intake. I'm ecstatic to know that I don't have to commit to hours of working out every day to do it.
I know that exercise in general is good for health, appearance, and physical ability to do more. None of those things are important enough for me, at the moment, to get off my lazy log. Maybe in the future they will be.0 -
I'm lazy. I've always been lazy, and I'll always be lazy. Why do I also have to be fat and lazy? Why do you care enough about it to go out of your way to insult people who are bettering themselves in a way that works for them?0
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Well, aren't you amazing?! Congrats on being so perfect from Day One of your weight loss journey!
Some of us mere mortals take things slowly, working on one thing (say, logging all we eat), and when that gets comfortable, adding another (weighing/measuring food) and when that feels good, adding another (exercise).
But you know, I guess because some people don't do it the way you do it, they're doing it wrong.
Damn right I'm amazing!
And I'll tell you why...
Because I'm a 57 year old man with COPD, minor heart issues, and blood clot issues, who has had major surgery for internal injuries from an auto accident when I was in my 30's, have had major surgery to have about a foot of my colon removed due to diverticulitis, and who couldn't even walk up 2 flights of stairs without getting winded 7 months ago.
Now, I can walk 3 miles at a zone 2/3 cardio pace, and ride my bike 10 miles at a zone 3/4 cardio pace without any trouble.
I think that is pretty freaking amazing.
Do you think I was able to do that by dieting alone?
No... I got my lazy butt up and started doing it, and yes... I am taking it slowly. my goal is 1 pound per week, and I have lost close to 35 pounds so far, and have absolutely no doubt that I will loose the other 40 pounds to reach my goal of 150 pounds within the next year. And by then I hope to be able to walk 5 miles or more, and ride my bike 20 miles or more.
I never said anyone was doing anything wrong. I merely asked the question of why do some people not include exercise in their weight loss.-2 -
I'm mostly just counting calories...and I'm down 35 pounds in the first 2 months. This was largely on the advice of my therapist who thought I should focus on making one set of changes at a time and the reality that at my starting weight, exercise isn't necessary to lose weight. I do walk...mostly to/from the train station to my office during the week but that's about it.0
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How do you guys exercise for 1 hour staright and burn 500 calories.I get tired on my treadmill after 20 minutes no matter how hard I try to push myself.
Who would ever want to spend an hour on a treadmill?! That would be torturous for almost anyone... I bet you could run longer if you got outside. Or did something else to mix it up...0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »I never said anyone was doing anything wrong. I merely asked the question of why do some people not include exercise in their weight loss.
No,no.... you never said they were doing anything wrong. You just called them lazy. That totally implies that you think they're doing something right. *eyeroll*
And you weren't "merely asking a question". You were judging.
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Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Nope.
Lose weight in the kitchen, get fit at the gym.
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bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Erm, nope. And you can't call people lazy and then say you're not saying their doing anything wrong. If you're going to be judgmental, at least be grown up enough to own it.0 -
People have different attitudes and goals.
"Skinny fat" is my goal. I don't like being outside. I don't like exercising. I would like to get my doctor off my back about my weight and fit into an airplane seat comfortably.
If you want to exercise that's great. Feel free. However, I'm thrilled to have found a workable plan where I'm losing weight but I'm not hungry. MFP gives me a way to easily track my food intake and it's working for me.
I see this as a moral failing.
I've been thinking about why. I guess it looks like giving up. I have a very damaged body and I have had long periods of my life when I was absolutely unable to exercise. For me, being able to move again is a gift and I can't imagine just throwing that away like a piece of trash. I've fought so hard to get back to where I am athletically that I can't relate to the desire to sit like a bump on a log on purpose.
It's your life though, so whatever works for you! I imagine that if your doctor knew about how little you move, s/he would get on you about that too.
I want to be the 80-year-old who is still vital, dynamic and out on the dance floor, so I will keep on moving.-1
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