Hello!! Thoughts on the 70% nutrition, 30% gym mentality??

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For weight loss I've heard many talking about how your weight loss should be your #1 focus with gym coming second. What are some of your thoughts??

Im scared I'm hitting another plateau and I really wanted to meet my person goal of 145 by the end of the summer. (I'm a 5"4 ish girl SW: 165 CW:148.1) feel free to add me if you have similar stats or want a support system <3
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Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,619 Member
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    Weight loss is 100% calorie deficit. How you attain that can be just through diet alone or a combination of diet and exercise. Not changing your calorie surplus and just exercising won't work alone.
    Biggest issue with most people who stall in weight loss is because of lack of consistency.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    Weight loss happens in the kitchen. Fitness happens at the gym.

    If your weight loss has stalled, you're not eating in a calorie deficit. Basically, you're eating more than you're burning. The closer you get to your ideal weight, the harder it becomes to lose, simply because the margin for error shrinks along with you.

    Tighten up your logging. If you aren't weighing your food, this could easily be where you're eating more calories than you think you are.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    I don't like it when i hear this. It's my opinion, that you should be putting 100% effort into both your diet and exercise goals. Both are equally important to me.

    1.) for my fitness
    1.) for my weight management

    The 70/30 or 80/20 makes it seem like one is less important than the other for my overall health.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Some people try to separate how many calories you burn from how many you take in, but if you have any sense, you will realize that both things have an impact. You cannot even figure out if you're "in a calorie deficit" if you don't have an idea of how many your burn.

    Everything counts - how much you eat, how much you move, everything.

    They say weight loss happens in the kitchen, but it happens in the pool, too. :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    What would a "70% nutrition, 30% gym mentality" look like? I get that you'd be focusing on nutrition more, but how would that manifest?

    I feel best on days when I get in a few hours of exercise, some of that vigorous, and some of that yoga. I also sleep better. When this happens, it's easier for me to make better food choices. Exercise gets me into a positive cycle.

    Without exercise, I don't get enough calories to eat the way I like to, and this makes me cranky.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    weight management is simply about energy balance...you take in less energy (calories) than you expend, you burn fat to make up the difference...you take in more energy (calories) than you expend, that excess energy is stored as fat (energy reserves) for later use.

    weight management is most efficiently managed through your diet. as an example, i ride a good 60 - 80 miles per week, sometimes more; I lift 2-3 days per week; I usually run a 5K once or twice per week; I walk my dog regularly; I do a little hiking and swimming, etc. I've lost weight, maintained weight, and gained weight doing all of that...the difference between those three weight management objectives wasn't the exercise, it had everything to do with how much I was eating.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    What would a "70% nutrition, 30% gym mentality" look like? I get that you'd be focusing on nutrition more, but how would that manifest?.
    Maybe targeting 70% of your deficit from diet, 30% from exercise.

  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
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    Thanks for all the input! I'm logging literally everything I eat and I usually try to overestimate if I'm not sure of the portion/calorie ratio. Lately I've been almost at an 800 cal deficit (my TDEE is 2200 I've been eating 1400-1700) but I haven't been doing as vigorous of exercises lately
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited August 2015
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss is 100% calorie deficit. ]

    and this
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Some people try to separate how many calories you burn from how many you take in, but if you have any sense, you will realize that both things have an impact. You cannot even figure out if you're "in a calorie deficit" if you don't have an idea of how many your burn.

    Everything counts - how much you eat, how much you move, everything.

    They say weight loss happens in the kitchen, but it happens in the pool, too. :)

    Dont get confused by this
    Weight loss happens in the kitchen. Fitness happens at the gym.
    .

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    That math never works out in practice like it does on paper. There are too many variables that are just estimates. Calories burned is always an estimate even with fitness tracking devices/software. Depending on your skill with counting, calories in can be a small variable or a HUGE variable. I never concern myself with calories burned. I simply pick a reasonable starting number for calories eaten per day/week. I track meticulously for a few weeks. If I lose weight, I can be sure I was in a deficit. If I don't, I either reduce calories or increase weekly activity. I've done this for enough years that I don't even need the trial and error part. I have a very good idea of what calories I lose consistently with, what I maintain on, and what I need to gain lean mass. Never at any point to I attempt to calculate output. I just adjust calories based on results.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,619 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    I don't like it when i hear this. It's my opinion, that you should be putting 100% effort into both your diet and exercise goals. Both are equally important to me.

    1.) for my fitness
    1.) for my weight management

    The 70/30 or 80/20 makes it seem like one is less important than the other for my overall health.
    But if you're talking about weight loss, diet will ALWAYS trump exercise. One doesn't need to exercise to lose weight, but one doesn't lose weight with exercise if they exceed how much they burn everyday.
    I don't disagree that one should do both, but both aren't needed together for weight loss.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    Yes, you most certainly can. Why do you think you can't?

  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Sorry ive read what she wrote and can see the flaw immediately. You can plan based on zero exercise because thats the way mfp is based. You cna also do it the way vismal says and use exercise as a kind of finisher, but on that basis you could use food the same i.e you simply look at whether you increase or decrease over time and adjust accordingly. Ill stick with 100% about the deficit. I dislike the phrases which suggest that exercise and calories burnt via exercise dont matter.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    vismal wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    That math never works out in practice like it does on paper. There are too many variables that are just estimates. Calories burned is always an estimate even with fitness tracking devices/software. Depending on your skill with counting, calories in can be a small variable or a HUGE variable. I never concern myself with calories burned. I simply pick a reasonable starting number for calories eaten per day/week. I track meticulously for a few weeks. If I lose weight, I can be sure I was in a deficit. If I don't, I either reduce calories or increase weekly activity. I've done this for enough years that I don't even need the trial and error part. I have a very good idea of what calories I lose consistently with, what I maintain on, and what I need to gain lean mass. Never at any point to I attempt to calculate output. I just adjust calories based on results.
    ITA about the math not working out the same way for everyone. I know it works out perfectly for some people, but it really doesn't for everyone.

    The amount of exercise you do has something to do with how many calories you burn and therefore, what you weigh.

    A person can mentally dismiss the impact of their exercise, but their body won't.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    Yes, you most certainly can. Why do you think you can't?
    Its not possible. ALL the calculators will use some estimate of how much you burn.

  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
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    I'm not sure that 70/30 or 80/20 means anything. How would you falsify the claimed ratio? It is certainly true that you can lose weight without exercise and that a as a practical matter you can lower CI by more than you can increase CO. But I'm not sure how either statement becomes a ratio.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    Yes, you most certainly can. Why do you think you can't?
    Its not possible. ALL the calculators will use some estimate of how much you burn.
    You're 100% wrong. You don't even need a calculator. All you need is a scale. If you're losing weight, you're in a deficit. If you're not, you aren't. Adjust your intake and/or exercise accordingly. There is absolutely no reason at all, period, why you need to know how many calories you're burning in order to form a weight loss plan. None at all.

    Why is it not possible to know if you're in a deficit and do math and planning without knowing how much you burn? You keep skipping that part.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    You don't have to have any idea whatsoever how many calories you burn to know if you're in a calorie deficit. If your weight goes down over time, you're in one. If is doesn't, you're not. :)
    That's true enough. But you cannot plan it out, doing math and counting calories to eat X amount of food, if you have no idea what you're burning.
    Yes, you most certainly can. Why do you think you can't?
    Its not possible. ALL the calculators will use some estimate of how much you burn.
    You're 100% wrong. You don't even need a calculator. All you need is a scale. If you're losing weight, you're in a deficit. If you're not, you aren't. Adjust your intake and/or exercise accordingly. There is absolutely no reason at all, period, why you need to know how many calories you're burning in order to form a weight loss plan. None at all.

    Why is it not possible to know if you're in a deficit and do math and planning without knowing how much you burn? You keep skipping that part.
    This! Why do you need a calculator at all?