Diet vs exercise

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ashleyminc
ashleyminc Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The age old question, diet or exercise for best results. I know either or can provide success and both combined provide even better results. I want to know what your experience has been based on the above. What has worked best for you?
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Replies

  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    definitely eating at a caloric deficit. Exercise helps me maintain that deficit and stay moving and healthy and allow me to eat a bit more than if I didn't but absolutely 100% diet is key.
  • CricketClover
    CricketClover Posts: 388 Member
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    I like to combine the two so that I can eat a bit more, also I think that some form of resistance training is good, not necessarily for losing the pounds but to retain lean muscle and look better once the flab is gone! I am preaching to my own choir right now, I have been more focused on the diet aspect (even then not as well as I need to).
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    Diet.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    For me, doing both is by far the easiest and most enjoyable way, but you can lose just by controlling your diet, and you can similarly lose by being careful not to increase calories but increasing exercise (although the latter is usually more challenging and slower).
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Diet. I lost more weight through diet than exercise. That being said, I like exercise and when I do it I get to eat more since I've burned more calories. If you are just starting out I suggest getting a handle on diet first. Once you get a couple of weeks of logging and eating at reduced calories I would then add exercise if you are so inclined.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I did both, but it was far easier for me to eat 1000 calories less per day than to burn a legit 1000 a day.
  • amytorr19
    amytorr19 Posts: 25 Member
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    I do both.. mostly diet, I workout for 1/2 an hour everyday. I am a busy mom of 2, I try to get more exercise in when i can.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Weight loss requires that you eat less than you burn. I am a big believer in the saying, "You can't out exercise a bad diet." That said, walking five miles a day helps me by enhancing my mood, suppressing my appetite and giving me a little wiggle room for an occasional treat. Strength training, while increasing my appetite, helps me to retain muscle mass and remain strong and healthy. Since I am motivated to lose weight by my health, fitness is a necessary component for my journey. But for just seeing the number go down on the scale, you can do it much faster by decreasing your calorie intake than by increasing your calories burned with exercise.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited October 2015
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    You can't out exercise a bad diet

    In fact in general if you exercise you need to eat more, and feel more hungry so do...even if you're eating "healthy"

    So really it's 90% diet
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Diet for weight loss; exercise for fitness. I eat all my calories burned by exercise.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
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    Diet will always trump anything you can do in the gym for fat loss.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    If you mean fitness, then both are important. If you mean simply fat loss, then it could be either or both. Whatever method keeps you in a calorie deficit.

    Personally, I would never stick to as few calories as I'd need to eat without exercise, which makes exercise very important for my weight loss.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Diet to loose weight... Fitness is for life...
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Diet for weight loss, exercise for the win. This is not an either-or proposition. I can tighten up on my calories best I can but it can take a month or more for the results to show. When I increase my exercise, I see results in days. I am stronger, more flexible, with greater endurance and a skip in my step.

    I do temporarily increase water weight from exercise. But exercise feels better than restricting calories.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    If you mean fitness, then both are important. If you mean simply fat loss, then it could be either or both. Whatever method keeps you in a calorie deficit.

    Personally, I would never stick to as few calories as I'd need to eat without exercise, which makes exercise very important for my weight loss.

    Exactly this.

    For me, exercise is very important. LISS cardio gives me extra calories and suppresses my appetite. I could lose weight without exercise but nobody would want to be around me because I'd be a terribly unhappy person.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    diet/nutrition so i can stay healthy and lose weight, but exercise so i can eat more food and be happy not hangry
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Both, of course!

    You don't have to do both, but it's helpful and healthier to do both. :)
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    hamlet1222 wrote: »
    Diet will always trump anything you can do in the gym for fat loss.

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  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    calorie deficit for weight loss, resistance training for strength, and cardio for endurance.

    While strength training and cardio contribute to the deficit they aren't required and for me make up ~20% of my total deficit so in the grand scheme of things they only play a minor role in weight loss for me.

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