Diet vs exercise
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Diet to lose weight. Exercise is not necessary for weight loss. All of mine was done without exercise! I am, by nature, lazy, and with heavy asthma, exercise was hard because my lungs would give out long before the rest of my body. So I focused on adjusting my calories in first. In January, i took a walking class for my phys ed credit, and that helped me at least get into walking. I will probably never be a marathon runner, but at least I can walk the same speed and distance my husband does when he goes for a walk, and that's what counted for me! But my weight loss was done entirely by watching my calories in, so any calories earned from exercise are bonus. And normally used for Pocky and can of soda. XD
Losing weight is all about burning more calories than you consume. You can do that by adjusting your calories you consume with your diet, by adding exercise and burning more, or a combination of the two. Most people go for option three, but all three options are perfectly valid. Granted, exercise is good for other reasons, like keeping your heart and lungs in shape so you'll be healthy for longer, but if you don't want to or can't exercise, you can still lose weight.0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, if you walked 30 miles everyday I suppose you could eat whatever you wanted. There is an exception to every rule.
I just don't know of too many people that have time to run over a marathon everyday. At my 3 mph pace that would only take me 10 hours everyday. But hey, I could be eating pizza as I'm walking. 0 -
Both. I do exercise because it's good for my heart/overall health. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that I also exercise so I can eat that mini-Snickers bar in the evening, or the pizza on the weekend. No, I don't get all the pizza calories back in exercise, but even adding in 200 gives me some wiggle room.0
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I put calorie counting at the center & just use exercise activity or macronutrient ratios to 'boost' things more in my favor. The exercise calories give me better deficits & the protein grams I eat help me feel satiated longer and preserve my lean muscle mass as much as possible. But with out a solid working game plan on the calories my weight would maintain or gradually increase, it's that simple.0
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Exercise helps health but the ONLY way I drop pounds is with reduced eating plan. I had gastric bypass 13 yrs. ago and lost from 252 to 152 in 6 months. After first year you must exercise to maintain and eat 5-6 small meals with really balanced nutrients to keep from gaining again. So many people think this surgery is a free pass but I must keep a mindful eating plan all the time to keep from going up again. MyFitnessPal helps me SO much because it is too easy for me to eat mindlessly. I am 73, diabetic since 1992, and my husband and I try to walk at least 30 min a day, and often walk for an hour or more 4 times a week. Th effort never ends.0
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Exercise is important for the body, very important, but it's not all that important for weight loss. being very active in the gym or whereever you do your exercise will most certainly speed up your way to a healthy body but eating right and eating under but near your daily calorie requirements will make you lose pounds.
I think diet is absolutely 100% required, and exercise is preferred but not a requirement to lose weight.
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I put calorie counting at the center & just use exercise activity or macronutrient ratios to 'boost' things more in my favor. The exercise calories give me better deficits & the protein grams I eat help me feel satiated longer and preserve my lean muscle mass as much as possible. But with out a solid working game plan on the calories my weight would maintain or gradually increase, it's that simple.
This is what I do as well! I realized after a lot of trial and error, that my workouts really only burned MAYBE 175-200 calories....(and i didn't even enjoy it). I was eating well over that. Once i adjusted how many calories I consumed and didn't really worry that much about exercise, weight came off. Now, my exercise is walking when I feel like it and I enjoy it!0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, if you walked 30 miles everyday I suppose you could eat whatever you wanted. There is an exception to every rule. I just don't know of too many people that have time to run over a marathon everyday. DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, if you walked 30 miles everyday I suppose you could eat whatever you wanted. There is an exception to every rule. I just don't know of too many people that have time to run over a marathon everyday.
My husband walks 25-30 miles every day with work and still can't eat what ever he wants!
For me, both diet and exercise are of equal importance. It's about being a bit more active day to day and eating a bit less every day.0 -
For me the key was exercise. I went from maintaining 152 lbs at 1500 cals while sedentary, to eating 1700, being very active and now down to 125. So I got here by eating slightly more but moving much much more.0
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Diet mostly, I think....but exercise certainly helps. Besides, it makes everything work better.0
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I like exercise better but I had to drop thirty pounds in order to safely become more active. The first thirty pounds lost was through diet alone.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
If that really is today, I'm giving up on our challenge now...
OP, I found both are required. I do best when I up my steps in general; just incorporating simple things like taking more trips around the office (getting up and walking to their desk instead of calling coworkers, etc) and taking a lunch time walk really helped. I also added more steady state cardio to my routine; it's time I'd normally just be at home snacking, plus, more calories burned. But I can easily out eat any exercise I'm able to do. I can put away some food. It's the balance of both that puts me in a deficit allowing me to lose.0 -
Both are important, but in different ways. What matters is a consistent calorie deficit. Exercise usually increases your appetite, so by itself, it won't create a deficit. That's why people say you can't outrun a bad diet. In 2012, I exercised around 5-6 hours a week on average, mostly moderate to intense bicycling, and I gained 10 pounds.
I lost about 65 pounds in just over 23 months with both diet and exercise. I aimed for a 600-750 a daily calorie deficit at the beginning. I also exercised, on average, about 500 calories a day. That meant that instead of a daily calorie target of about 1500, I could eat about 2000—a huge difference, 33% more than if I didn't exercise. That allowed me to eat until I felt sated, as long as I could exercise the will power not to snack between meals.
Exercise also helped ensure that most of the weight I lost was fat, not muscle, and kept me feeling strong and energetic. Cycling and running also help my mood a lot.0 -
It was Friday. I now have a soft cap at 25,000 steps -- vacation excluded -- or I'm never going to be able to gain any weight.DeguelloTex wrote: »
If that really is today, I'm giving up on our challenge now...
OP, I found both are required. I do best when I up my steps in general; just incorporating simple things like taking more trips around the office (getting up and walking to their desk instead of calling coworkers, etc) and taking a lunch time walk really helped. I also added more steady state cardio to my routine; it's time I'd normally just be at home snacking, plus, more calories burned. But I can easily out eat any exercise I'm able to do. I can put away some food. It's the balance of both that puts me in a deficit allowing me to lose.
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Diet.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
If that really is today, I'm giving up on our challenge now...
OP, I found both are required. I do best when I up my steps in general; just incorporating simple things like taking more trips around the office (getting up and walking to their desk instead of calling coworkers, etc) and taking a lunch time walk really helped. I also added more steady state cardio to my routine; it's time I'd normally just be at home snacking, plus, more calories burned. But I can easily out eat any exercise I'm able to do. I can put away some food. It's the balance of both that puts me in a deficit allowing me to lose.
Oh, and I meant both are required for me. Not saying it's required for anyone else, but what I found personally worked.0 -
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.
Yes, while logging calories on MFP helps me with mindfulness, exercise is very important to me for the reasons above plus I feel better and sleep better.0 -
Sticking to my calorie goal and moderate exercise. Exercise is helpful and good for me but not as important as watching my calorie intake.
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I lost the majority of my weight watching my calories with zero exercise. I've hardly lost anything since I started exercising.
So yes, losing weight is mainly diet, for me anyway.0 -
For me it's exercise. If I don't exercise I gain. Exercise also works as an appetite suppressant for me. I just have to make myself get up and get the exercise.....0
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