Does exercise really help you lose weight?

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KatieAnneEtcetera
KatieAnneEtcetera Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been reading a lot about how "new" research (I'll admit, I haven't read the actual research articles, just the articles ABOUT them) shows that exercise does not really help you lose weight. Basically, they say it's really only about dieting. I just wanted to hear some of your personal stories. Do you think that exercise has caused any weight loss for you?
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Replies

  • paulandrachelk
    paulandrachelk Posts: 280 Member
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    Exercise only helps with weight loss in the respect it helps you run at a deficit. How much deficit depends on your eating habits.
  • Domicinator
    Domicinator Posts: 261 Member
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    It helps you lose weight if you are not eating back triple the amount of calories that you burned. In other words, it's not that it doesn't help you lose weight. It's really that a lot of people just don't understand how calories work.
  • Sailor_Moon86
    Sailor_Moon86 Posts: 48 Member
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    If you have a maintenance of 1700 and eat that 7 days a week yet create a deficit through exercise of 1750 calories you'd lose .5 lb. I run 20-30 miles per week so I get to eat at maintenance and even over and still lose weight since I'm burning 2-3k a week.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
    edited February 2016
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    For me, no. I could not exercise myself into a deficit 7 days per week. Cardio has helped me either eat more when losing or padding my deficit in case of logging errors. Let's say I weighed 170 pounds, maintained my weight on 2000 calories...If I wanted to lose 1 pound per week I'd need to have a 500 calorie deficit. Most people will not be burning 500 calories per day, 7 days a week, week in and week out for consistent weight loss. A few days per week? Maybe. It's not going to result in drastic weight loss. In this case, eating 1500 calories would do the trick.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited February 2016
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    KatieAnneEtcetera wrote: »
    So I've been reading a lot about how "new" research (I'll admit, I haven't read the actual research articles, just the articles ABOUT them) shows that exercise does not really help you lose weight. Basically, they say it's really only about dieting. I just wanted to hear some of your personal stories. Do you think that exercise has caused any weight loss for you?

    Exercise can help create a calorie deficit, but the old saying applies - "you can't out-train a bad diet". The calories you burn in an hour-long workout can be wiped out (and then some!) in mere minutes at the dining room table (or the drive-through window).

    There are a lot of good reasons to exercise (general health/fitness, strength, balance, preserve muscle and bone density, etc.), but your diet is the main factor in whether or not you lose weight.
  • mrsloganlife
    mrsloganlife Posts: 158 Member
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    My life scenario:

    Dieting, no working out--lost about 8 pounds over 6 months.
    Working out 3-4x a week, but eating horrible--lost about 10 pounds over 6 months.
    CICO and working out 3-4x a week: 18 pound weight loss in 2.5 months

    I have been unable to exercise the last 5 days because I threw out my back shoveling snow, and this week I did not lose any weight, even with focusing on CICO. Of course this is one week and that back injury could be coincidence, but based on recent numbers...I don't think so.

    So in my case...exercise has helped me lose weight. Plus it can be fun!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Calorie deficit for weight loss.
    Exercise for fitness.

    You can certainly lose weight without exercising, but many find that they don't get the results they were seeking if they don't also exercise - a firmer fit body, increased flexibility, endurance and strength, plus burning more calories which allows for a high intake. And if you like food, it's nice to have some wiggle room for more cals. :smiley:
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
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    I'm miserable on my rest day as the calories I get to eat drops. I definitely find exercise helpful for weight loss, as it means I can eat more and still lose. The trick is to not overestimate the calories burned. I also find exercise (in my case running and hiit) helps me feel more energised and more positive, which helps prevent tired/depressed/bored snacking.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,981 Member
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    I have lost weight before without exercising. If you exercise but don't cut calories you won't lose weight. You can cut calories and not exercise and still lose weight. You lose weight when you eat at a calorie deficit. But exercise has a lot of benefit and is important for overall fitness. And exercise will increase your deficit and allow you to eat more.
  • Mapalicious
    Mapalicious Posts: 412 Member
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    I echo what everyone above has said.

    Then I add...
    Exercising makes me less hungry. Crazily enough, I eat LESS when I exercise.
    Exercising (in the right ways) tones your body...you may not "lose pounds" but you'll look a lot better, and feel a lot better!

    So go off how you feel, what your goals are (health/looks), and go from there.
  • KatieAnneEtcetera
    KatieAnneEtcetera Posts: 21 Member
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    Thanks everyone for all the replies! I am finding it incredibly difficult to lose any weight. I used to be a certain weight, and I ate like crap for about a year and gained about 20 pounds. My goal is only to lose half of what I gained, but it has been SO stubborn coming off. I have literally been trying for over a year to lose these 10 pounds. And while I haven't gained weight, I haven't lost any either, outside of the daily ups and downs of a few pounds. Because I find it extremely difficult to cut calories (I am a person who likes to snack ALL the time, and as soon as I try to quit snacking I get MAJOR cravings) I was hoping that a workout regimen might help me.
  • Crazyfighter99
    Crazyfighter99 Posts: 38 Member
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    It will not help you lose weight. However, it will help you as you get closer to your goal from being "skinny fat" since you'll keep more muscle than you would otherwise.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Every minute I'm exercising im not in the kitchen!
    Every minute I'm exercising im not hungry and don't think about food.
    Swimming makes my insanely hungry afterwards but doesn't burn as many calories as running.
    The catch is finding a way to control your meal times because you will be very hungry, which is why I burn fat at 1lb a month, I call it stealth dieting! I will binge if I diet any harder than -10% tdee.
    Weight loss is created by calorie deficit. How you create that deficit is up to you.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    Increased activity increases deficit.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Exercise can help create a deficit in that you can use it to create one IF you're already counting calories, but that's it. There are a number of members here who have lost weight while literally bedridden with injury or illness. They weren't eating more than they burned. That simple.

    I am very lucky to have an able body, so I get to enjoy the main benefit of exercise, which in my humble opinion is that it makes creating a deficit easier.

    I find that simply eating less food is harder than eating a ton of food and creating a deficit through exercise. It just physically feels better to eat 2000 calories worth of food and work out to burn 3000 calories that day, than it does to only eat 1200 calories and burn 2200.

    I realize mathematically that I am creating the same 1000 calorie deficit either way, but it's a very different feeling, both physically and mentally, to do so with exercise than to do so by simply eating less. I am not as hungry when I work out for that 1000. I am more energetic and more motivated. As a result, I'm trying to eliminate those days where I have to stick to my main calorie goal (before adjusting for exercise) and simply eat more and work out to counteract it. I don't have to. I've lost weight with both methods, but the latter is definitely more comfortable.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    If you don't get your diet under control then working out can make you fatter

    You increase your appetite because your body needs more fuel
    You feel virtuous...I earned this cream cake

    If you do get your diet under control then working out makes you awesome
    Fitter, stronger, bone density, hormone balance, shapelier

    @katemm999 you know you can average your calories over the week?
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    If calories eaten are held constant, calories added through new exercise will make a deficit, sure.

    I've done it before, like last summer at maintenance. I didn't 'mean' to increase my activity, but I garden tons in non-winter seasons, so I get thinner in gardening weather :) That's only when I don't go grab a milkshake after a hard half-day's work in the heat, lol. I do have to remind myself not to eat too much more afterwards! And many kinds of exercise don't burn as much as people think, so it can get tricky.
  • Mapalicious
    Mapalicious Posts: 412 Member
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    KatieAnneEtcetera wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for all the replies! I am finding it incredibly difficult to lose any weight. I used to be a certain weight, and I ate like crap for about a year and gained about 20 pounds. My goal is only to lose half of what I gained, but it has been SO stubborn coming off. I have literally been trying for over a year to lose these 10 pounds. And while I haven't gained weight, I haven't lost any either, outside of the daily ups and downs of a few pounds. Because I find it extremely difficult to cut calories (I am a person who likes to snack ALL the time, and as soon as I try to quit snacking I get MAJOR cravings) I was hoping that a workout regimen might help me.

    TBH love, (if your photo is up-to-date) you may just be at a happy weight for your body. You look quite slim!
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    If you don't get your diet under control then working out can make you fatter

    You increase your appetite because your body needs more fuel
    You feel virtuous...I earned this cream cake

    If you do get your diet under control then working out makes you awesome
    Fitter, stronger, bone density, hormone balance, shapelier

    @katemm999 you know you can average your calories over the week?

    I have tried, but I suck at it, apart from saving up a bit for a splurge here and there. And I have to account for runger on my active days, otherwise I might get hangry...
    I probably exaggerated about being miserable. Just a bit of mouth hunger that I have to power through (aka chewing gum)
  • KatieAnneEtcetera
    KatieAnneEtcetera Posts: 21 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Mapalicious wrote: »
    TBH love, (if your photo is up-to-date) you may just be at a happy weight for your body. You look quite slim!

    The photo is from about a year ago, and I do weigh about the same, although of course I chose that photo because I think it looks better than other photos! That said, I felt a LOT better about myself at my old weight and would really like to get half-way there, at least. :)

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