for people who think exercise is the key to weight loss
jacksonpt
Posts: 10,413 Member
Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
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Completely agree. For me, my workouts burn enough to eat an extra banana or two. If I subbed those out for one dish of takeout, I'd be gaining weight.0
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Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
While I agree with your point that diet is the most important, those 2850 calories would make a larger difference for me, who is on 1220 calories plus exercise, than it probably does for you. Exercising enough to burn an extra 400 calories per day (which according to my Fitbit is not out of the ordinary for me) lets me increase how much I can eat by over 32%. Without those extra calories, I feel like my chance of failure would have been a lot higher.0 -
missblondi2u wrote: »Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
While I agree with your point that diet is the most important, those 2850 calories would make a larger difference for me, who is on 1220 calories plus exercise, than it probably does for you. Exercising enough to burn an extra 400 calories per day (which according to my Fitbit is not out of the ordinary for me) lets me increase how much I can eat by over 32%. Without those extra calories, I feel like my chance of failure would have been a lot higher.
@missblondi2u - I think he's talking about people who are using exercise alone to create their deficit. Example would be setting your MFP account to maintain and not eating exercise calories. The exercise burn wouldn't make much of a deficit.0 -
I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.0 -
Sure...but we all need to be exercising for heart, bone and brain health. Being sedentary is not OK, weight-loss issues aside.
You also need to recognize that you are basing this on your own body's math. I am older and have an artificially low BMI due to serious metabolic disease. I have to exercise if I want to have enough of a calorie allowance to eat a healthy diet. I have to work pretty hard to even be able to consume 1200 calories/day.
Not everybody is young/healthy/male.
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Good post. I do both cardio & strength training.
Cardio is for my heart & lungs & I find increases my overall energy level.
Strength is for my muscles & to be able to do the things I enjoy doing with-out constantly injuring myself.
Calorie control is to keep my weight in the healthy range.
So simple even I understand it... 0 -
HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
No you don't. I eat pizza and drink beer regularly and I'm losing weight at a steady progress.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »missblondi2u wrote: »Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
While I agree with your point that diet is the most important, those 2850 calories would make a larger difference for me, who is on 1220 calories plus exercise, than it probably does for you. Exercising enough to burn an extra 400 calories per day (which according to my Fitbit is not out of the ordinary for me) lets me increase how much I can eat by over 32%. Without those extra calories, I feel like my chance of failure would have been a lot higher.
@missblondi2u - I think he's talking about people who are using exercise alone to create their deficit. Example would be setting your MFP account to maintain and not eating exercise calories. The exercise burn wouldn't make much of a deficit.
@shadow2soul I get what you are saying but I don't necessarily agree with that comment about setting to maintenance and not eating back exercise calories not being enough. I'm in maintenance now and I burn a pound a week (and that's on a light schedule) and eat back that pound not to lose weight. If I didn't eat it back, I would lose. For some people though, that might be an unrealistic expectation especially if they are focused on short term weight loss goals.0 -
HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
Pretty much none of this.0 -
missblondi2u wrote: »
While I agree with your point that diet is the most important, those 2850 calories would make a larger difference for me, who is on 1220 calories plus exercise, than it probably does for you. Exercising enough to burn an extra 400 calories per day (which according to my Fitbit is not out of the ordinary for me) lets me increase how much I can eat by over 32%. Without those extra calories, I feel like my chance of failure would have been a lot higher.
I agree with this. Though I am not fit enough to efficiently burn enough calories to lose a pound a week through exercise alone, I find that adding to the calories I can eat while still maintaining a deficit makes me a happier person. I find it SO much easier to live at 1600 than 1300.0 -
I find its 50/50 for me.0
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missblondi2u wrote: »
While I agree with your point that diet is the most important, those 2850 calories would make a larger difference for me, who is on 1220 calories plus exercise, than it probably does for you. Exercising enough to burn an extra 400 calories per day (which according to my Fitbit is not out of the ordinary for me) lets me increase how much I can eat by over 32%. Without those extra calories, I feel like my chance of failure would have been a lot higher.
I agree with this. Though I am not fit enough to efficiently burn enough calories to lose a pound a week through exercise alone, I find that adding to the calories I can eat while still maintaining a deficit makes me a happier person. I find it SO much easier to live at 1600 than 1300.
Exactly. I acknowledge if I was trying to lose 50 pounds, with only exercise it would be very, very difficult. But, if I can exercise and gain a small snack, while counting calories, it is much easier to stick to, and I'm happier. I don't feel deprived.
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Most of you are missing the point. Pretty much as I expected.
Whatever calories you burn via exercise are what you burn. Period. There are no special snowflakes here. If you burn 500 calories in a workout, and I burn 500 calories in a workout... guess what... it's the same damned 500 calories. And it's still the same 1/7th(ish) of a lb. Your BMR doesn't matter. Your calorie intake doesn't matter. None of it does.0 -
Most of you are missing the point. Pretty much as I expected.
Whatever calories you burn via exercise are what you burn. Period. There are no special snowflakes here. If you burn 500 calories in a workout, and I burn 500 calories in a workout... guess what... it's the same damned 500 calories. And it's still the same 1/7th(ish) of a lb. Your BMR doesn't matter. Your calorie intake doesn't matter. None of it does.
I don't see your point. You do seem upset about that though. What's wrong with burning 1/7th ish of a pound via exercise?0 -
[quote="jacksonpt;35705651"]Most of you are missing the point. Pretty much as I expected.
Whatever calories you burn via exercise are what you burn. Period. There are no special snowflakes here. If you burn 500 calories in a workout, and I burn 500 calories in a workout... guess what... it's the same damned 500 calories. And it's still the same 1/7th(ish) of a lb. Your BMR doesn't matter. Your calorie intake doesn't matter. None of it does.[/quote]
Well, that's condescending. What IS your point then? Because this post doesn't make much sense to me. I read your first post because you generally have informative things to add to the forum.0 -
successgal1 wrote: »Most of you are missing the point. Pretty much as I expected.
Whatever calories you burn via exercise are what you burn. Period. There are no special snowflakes here. If you burn 500 calories in a workout, and I burn 500 calories in a workout... guess what... it's the same damned 500 calories. And it's still the same 1/7th(ish) of a lb. Your BMR doesn't matter. Your calorie intake doesn't matter. None of it does.
I don't see your point. You do seem upset about that though. What's wrong with burning 1/7th ish of a pound via exercise?
Nothing is wrong with it, it's just not a significant source of weight loss. Many people think that all they need to do to lose weight is exercise, and that's just not realistic for the majority of people, especially for people who are in a pattern of gaining weight. Most people have to do SOME sort of calorie restriction/dietary control in order to lose meaningful weight.0 -
This isn't one size fits all though.
Your daily burn, as well as what you burn while working out, are very personal numbers. The OP burned 2850 cal in 4:45 of gym time. By comparison, for the month of March (almost 7 days), I have burned 4200 cal (I workout with a HRM) in approx 5 hours of gym time. That is not insignificant.
I'm not saying that exercise trumps CICO....not at all. How much you eat makes the biggest impact on the scale. But exercise can impact weight as well. My exercise calorie burn for the past week is not unusual for me at all, and it represents over a pound a week.0 -
Since apparently my initial point is not coming through, let me bold it...Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.0 -
Most of you are missing the point. Pretty much as I expected.
Whatever calories you burn via exercise are what you burn. Period. There are no special snowflakes here. If you burn 500 calories in a workout, and I burn 500 calories in a workout... guess what... it's the same damned 500 calories. And it's still the same 1/7th(ish) of a lb. Your BMR doesn't matter. Your calorie intake doesn't matter. None of it does.
Right. 500 cals is 500 cals. Two people each with a 500 cal deficit ought to lose the same amount of weight. It doesn't matter how you get there.
But take the case of a 140 lb relatively fit woman who wants to lose 10 lbs. She could not exercise and need to eat 1200 calories a day. Or she could (cause she's fit), run 3 miles a day and eat 1500 cals a day. That's a big (25%) difference in satisfaction and a lot easier to maintain for some people (if you can run 3 miles a day).
On the other hand, a 200 lb sedentary woman could lose weight on 1500 a day without exercising. She can't run 3 miles a day cause she's not fit enough. So she walks a mile and burns 100 calories. The increase in calories for her is going to be negligible.
So exercise calories are likely going to form a bigger portion of your deficit the closer to goal and the fitter you are, and IMO the lower your BMR is. I think it's just hard to eat 1200 calories a day consistently no matter your size, but that's what some women need to lose weight.
[What neither one can do is eat 2500 calories and lose weight, even if they are running 3 miles a day. I think that's your point. My argument is just that particularly for small women close to their goal, exercise calories can make up a larger percentage of deficit than for larger men or less fit people]0 -
No you don't. I have lots and lots of clients who didn't eat "clean" and lost lots of weight. This is why many people fail at dieting. When restriction of choices comes up for everyday eating, people would rather throw in the towel than be chained to eating foods they may dislike as a whole.HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
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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I get the "math" of it. Exercise doesn't burn off near as many calories as we like to tell ourselves we can eat back.
I watch "The Biggest Loser" for the entertainment value. It is a big mistake, however, to try to take any meaningful advice from that show. Emphasize SHOW. It is a production that is edited to make it seem like weight falls off in massive quantities by working out so hard you puke. In 8 weeks real time (they condense 16 weeks of production time) people lose over half of their hugely obese body weight and all I have to do is sit on the couch and eat chips.
But we waaaant it to be that easy!0 -
I disagree, OP.
If I burn 400 calories with a workout, that gives me 2200 calories to eat instead of 1800. That's close to 1/4 extra calories that I can eat that day. That's huge. I've lost 80 pounds (ok, 75 as of now)... without all those extra calories from exercise, I'd probably still be 10 pounds overweight... at least.0 -
I ate "clean" for years and still gained weight. It's absolutely true that its a calorie deficit that has you lose weight, a whole sweet potato has more calories than half, its true.
Its also true that exercise burns calories. If your diet is totally out of control you MAY see great results by putting yourself in a more healthful diet, but that's usually because when you do that you automatically are consuming less calories.
If your diet is totally out of control, and you don't change it, you may not be exercising enough to put yourself in a calorie deficit.
You have to have a calorie deficit.
You can combine the two and splurge a little on food (because going cold turkey from junk food to "clean" food can be hard), and add some moderate exercise (without going all P90X) and have what here on MFP is generally called a sustainable lifestyle and be in a calorie deficit to lose weight.0 -
I've lost 75lbs by doing what most people would call limited exercise. I walked. My first walk was 7 minutes long (3.5 each way). Since then, I've built up endurance and speed. I added in bike riding and yoga for variety. I do not like getting sweaty (but I do anyway) so hours of cardio and weight lifting each week are not sustainable for me.
Exercise is great for health, its good for your body and mind, it also helps with toning muscles. It is not necessary for losing weight. Losing weight is 80% food, 20% exercise...I would even make that 90%/10% for me personally.
Good diet and good exercise combined are hard to beat...for your health. The weight will come off with the good habits.0 -
Since apparently my initial point is not coming through, let me bold it...Yes, I know there have been a lot of threads about this lately... I know few people actually read them or take the advice we offer seriously, but whatever. I thought this was interesting.
I consider myself fairly active. As a triathlete, my workouts are mostly cardio, but I do some lifting as well. This time of year I'm still dealing with poor weather, so most of my workouts are also indoors.
Last week I did 5 workouts for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes. Assuming I burn 10 cals per minute (which is possible but on the very high side of realistic), that means I burned roughly 2850 cals through exercise last week.
That's .8lb burned from exercise. As in eight tenths of one pound.
So yea... diet is a far bigger factor in weight control than is exercise. Exercise certainly can help, but diet will have a much greater impact on weight loss.
You put your point at the end of the post? That's a rookie mistake. No one reads past the first couple of paragraphs.
(Fwiw I liked your post and enjoyed they way you laid it all out. Hopefully it will reach the people you were trying to reach)0 -
HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
You are lying to your followers?0 -
No you don't. I have lots and lots of clients who didn't eat "clean" and lost lots of weight. This is why many people fail at dieting. When restriction of choices comes up for everyday eating, people would rather throw in the towel than be chained to eating foods they may dislike as a whole.HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
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
For all the clients you have out there who didn't eat 'clean' and lost weight....well, good for them. Unfortunately, you trainers come here and act like your way is the ONLY way. You tend to confuse people who are just starting out. I cannot eat 1500 calories of junk food and lose weight. I can eat 1500 calories of fruits, veggies, proteins and some carbs and lose weight. Please do not shove all people into a small box, we don't all fit. It has nothing to do with anyone being a 'special snowflake' and everything to do with how people tolerate, process, breakdown foods and use the nutrients in their system. While the basics are true for everyone, some people cannot tolerate certain foods, other people have damaged livers (from being overweight) and are not processing nutrients efficiently, some people have so much sugar in their system they are running off that instead of fat. Why don't you encourage people to have healthy sustainable habits instead of leading them to believe that exercise is the only way to go? It seems crass since exercise is your business. SMH.0 -
No you don't. I have lots and lots of clients who didn't eat "clean" and lost lots of weight. This is why many people fail at dieting. When restriction of choices comes up for everyday eating, people would rather throw in the towel than be chained to eating foods they may dislike as a whole.HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
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
For all the clients you have out there who didn't eat 'clean' and lost weight....well, good for them. Unfortunately, you trainers come here and act like your way is the ONLY way. You tend to confuse people who are just starting out. I cannot eat 1500 calories of junk food and lose weight. I can eat 1500 calories of fruits, veggies, proteins and some carbs and lose weight.
Yes, you can.
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Mavrick, do what I do: use your Biggest Loser watching time to draft your healthy eating plan for the week or prep ingredients. The contestants won't mind if you walk away from the TV for a few minutes.
But, seriously, if my TV is on, it's because I'm watching a rare movie with my bf OR because it's background noise for what I'm REALLY doing. But I prefer music. I get more done.
P.S. not to Mavrick but the thread in general: I lost 80 lbs. without working out even remotely regularly. I might ride my bike once or twice a week but most weeks nothing. Just calorie counting. But if you want a strong, lithe, good looking body and not just to "not be fat" anymore, exercise is where it's at!0 -
No you don't. I have lots and lots of clients who didn't eat "clean" and lost lots of weight. This is why many people fail at dieting. When restriction of choices comes up for everyday eating, people would rather throw in the towel than be chained to eating foods they may dislike as a whole.HisRedAngel wrote: »I always tell my followers that it's 80% diet 20% Exercise.
You have to eat clean. If you eat clean you see major result in a short amount of time this way.
You can't eat bad and expect to see gains. I always provide my followers with a helpful guide to eating based on their goals and desires.
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
For all the clients you have out there who didn't eat 'clean' and lost weight....well, good for them. Unfortunately, you trainers come here and act like your way is the ONLY way. You tend to confuse people who are just starting out. I cannot eat 1500 calories of junk food and lose weight. I can eat 1500 calories of fruits, veggies, proteins and some carbs and lose weight. Please do not shove all people into a small box, we don't all fit. It has nothing to do with anyone being a 'special snowflake' and everything to do with how people tolerate, process, breakdown foods and use the nutrients in their system. While the basics are true for everyone, some people cannot tolerate certain foods, other people have damaged livers (from being overweight) and are not processing nutrients efficiently, some people have so much sugar in their system they are running off that instead of fat. Why don't you encourage people to have healthy sustainable habits instead of leading them to believe that exercise is the only way to go? It seems crass since exercise is your business. SMH.
Actually he is one of the few trainers on her that I see consistently not peddling woo about "clean eating" or some other kind of eating/exercise plan that restricts people unnecessarily. You will most likely feel much better eating better foods and probably be better able to stay within your calorie goals, but you can lose weight eating anything as long as your calories are under goal.0
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