Weight loss is 90% food, 10% exercise?
themetz3838
Posts: 21 Member
Has anyone else heard the phrase weight loss is 90% what we eat and 10% what we do, ie exercise? If this is true, then I've been placing way too much emphasis on exercise whilst wrongly thinking I could eat more
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Replies
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If your sole aim is weight loss then technically you don't need to exercise at all. Whilst exercise will definitely help with weight loss, (be careful how much extra you eat - mfp tends to way overestimate calories burned during exercise!), I'd suggest doing it for all the other benefits it brings which I'm sure I don't need to list out.
If you like your phrases here's another one for you: "skinny people look good in clothes. fit people look good naked!"44 -
I have heard the same. Just 80% food and 20% exercise, but the message is the same: focus on the food instead of exercise.
Exercise is good for you, no doubt, but to lose wheigt the food is more important.6 -
I've been swimming + acquagym for over 20 yrs. I cannot tell you how many women come on board because they plan on losing weight. If they're not watching their diet, they usually gain and are very disappointed.3
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For me, weight loss was at least 50% exercise....I couldn't have possibly achieved CICO and lost 80 lbs with my diet alone. Also, my body looks fabulous at 47, not sure that would have been the case without working out.16
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I would say....
weight loss is 100% diet
fitness and strength is 100% exercise
both are equally as important to the overall package that is you.78 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I would say....
weight loss is 100% diet
fitness and strength is 100% exercise
both are equally as important to the overall package that is you.
I agree with this and feel kind of bad that people seem to only exercise because they feel they HAVE to in order to lose weight. I think more would stick to an exercise plan if they shifted their mindset and exercised for the long term health benefits.18 -
For me, it was probably closer to 50/50.
And I exercise because I love it.
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themetz3838 wrote: »Has anyone else heard the phrase weight loss is 90% what we eat and 10% what we do, ie exercise? If this is true, then I've been placing way too much emphasis on exercise whilst wrongly thinking I could eat more
I've made this mistake more times than I can count. Yes, you can eat a little more if you exercise, but a Whopper, order of onion rings, and half a pint of Ben & Jerry's? No. Would I have been excercising away the entire 1500 excess calories I was eating in the first place? Not a chance.
If you don't know how your eating habits compare to your actual calorie needs, you'll lose a little, but after that you're just chasing your tail.5 -
For me that saying is total BS.
Losing weight is 100% about diet, and eating less calories than you burn... However it's MUCH easier for people who tend to overeat to lose weight if they are active and/or exercise, because it lets them eat more.
I mean, it might not be much, but those extra 300-400 calories for activity make a pretty big difference when you would only be able to eat 1600 calories if you were sedentary. Notice that I put activity and exercise in the same boat - being on the move all day will be as useful as purposely exercising 1 hour a day and sitting on your butt the rest of the day.10 -
If you lose a lot of weight without exercise, you also risk losing muscle. What does muscle do? Burn more calories than fat. While I do think 90% of this is nutrition, strength training will help your metabolism, so that you are burning more calories at rest, even on days you don't work out.9
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I am assuming 100 calories burned per mile walked at 3.5mph isn't an over estimate at 215 pounds 6'1 height.
If I walk at that rate every day (I do 12 miles per day roughly) that is 1200 calories PER DAY if I don't eat them back, in 3 days I would lose 1 pound from exercise alone. Without counting my calorie deficit. Don't overestimate your exercise calories but don't underestimate them either. I hear all the time about how people are adding too many calories from the burn of exercise. But if you are 200+ you are burning 100 calories PER MILE walked. I think that is very true. Just keep a close eye on how fast you are moving/running and make sure it is accurate as hell.
When it comes to counting calories, I add on a few more what food is worth when logging, and subtract a few more when logging exercise. You want the truth and nothing else.
Good luck! 8 -
Weight loss is a product of your kitchen, strength and/or fitness a product of your exercise. You simply cannot out run, out lift, or out ride a bad diet.
For a simple exercise on why this is, just compare how easy it is to eat 1,000 calories vs. how hard it is to burn them. This situation gets even worse when one realizes how many people trust the calorie burn figures in MFP and, even worse, from ellipticals, rowing machines, exercise bikes, and treadmills in gyms. You'd be pretty safe taking any calorie burn figure from a gym machine and cutting it in half.8 -
I lost all of my weight by eating less and no exercise. I didn't exercise until I'd lost the weight. I shifted my focus to more exercise and paid less attention to what I was eating. Guess what? I gained half of my weight back. So I would agree that weight loss is all about eating less. Exercise will aid that but you still have to watch the food intake.10
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Also, the saying "you can't out train a *kitten* diet" exists for a reason. Just ask every powerlifter walking around with a pack of hotdogs on the back of his neck, and a wheeze when he walks.4
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themetz3838 wrote: »Has anyone else heard the phrase weight loss is 90% what we eat and 10% what we do, ie exercise? If this is true, then I've been placing way too much emphasis on exercise whilst wrongly thinking I could eat more
You'll hear derivatives of this statement a lot with a range of 95%-60% nutrition depending on who you ask. Both are important. Most people focus a lot more on exercise than nutrition so their exercise grade is in the A-B range and put very focus their nutrition which result in them receiving an F. If your objective is to be Healthy, Perform well and Look Good its a good idea to follow a good strength & conditioning program as well as a good nutrition program, that way you maximize both fronts.3 -
I think both are 100%...
While a person can lose weight with diet alone (outside of those with severe medical reasons or medical disabilities), I think it can irresponsible (and this might be a strong word to use here) to think that exercise does not play a huge role in both health, weight loss and maintaining weight loss.
Weight loss via diet? Weight loss via diet and exercise? The method that uses both has higher potential to be healthier, and have a body that is strong and very capable.
I see that if a person loses weight from diet alone they have the potential to me more frail, and perhaps health will or still can suffer.9 -
I don't think it's as simple as that. I don't believe everyone is the same, for a start. I lost a lot of weight on a high fat (lots of nuts - it was pretty high calorie) vegan diet, just by running every day. I lost a lot of weight by going VLC, and doing no exercise. This time I've lost it by a combination of healthy eating & exercise. I truly don't buy the one size fits all concept to health or fitness. You have to find what works for you at this moment in your life.
I know that's probably controversial!7 -
Actually weight loss is 100% deficit (this can be done through diet or exercise, or both)17
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Also, the saying "you can't out train a *kitten* diet" exists for a reason. Just ask every powerlifter walking around with a pack of hotdogs on the back of his neck, and a wheeze when he walks.
Almost spit my coffee at the pack of hotdogs image. EW!5 -
I'd say 85% diet, 15% exercise, or maybe 75-25, but close enough for government work. Bear in mind - you can't out exercise a bad diet.4
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I've seen the 80/20 reference a lot. I think what it means is that too many people think exercise causes a lot more weight loss than it does. It doesn't mean exercise isn't important. It does mean that just because you walk two miles every day (some people think this is SUCH an accomplishment when it's really the minimum for good health), it doesn't mean you're "due" at least 2 lbs. of weight loss every week just for doing it! People really think that; they think if they have been sedentary that walking two miles a day, but still eating whatever they have been eating, and not tracking anything, will cause weight loss. And they get all upset when it doesn't.6
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Weight loss is 100% calorie deficit.13
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I don't buy those extreme percentages.
The fact is you can exercise off your calories ...but can you keep that up forever? some do... Look at the Biggest Loser show..that is what they do..and they prove it works. Yet most if all of them gained back..because who can work out 6 hours a day?
Cutting calories alone does work too.. I've done that.. Many balance the two to suit their live style.
I read the best advice here on a success forum. a guy at goal said he has learned to control his eating because he doesn't have to out exercise his calories any longer. At first he exercised a lot to keep at a deficit..but for the long term it wouldn't have worked for him, so he'd rather just control his eating more at this point.
So...balance the two for your life, personality, what would be sustainable for you for the rest of your life.3 -
elisa123gal wrote: »The fact is you can exercise off your calories ...but can you keep that up forever? some do... Look at the Biggest Loser show..that is what they do..and they prove it works. Yet most if all of them gained back..because who can work out 6 hours a day?
They lose on the show with a combination of extreme exercise and starvation diet...and, depending on who you believe, street drugs.
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Weight loss really is 100% food, but are any of us really here for just weight loss? I know I want to be able to do more, have better blood test numbers, be more healthy in my old age and look better. In short be healthier. Exercise is a huge aid in all of this goals as well. For my weight loss I have to focus on my food, for my health I have to ramp up my exercise. There is the added benefit that exercise gives me a modest amount of calories extra to eat and still lose weight, but I wouldn't equate a candy bar as worth an hour or two of exercise. That hour or two is worth it though to eventually be able to play tennis well again.4
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rainbowbow wrote: »I would say....
weight loss is 100% diet
fitness and strength is 100% exercise
both are equally as important to the overall package that is you.
I saw the title and popped in to say that trying to quantify it with percentages is pointless and meaningless, but this one I agree with 100%. ;-)
OP, if you've been exercising for fitness and eating the extra calories you burn (with an overall deficit from maintenance) then you are doing it right. Arbitrary percentages people put on exercise vs. diet doesn't change the fact that you lose weight by eating less than you burn and if you exercise you burn more. Someone who exercises hard and has an uncontrolled diet likely won't lose weight (although some will). But similarly, someone who exercises hard and eats at a deficit based on a pretense that they don't exercise at all will be eating too little and probably burn out hard.4 -
I've heard that, but I'm not sure I agree with it. Weight loss is just creating a deficit, that can be done 100% through restricting calories or 100% through increasing the level of activity provided intake stays the same. The only thing I believe works in 100% of the cases is that lasting weight loss is 100% adherence.5
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Trying to nail down the percentage of diet vs exercise is a rather nebulous exercise. They blend together to create the final outcome so it's really irrelevant in practical terms, but we can say that diet is the over riding factor since it's the one that is the easiest to control for most people. When I was at my most active I was burning over 21 calories/pound per day, meaning I was doubling my BMR in activity and exercise so I could eat a lot more and still lose quickly. For a person who is only moderately active they have to be more aware of what they eat.
Overall, I really do like the idea that diet for weight control and exercise for health because it indicates that exercise is more than just a weight control tool that you stop doing when you hit your goal weight.2 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Also, the saying "you can't out train a *kitten* diet" exists for a reason. Just ask every powerlifter walking around with a pack of hotdogs on the back of his neck, and a wheeze when he walks.
I'm a powerlifter and can run 10 miles in under 90 mins so you can't just stereotype everyone based on the super heavy division. Most underclass powerlifters I know could easily be mistaken for body builders.
Of course, I may be misreading your post and you are only talking about the tanks of our sport.1 -
CorneliusPhoton wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Also, the saying "you can't out train a *kitten* diet" exists for a reason. Just ask every powerlifter walking around with a pack of hotdogs on the back of his neck, and a wheeze when he walks.
Almost spit my coffee at the pack of hotdogs image. EW!
Some things are better not to think about!
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