Someone discouraged me.
Replies
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Fatvaporizer wrote: »So I was talking about how I had been working out consistently trying to lose weight, along with cutting back on what I ate/dieting, and the person started this whole lecture about how exercise is useless and that only watching what you eat matters to lose weight. So I said, so you're saying cardio and all that is useless to lose weight, what's the point of gyms and such? He was like people just want to make money.
I then pointed out that I actually did drop a lot of pounds from consistent exercise and diet over time. And he said well, that's all just because of your diet, and tried convincing me not to exercise anymore, but instead just diet and do zero cardio/workouts. I got a bit angry at this point as it seemed like he just said all the months of working out didn't contribute to any weight loss, and it was just my diet/eating less.
I concluded and asked him where he got his information from and he said a few videos on YouTube say exercise does not make you lose weight and it all depends on diet alone.
What's your take on this? I found it discouraging and somewhat felt I was being sabotaged of my weight loss. Thanks for your feedback and I apologize if this thread comes off a bit ranty.
PS: No offense but this person himself was trying to lose weight but always said he had no time to 'work out.'
Well, you don't have to actually exercise to lose weight-it's nice for overall health but it doesn't do a lot for weight loss except give you a few extra calories to eat. The cardio you've been doing has given you more wiggle room for your calorie intake, but you could still lose the weight without it-you'd just have to adjust your calorie intake down.
But, yeah it's best to just avoid these kind of conversations with people because weight loss is right up their with religion and politics
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Both diet and activity can contribute to a calorie deficit, but it is usually easier to eat less than exercise more.
I use both, though I do eat back many of my exercise calories.
If you choose to create your deficit primarily through exercise then you must be careful not to compensate by eating more. Again, this is a more difficult method, but possible.2 -
I hope that person is not close to you, because he is an idiot. He's just trying to make excuses for his own lazy behavior.3
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Personally, I find it easier not to eat a bar of chocolate rather then spending 30 minutes on the treadmill. I do exercise (weights) but more for body composition goals rather than weight loss. Exercise has tons of health benefits, I wouldn't let this person put you off.1
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Fatvaporizer wrote: »So I was talking about how I had been working out consistently trying to lose weight, along with cutting back on what I ate/dieting, and the person started this whole lecture about how exercise is useless and that only watching what you eat matters to lose weight. So I said, so you're saying cardio and all that is useless to lose weight, what's the point of gyms and such? He was like people just want to make money.
I then pointed out that I actually did drop a lot of pounds from consistent exercise and diet over time. And he said well, that's all just because of your diet, and tried convincing me not to exercise anymore, but instead just diet and do zero cardio/workouts. I got a bit angry at this point as it seemed like he just said all the months of working out didn't contribute to any weight loss, and it was just my diet/eating less.
I concluded and asked him where he got his information from and he said a few videos on YouTube say exercise does not make you lose weight and it all depends on diet alone.
What's your take on this? I found it discouraging and somewhat felt I was being sabotaged of my weight loss. Thanks for your feedback and I apologize if this thread comes off a bit ranty.
PS: No offense but this person himself was trying to lose weight but always said he had no time to 'work out.'
You're taking his opinion personally. You're presuming he's "dissing" your efforts. (He's not really right and that's been covered already) But it really doesn't matter what he thinks--what matters is what YOU think about yourself. Have a little faith in the fact you've seen results. That's what matters. What works for him...great. Whatever. Don't be so fragile that someone's else's sadly misinformed opinion can ruin your day.0 -
You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
Second, addressing his point, diet is more important than exercise. There's a saying "abs are made in the kitchen". There are a ton of people in gyms, showing up every day, busting their *kitten* for an hour and not seeing results because they don't have control of their nutrition. That was me for literally years.
Bottom line. The best results are from a solid exercise routine and diet plan.3 -
JoeMacCready wrote: »You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
Second, addressing his point, diet is more important than exercise. There's a saying "abs are made in the kitchen". There are a ton of people in gyms, showing up every day, busting their *kitten* for an hour and not seeing results because they don't have control of their nutrition. That was me for literally years.
Bottom line. The best results are from a solid exercise routine and diet plan.
Do you studies/research that backs this up? Thanks.1 -
I would give zero credence to anyone who told me to stop exercising (unless it was a doctor for medical reasons, of course). While exercise is not required for weight loss, it can certainly help. And it is required for health. Being sedentary is bad for your health at any weight.2
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Why are you letting this one person discourage you so much?
That said, I don't really announce my weight loss efforts to anyone. Less BS to listen to.
But, honestly...you truly don't NEED exercise to lose weight...but it helps with your calorie deficit and is good for you. If it makes you happy, makes you look better and is good for you...keep on doing what you're doing.0 -
What? So you're saying if someone is 200lbs and 130lbs of that is lean mass, their lean mass will drop down to 65lbs? Lol, dude where are you getting your info?JoeMacCready wrote: »You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
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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Sounds to me like this guy just wanted to make himself feel better about NOT working out. I think you should focus on your own success and forget this guy's comment. Whether it helps you lose weight or not, exercise is great for your body and good for your mind! Keep up the good work!2
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What? So you're saying if someone is 200lbs and 130lbs of that is lean mass, their lean mass will drop down to 65lbs? Lol, dude where are you getting your info?JoeMacCready wrote: »You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
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
That's not what he said. While I disagree with what he's saying, he's saying that - in the example you laid out - if the person drops 20 lb, 10 of those lb would be muscle, so (s)he'd weigh 180 lb, with 125 lb of LBM.0 -
What? So you're saying if someone is 200lbs and 130lbs of that is lean mass, their lean mass will drop down to 65lbs? Lol, dude where are you getting your info?JoeMacCready wrote: »You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
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
Uhhhhh, no. Lean mass includes bones, organs blood and skin. You will not lose one of your testicles this way.1 -
I agree with a prior poster on the 80/20 rule. Good health begins in the kitchen...that's the 80%...and then the 20% is the physical activity. After having two kids back to back, I did WWs and lost 25 pounds in 6 months, lowered my cholesterol by 50 points and the only exercise I did was increase my amount of walking. (This was ten years ago and I've gained back 15. :-( )
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Opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one. Let it go.0
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What? So you're saying if someone is 200lbs and 130lbs of that is lean mass, their lean mass will drop down to 65lbs? Lol, dude where are you getting your info?JoeMacCready wrote: »You're both onto something but he very much misstated his point or misunderstood what the videos meant.
First, if you lose weight by diet alone, close to 50% of the weight lost will be muscle. Not good at all.
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
That's not what he said. While I disagree with what he's saying, he's saying that - in the example you laid out - if the person drops 20 lb, 10 of those lb would be muscle, so (s)he'd weigh 180 lb, with 125 lb of LBM.
Inside muscle tissue is stored carbohydrates in the form of glycogen, fat and water. When you diet, the amount of glycogen, water and fat stored in your muscles is going to drop. In the first week or so of dieting, you’ll lose muscle glycogen and water a lot more quickly than you drop fat.
Since some of the material stored in your muscles has been lost, you could say that you’ve lost muscle. Ok, so technically all that’s happened is that your muscles have flattened out a bit. When I talk about losing muscle, I’m referring to the ongoing loss of muscle protein over a period of weeks and months, rather than the initial loss of glycogen, water or intramuscular fat. Don't complicate what I'm trying to say people. My whole freaking point is losing weight by diet alone isn't good. Can we just agree on that? WTF.1 -
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Listen, exercise increases the calories your burn. Do you have to do it in a gym, no. But it is a place designed to facilitate specific kinds of exercise. Don't let this person get under your skin... If it's working for you keep it up. Secondly, yes you can lose weight just with diet alone, but the gym will help you recomp your body.1
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Wow I was just thinking about this because I had my annual physical this week and my doctor told me that losing weight is about 80% dependent on calorie intake and 20% exercise. She stressed that exercise is necessary for overall health and to keep doing it, but when it comes to actually losing weight it's more about food.1
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Fatvaporizer wrote: »So I was talking about how I had been working out consistently trying to lose weight, along with cutting back on what I ate/dieting, and the person started this whole lecture about how exercise is useless and that only watching what you eat matters to lose weight. So I said, so you're saying cardio and all that is useless to lose weight, what's the point of gyms and such? He was like people just want to make money.
I then pointed out that I actually did drop a lot of pounds from consistent exercise and diet over time. And he said well, that's all just because of your diet, and tried convincing me not to exercise anymore, but instead just diet and do zero cardio/workouts. I got a bit angry at this point as it seemed like he just said all the months of working out didn't contribute to any weight loss, and it was just my diet/eating less.
I concluded and asked him where he got his information from and he said a few videos on YouTube say exercise does not make you lose weight and it all depends on diet alone.
What's your take on this? I found it discouraging and somewhat felt I was being sabotaged of my weight loss. Thanks for your feedback and I apologize if this thread comes off a bit ranty.
PS: No offense but this person himself was trying to lose weight but always said he had no time to 'work out.'
Your friend is misinterpreting information. Diet is far and away the most important part of losing weight...when you consume less than you expend, you lose weight. Exercise is beneficial for weight management, including weight loss in that it increases your energy expenditure...but exercise isn't for weight loss...if it was, nobody who is maintaining would be exercising. You can lose weight, maintain weight, and gain weight all while exercising.
I'm in maintenance and I train quite a bit...I maintain because I eat to maintenance...if I wanted to lose weight, I'd cut calories, my training wouldn't change.
He's just misinterpreting the information...there are tons of people who think if they're exercising they'll lose weight...I see them all of the time in the gym...they have the fitness part down, but their diet isn't in order so nothing ever really happens...that was likely the point that the YouTube video was alluding to and he misinterpreted things.0 -
Fatvaporizer wrote: »So I was talking about how I had been working out consistently trying to lose weight, along with cutting back on what I ate/dieting, and the person started this whole lecture about how exercise is useless and that only watching what you eat matters to lose weight. So I said, so you're saying cardio and all that is useless to lose weight, what's the point of gyms and such? He was like people just want to make money.
Exercise can play a small factor in losing weight, largely indirectly. But it has a much more significant role in both your overall health and in maintaining weight loss.
The number of calories you burn will create a relatively small calorie deficit. It all adds up. It also acts as an appetite suppressant - which makes it easier to stay within your calorie goal. I lost 73 lbs in 8 months without exercising beyond climbing to my 3rd floor office a couple of times a day (circumstances - like working 80-100 hours a week don't leave much time for exercise). It's pretty close to the same rate of loss I have when I'm swimming 3/4 - 1 mile a day (approximately an hour of cardio exercise/day) with the same caloric intake.
It plays a more significant role in weight maintenance because you're not trying to create a calorie deficit - but not overeat, and since you don't need a calorie deficit the quantity of calories you burn relative to the deficit you're trying to crate is a non issue, and feeling less hungry can help you stick to your resolve.
But the health benefits of exercising are tremendous, especially the benefits of a cardio workout.
So - keep exercising, but don't be fooled into thinking that it will make you lose weight significantly faster.
If it really concerns you, find some realistic figures for calories burned and track how many extra calories you actually get to eat. I think my hour of swimming/day got me about one more cookie.0 -
Thanks for the feedback everyone. So I've come to the conclusion that first of all, this guy is wrong - exercise definitely helps in weight loss. Diet alone can cause weight loss, but a combination of both speeds the process up and is more efficient, i.e, exercising and burning a specific amount of calories from it makes you not have to eat too little just to create a caloric deficit, which is essential for weight loss, which happens once you reach 3500 kcal.
So my conclusion is someone who just diets without exercise could lose weight, but it'd take longer for them and they would have to eat even less than someone who does both exercise and dieting.
- One last question though, I've lost weight so far exercising consistently and eating less, but how can I know if actually just eating less actually resulted in my weight loss, without the exercise? But then, I'm sure the exercising was also a major part of it, at least I'd like to believe that because I had to work my butt off and sweat day to day. I just wish I was sure it wasn't JUST the dieting.
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Fatvaporizer wrote: »- One last question though, I've lost weight so far exercising consistently and eating less, but how can I know if actually just eating less without exercising actually resulted in my weight loss? But then, I'm sure the exercising was also a major part of it. I just wish I was sure it wasn't JUST the dieting.
The answer is, what difference does it make? You're succeeding, stop overthinking things and get on with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it.13 -
AriesGal329 wrote: »Wow I was just thinking about this because I had my annual physical this week and my doctor told me that losing weight is about 80% dependent on calorie intake and 20% exercise. She stressed that exercise is necessary for overall health and to keep doing it, but when it comes to actually losing weight it's more about food.
What? A doctor giving reasonable advice? Don't read that here often
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CICO is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness. Why. Not. Have. Both? They compliment each other. Matter of fact, if you learn to exercise regularly while losing weight, once you have lost the weight you have a MUCH better chance of keeping it off long term. Sounds like this guy the OP is talking about is the definition of "misery loves company". You don't need to exercise to lose weight, but why wouldn't you?3
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Fatvaporizer wrote: »Thanks for the feedback everyone. So I've come to the conclusion that first of all, this guy is wrong - exercise definitely helps in weight loss. Diet alone can cause weight loss, but a combination of both speeds the process up and is more efficient, i.e, exercising and burning a specific amount of calories from it makes you not have to eat too little just to create a caloric deficit, which is essential for weight loss, which happens once you reach 3500 kcal.
So my conclusion is someone who just diets without exercise could lose weight, but it'd take longer for them and they would have to eat even less than someone who does both exercise and dieting.
- One last question though, I've lost weight so far exercising consistently and eating less, but how can I know if actually just eating less actually resulted in my weight loss, without the exercise? But then, I'm sure the exercising was also a major part of it, at least I'd like to believe that because I had to work my butt off and sweat day to day. I just wish I was sure it wasn't JUST the dieting.
I lost around 50lbs without exercise being a factor and I lost at a steady rate of around 1-2lbs per week. And yes I would have eaten less calories than someone who was exercising and eating their exercise calories. Now in maintenance I have around 1,800 calories to maintain, with exercise still not a factor. I control my weight 100% by my calorie intake and it works well for me 1 -
Fatvaporizer wrote: »- One last question though, I've lost weight so far exercising consistently and eating less, but how can I know if actually just eating less without exercising actually resulted in my weight loss? But then, I'm sure the exercising was also a major part of it. I just wish I was sure it wasn't JUST the dieting.
The answer is, what difference does it make? You're succeeding, stop overthinking things and get on with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it.
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you. But I'm saying if diet alone made me lose this weight, and not the exercise, then why would I continue to exercise as that would be unnecessary in my weight loss journey. I'd save a little time and energy, you know?
But if the exercising was a big part of my weight loss too, then of course it's worth continuing. I just meant that I didn't want to keep doing it if it didn't really contribute to weight loss, since that was the main reason I started an exercise routine. Hope that makes sense.0 -
Fatvaporizer wrote: »Fatvaporizer wrote: »- One last question though, I've lost weight so far exercising consistently and eating less, but how can I know if actually just eating less without exercising actually resulted in my weight loss? But then, I'm sure the exercising was also a major part of it. I just wish I was sure it wasn't JUST the dieting.
The answer is, what difference does it make? You're succeeding, stop overthinking things and get on with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it.
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you. But I'm saying if diet alone made me lose this weight, and not the exercise, then why would I continue to exercise as that would be unnecessary in my weight loss journey. I'd save a little time and energy, you know?
Because there is more to being healthy than just the weight loss, and exercising will help with that. Also to ensure the weight lost is more fat and not more muscle.
No question the exercise helped, but probably the 20% someone posted above with 80% being diet.0
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