how much is exercise vs diet

Weight loss happens from having a calorie deficit. How you create that deficit is up to you. But you can lose weight 100% from diet alone.

BaddS4 wrote: »

I have found that it's 80% diet and 20% workout.. But that's me.. If I eat what I want and workout I get zero results.. I almost have to starve myself and workout to get anywhere.... The thing that's worked the best for me and I've lost a truck load of weight was removing any starchy foods.. Bread, Pasta, rice and potatoes... Notta one... Dropped 90 pounds doing that.. Mind you I've snuck back on 25 so I came back.. (clothes were getting tight) lol

This.
At 50 and with a 43lbs loss, had a few weeks of stalled progress, dropped ice cream kept calories the same and BAM down a pound.
As we get older, diet becomes more critical.

It's an individual thing, but most people will find that they can more easily create a deficit by controlling how much you eat. Generally, it's easier to cut 200 cals out of your diet than to burn an extra 200 cals through increased movement.

However, that leaves out the fact that it is important to exercise for health, that exercise will allow you to eat a bit more than you would if you didn't exercise (important for diet adherence), and you may find a form of exercise that you enjoy enough that it is easier for you to create your deficit entirely through exercise while eating as normal.

NorthCascades wrote: »

This would be so much more miserable without exercise. Not only would I have to starve myself, but most of my fun would be gone. And every hour I spend on the trail is an hour I don't spend near tempting food; weight loss is about avoiding the kitchen, not hanging out in the next room from it.

Oh, I love this analogy! So very true.

kaylajane11 wrote: »

I read once that you can't out-exercise a bad diet, but you can probably out-exercise a mediocre one. For me this is bang on. My diet is not totally on point, but with regular exercise I'm able to achieve my goals and still eat lots of treats. If I had the same eating habits but didn't exercise, I would certainly be gaining weight.

This is it for me, too. When I just restrict what I eat without working out, all I think about is food and feel miserable. When I work out, I can eat a little more, but I also am more motivated to eat well (hit my protein goals, eat at a moderate deficit) because I am focused on fitness goals and don't want to waste my hard work at the gym by overeating. That said, I am only about 15 lbs from my goal- which I gained when I stopped exercising over a couple years. So, if I do the math, assuming the exact same food intake, I was in an average surplus of approximately 500 calories a week for those 2 years to gain 15lbs. I easily burn 500 calories a week when I'm working out, so I *could* have out exercised the gain. Of course, if I had gained 45lbs in that same time, that would be a surplus of 1500 calories a week, which would have been much, MUCH harder for me to burn off a week through exercise alone.

That said, weight loss is 100% calorie deficit. Whether you do that through simply eating less, or a combination of eating less and moving more is up to you. The best plan is what you can stick with. Exercise is a large component of fitness and health, but isn't necessarily needed for dropping pounds.

catmomfat wrote: »

I have always been pretty active. Not as much in the last year as I should have been because of having to care for family members and working two jobs. But I try to make it to the gym or ride my bike or do something at least 3-4 days a week. But as I have passed 35 the pounds come on faster and leave slower. Ugh. So is diet really 90% of weight loss. I know in my 20's and early 30's I ate everything I wanted and never gained an ounce.

It is all about being in calorie deficit. That said, I found it much easier to maintain that calorie deficit if I'm training, so psychologically the training helps.

Diet is 100% of weight loss, but not 100% of overall health. IMO.
Exercise all I want, if I dont have my diet under control, I won't lose weight.

Weight loss is a function of Calories In vs Calories Out. Many people are able to successfully manage their weight by simply "watching what they eat" - either by logging and tracking or by "doing what has always worked".

Typically, as we age, our metabolic rates tend to drop... which means that we burn less calories than we used to. If we don't adjust our diets accordingly, we will start to gain that weight back.

If you are active, strong, healthy - you'll tend to have a higher metabolism. If you are a couch potato, you will have a slower one.

Our culture is a culture of excess. We have supersized everything. Unless we offset our desire for multiple helpings, high calorie drinks and treats, high calorie fatty foods by maintaining an active lifestyle - we will gain weight.

If you want to lose weight, eat less than you burn... but remember that your rate of burn will decrease the less you do. If you like to eat, then you need to find ways to increase your burn rate. (extra cals through muscle mass, and cardio, for example).


Healthy living is a different topic altogether. That's where the quality of what you eat comes into play.


Think of it as a budget.... you have a set of expenses (mortgage, food, heat, gas, etc, and fun). As time goes by (you age), your expenses will increase (inflation). You can either make more money to cover off those same expenses, and pad your pockets to pay for some fun on the sides.... or you can strip out the fun and cut back on some of your adjustable core expenses.

At the end of the day... if you spend more than you earn, you'll be in the hole.

this a loaded question your going too get a lot of opinions on this one i think the correct answer for me would be what ever works for you every body is different

Exercise can help offset your defecit. Say you are in a 400 calorie defecit. If you can consistently burn 200 calories a day, you could eat at a 200 calorie defecit. The problem with that, is being consistent with your exercise. I'm in a cut now, and am back to doing cardio. I see it as extra burned calories, but don't rely on it to stay in a defecit.

IMHO it's pointless to try and put a percentage on something that is both personal and variable.
Weight loss/gain/maintenance is down to your calorie balance over an extended period of time. Nice and simple.

I like exercise. I also like nachos, beer, and all sorts of other unhealthy fattening crap

Nachos and beer aren't unhealthy or fattening though (as part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle).
Eating crap though - yuk! Why would you do that?

My suggestion would be look at the bigger picture rather than breaking it down into diet, exercise, good/bad foods and using age as an excuse in your 30's - that just needs to be kicked into touch. It's giving yourself a justification for failure.

When I was losing I had this perfect 20 pound loss over 10 weeks. According to the calories logged and the exercise sixteen pounds were lost from diet, only four pounds from walking two miles daily. Obviously YMMV.