Eating Healthy Vs. working out(burning calories).
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Desertcolt07 wrote: »cant out exersize a bad diet
But it's also hard to "out diet" a sedentary lifestyle.
I disagree because I lost 40kg without doing any exercise whatsoever - purely clean eating. I may not have been fit and probably lost muscle too, but I did lose the weight. I wouldn't do it again though. This I'm not dieting and am doing cardio and strength training so it's a much slower but more enjoyable process.CaliMomTeach wrote: »I did. Not saying that it is the healthiest road to take, but I lost 55 pounds with calorie restriction alone (followed what it said on her for daily calories). Now, I am adding exercise for the last month, about 30 minutes elliptical 5-6 days per week, and I have actually gained weight. What happened? I ate more.
Working out makes me hungrier.
How do you disagree? @Azdak didn't say you can't lose weight without exercise, he said you can't reap the benefits of exercise and avoid the pitfalls of being sedentary by eating a certain way.1 -
This is not an either/or scenario. If you just want to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than your body burns. You can do that through eating fewer calories, exercising more, or some combination of the two.
"Eating healthy" is a very vague term. Simply eating more vegetables and less sugar, for example, will not necessarily cause you to lose weight. You must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. But eating nutritious foods in the proportions MFP recommends will help you ensure that your body is getting the macronutrients it needs.
Exercise alone also will not cause you to lose weight. You can easily eat back all of the calories you burned through exercising if you don't track what you eat. Track your calories and make sure you're staying within your goals.0 -
I want to hear from either side, what is better for weight loss, what are some of your advices, typical goal and accomplishments for both. Further, input on people doing both Eating healthy and working out.
Share some pics, share some charts please!!!
You lose weight when you're in a calorie deficit, exercise or not. You can do all the exercise in the world, but if you are eating at maintenance, you'll maintain...if you're eating in a calorie surplus, you will gain weight regardless of exercising.0 -
BOTH.
I don't care how much people say that diet is what matters. Of course it is. But it's much easier to stick to a 2000 calorie diet because you're active, than 1300 because you're sitting on the couch or in a chair all day.
I would never have lost the weight and maintained the loss if I wasn't active. NEVER. The other day I was exhausted and had two naps and ended up burning 1800 calories (and somehow still got 5000 steps). I ended up over by quite a bit because my appetite didn't care that I was exhausted. On my normal days, I burn 2500. That's one extra meal right there... I can eat MORE now than when I was 215 lbs without gaining. Let that sink in (ok to be fair, I'm hungrier too).
Activity is EVERYTHING.
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I feel like I need the exercise in part to keep me out of the house and off the couch lol.
If I go home right after work and plant myself on the couch, food cravings won't be far behind.
Exercise is essential for me not only to buy me more calories, but to keep me occupied and break the cycle of getting home and stuffing my face 3 -
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I feel that when people ask this question, sometimes what they really mean is 'what should I tackle first - diet or exercise (and do I really need both)'.
The answer to 'do you really need both' has been answered already. For weight loss you must have diet dialed in - even if you exercise. For overall health you need a good amount of daily activity and/or deliberate exercise.
To me, proper diet is the first thing to get right. It's guaranteed that if you get diet right, you will lose weight. Same cannot be said for exercise.
Get diet straightened out, lose some weight, you should then feel better able to tackle exercise. Then you can take your time figuring out what you like to do and ramp up as appropriate for your fitness level while still losing. Plus, once you get started you get some extra calories as incentive, which is probably the only thing that keeps some people exercising until they get to the point where they enjoy it or it is a habit.1 -
You can lose weight on a diet of Twinkies and chocolate milk while sitting on the couch. You can also gain fat while working out like a fiend. It's all about calories in versus calories out. You have to know what you are consuming and what you are burning.2
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lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Better for what? Weigh loss?
I'm going to say none of the above. Option C: calorie deficit.
Or all of the above. I had a calorie deficit, and created it through exercise AND eating less, and my diet was healthy (which to me means calorically appropriate for one's goals, not too high, not too low, plus nutritionally sufficient). I don't get why eating healthy and working out would be something to choose between. Personally I eat better when I'm working out, normally.
Rant not directed at you, cerise noir, I just tagged on to your post, which I agree with, and kept writing, heh! ;-)
Didn't see it that way. No worries!
Besides, it was rather late (and I was quite foggy) when I responded to the post. OP wasn't all that clear to begin with (OP edited after my reply: did not mention weight loss initially, just asked which is better: eating healthy or exercise?)1 -
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NorthCascades wrote: »Desertcolt07 wrote: »cant out exersize a bad diet
But it's also hard to "out diet" a sedentary lifestyle.I disagree because I lost 40kg without doing any exercise whatsoever - purely clean eating. I may not have been fit and probably lost muscle too, but I did lose the weight. I wouldn't do it again though. This I'm not dieting and am doing cardio and strength training so it's a much slower but more enjoyable process.CaliMomTeach wrote: »I did. Not saying that it is the healthiest road to take, but I lost 55 pounds with calorie restriction alone (followed what it said on her for daily calories). Now, I am adding exercise for the last month, about 30 minutes elliptical 5-6 days per week, and I have actually gained weight. What happened? I ate more. Working out makes me hungrier.
How do you disagree? @Azdak didn't say you can't lose weight without exercise, he said you can't reap the benefits of exercise and avoid the pitfalls of being sedentary by eating a certain way.
It was really just meant to be a play on words.
However, in the same pedantic spirit of those comments, it IS possible to out exercise a bad diet; it's just not a very effective way to do it.
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NorthCascades wrote: »
But the question is - can a person amputate enough to lose the weight they want and still survive without changing anything else?
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NorthCascades wrote: »
...but preparing appropriate food with an appropriate amount of calories occurs in the kitchen and that is what ensures weight loss vs going to the gym and then stopping for a bacon cheesburger, chili cheese fries, and a chocolate shake and wondering why you aren't losing weight.
Eta:
Actually, weight loss does happen in the kitchen. Weight gain happens in the dining room, lol.3 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Desertcolt07 wrote: »cant out exersize a bad diet
But it's also hard to "out diet" a sedentary lifestyle.I disagree because I lost 40kg without doing any exercise whatsoever - purely clean eating. I may not have been fit and probably lost muscle too, but I did lose the weight. I wouldn't do it again though. This I'm not dieting and am doing cardio and strength training so it's a much slower but more enjoyable process.CaliMomTeach wrote: »I did. Not saying that it is the healthiest road to take, but I lost 55 pounds with calorie restriction alone (followed what it said on her for daily calories). Now, I am adding exercise for the last month, about 30 minutes elliptical 5-6 days per week, and I have actually gained weight. What happened? I ate more. Working out makes me hungrier.
How do you disagree? @Azdak didn't say you can't lose weight without exercise, he said you can't reap the benefits of exercise and avoid the pitfalls of being sedentary by eating a certain way.
It was really just meant to be a play on words.
However, in the same pedantic spirit of those comments, it IS possible to out exercise a bad diet; it's just not a very effective way to do it.
I get that it was a play on words, but there's still truth there, and I'm confused as to how @kimothy38 and @Desertcolt07 think they're refuting it.
Here's a quote from a recent MFP blog, which is currently on the front page:
“Physical activity reduces the risk of cancers, heart disease and diabetes, which are the main serious illnesses, so active people are less likely to end up in hospital,” says Ewald.
The fact that people have lost weight without exercise doesn't change the facts listed above.2 -
I know when I am not working out I am a lot more aware of what goes in my mouth, so I can maintain and usually end up losing. When I am working out, I am more loose on my calories and more often than not probably go over and splurge more because I have that mind set that I will just work it off. I prefer to work out so I have those extra calories, not fun for me to maintain on 1800 cals a day. Although recently I discovered by just increasing my steps to over 10,000 a day I can burn up to 2,200 cals a day without even working out. I have been taking more days just to walk and be more active with my kids rather then exhausting myself with a high impact workout.1
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You can lose weight through diet alone. Depends on whatever works best for you. My opinion would be a mixture of both. Exercising and training at the gym made me feel stronger and more mentally together.
Exercising allows me to eat more, my current average is 1700-1800 calories a day and I can still lose a pound a week.0 -
Desertcolt07 wrote: »cant out exersize a bad diet
Thats very true0 -
"Of all the causes which conspire to render the life of a man short and miserable, none have greater influence than the want of proper exercise."
-Dr. William Buchan
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercise-and-aging-can-you-walk-away-from-father-time0 -
By far, what you eat has a bigger impact on your weight.2
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Funny thing about physical activity: it tends to make me more prone to craving healthier foods and less prone to craving junk food. I don't know why, but it's an interesting feedback loop and I've experienced it both times I went from "eat whatever; including too much junk" to "pay attention to what I eat and move more".
So, if I was going to suggest one small simple change that a person could make in their life that would help them lose weight, I would suggest going for a walk instead of having an evening snack. For most people, the evening snack is the one at which they're most likely to be eating chips or cookies - possibly right out of the bag/box (which is horrible for portion control). Take a water bottle (or other no calorie drink) on the walk. If, after the walk, you're actually hungry then have a portion controlled snack. This breaks the habit of snacking because it's what you do (rather than because you're hungry), provides a little extra calorie burn and cuts a few calories all at once. But it's only one small change and it would be manageable for most people.
Yes, I realize that that advice won't work for *everyone*. I'd come up with something different for somebody with a disability or a single parent who can't leave their child alone (though the advice might involve taking the kid for a walk) or a person who lives in a really scary neigbourhood or a person who doesn't have an evening snack.1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Desertcolt07 wrote: »cant out exersize a bad diet
But it's also hard to "out diet" a sedentary lifestyle.I disagree because I lost 40kg without doing any exercise whatsoever - purely clean eating. I may not have been fit and probably lost muscle too, but I did lose the weight. I wouldn't do it again though. This I'm not dieting and am doing cardio and strength training so it's a much slower but more enjoyable process.CaliMomTeach wrote: »I did. Not saying that it is the healthiest road to take, but I lost 55 pounds with calorie restriction alone (followed what it said on her for daily calories). Now, I am adding exercise for the last month, about 30 minutes elliptical 5-6 days per week, and I have actually gained weight. What happened? I ate more. Working out makes me hungrier.
How do you disagree? @Azdak didn't say you can't lose weight without exercise, he said you can't reap the benefits of exercise and avoid the pitfalls of being sedentary by eating a certain way.
It was really just meant to be a play on words.
However, in the same pedantic spirit of those comments, it IS possible to out exercise a bad diet; it's just not a very effective way to do it.
I get that it was a play on words, but there's still truth there, and I'm confused as to how @kimothy38 and @Desertcolt07 think they're refuting it.
Here's a quote from a recent MFP blog, which is currently on the front page:
“Physical activity reduces the risk of cancers, heart disease and diabetes, which are the main serious illnesses, so active people are less likely to end up in hospital,” says Ewald.
The fact that people have lost weight without exercise doesn't change the facts listed above.
Not to mention the "energy surfeit" effect which shows that incurring a deficit via diet and exercise is (mildly) more effective than the same deficit created by diet alone. Or the reports from the natl weight registry that something like 90% of those maintaining long-term weight loss continue to follow a vigorous workout routine.3 -
Jeremy_zcjj1138 wrote: »By far, what you eat has a bigger impact on your weight.
What you eat has a bigger impact on your weight than what? How much you eat? Disagree.1 -
Im in the both camp
Calorie deficit gets me my fat and weight loss goals
If i used food only to create that calorie deficit i would be pretty darn miserable as i love food
Exercise makes me feel great especially exercising outdoors and it has the pretty spectacular side effect of allowing me a bit more food to eat0 -
SusanMFindlay wrote: »Funny thing about physical activity: it tends to make me more prone to craving healthier foods and less prone to craving junk food. I don't know why, but it's an interesting feedback loop and I've experienced it both times I went from "eat whatever; including too much junk" to "pay attention to what I eat and move more".
I have found this to be true with me too. I don't "demonize" any foods but when I am doing burpees and I ate like some delicious greasy thing for dinner the night before it makes me feel gross (rarely, even sick) while working out (early in the morning). I tend to reach for healthier snacks while I am more active. I still will eat a pizza, I just find myself ordering smaller sizes and healthier toppings. I dunno, something about exercise gets me mentally focused as well, so I find doing both to be really important for my success.1 -
Definitely both. If you have trouble with diet, nail that down first, at least that's my input based on it being the usual struggle. Once you are good there, add the workouts. I suggest that so you have 1 thing to focus on to get in line, then add the other. Don't use working out as reasoning to eat like crazy, or you undo everything you work towards.0
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That's a tough one since both are vital. When I used to lift all the time and was moving almost constantly I could, and needed to, take in a lot of calories. Now due to time I'm not as active plus I'm getting older so I need my calories down around 2000 a day to lose any weight.0
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