The science is in: exercise won’t help you lose much weight

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  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    in other news, the earth revolves around the sun ...
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    I can see that. People think " oh ,I worked out, I can eat more".

    50 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow. Should I not eat more afterwards?

    You get a cookie
  • junodog1
    junodog1 Posts: 4,792 Member
    BrianSharpe wrote: »
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=VKs0oEIVOck

    People forget there's two parts to eat less, move more......

    LMAO
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    I can see that. People think " oh ,I worked out, I can eat more".

    50 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow. Should I not eat more afterwards?

    You get a cookie

    ... but I'm not allowed to eat it. Maybe it comes with a mat and frame!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    heidishmidi wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    I can see that. People think " oh ,I worked out, I can eat more".

    50 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow. Should I not eat more afterwards?

    I think it's more the "i went on the elliptical for 30 minutes so now i can enjoy this venti caramel frappuccino!"mindset

    I'd like to be a smartass and say something like "well, calories are only really burned outdoors then."

    I'm not going to ride 50 miles for the calories, that's unthinkable. I'm going to do it because it means I'm going to spend 3 hours exploring a beautiful place, without walls and a ceiling like in my car. I won't be in a rush like when I've driven through the area before, I'll be able to smell the pines. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city again.

    But I'm also going to burn a lot of calories, and I'm going to replace them all with tacos.

    Maybe another difference is you can't really know how many calories you've burned on an elliptical. I use a power meter to measure (torque vector and angular velocity) how much energy I put into the bike and will never be more than 5% off from the truth with this method.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Last Sunday at a family reunion several people asked me how I did it. My wife jumped in and said, "He ate a little less and moved a little more!"
  • jennyf55
    jennyf55 Posts: 24 Member
    A pound of fat = 3500 calories. You have to create a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. It's as simply as that. If you reduce your intake over a period of time by a total of 3500 calories or you use/burn more calories than you normally would to reduce the 3500 calories, it's still a matter of creating that deficit in order to lose that pound of fat. You can't burn the calories, then eat them back or vice versa and still expect loss weight. That's physically impossible.
  • MontyMuttland
    MontyMuttland Posts: 68 Member
    I often serve at the kiosk in the supermarket where I work and it saddens me how often I see ladies fresh out from their sessions in the gym buying their post-workout snacks consisting mainly of chocolate and full sugar energy drinks. They don't realise they are about to consume more calories just in that snack than they burned in the gym...
    But hey, their fellas were already in earlier stocking up on beer and crisps for the night, bypassing the whole exercise thing completely!
    But this is how things are shaping up in the UK now, a lot of folks are getting fatter and fatter whilst most of what they eat and drink is just making it worse.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    All I know is that when I am out on the bike trails most of the people I see exercising are far from overweight.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    It's true. Of course. Exercise and bad eating won't make you skinny.
    But, there is a famous study of people who successfully lost weight and then kept it off for at least two years, out of the University of Colorado, I believe.
    The researchers of this study have been using this group of people to try to identify what they do that has made them successful.
    One thing they almost all do: Exercise. They make a point of being active, regularly. It may not be vigorous exercise. It may be just walking. But they do it. It may not have been the key to their weight loss. But it does appear to be key to their weight maintenance.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    All I know is that when I am out on the bike trails most of the people I see exercising are far from overweight.

    Yes but wouldn't this observation mix up correlation with causation? As in, they may be far from overwheight but that doesn't mean it's the bike riding that's actually keeping their weight down but possibly a tight handle on their CICO, or maybe they are naturally very slender, or maybe even illness.

    *Yes, obviously of course exercise is a great tool to help us keep our weight down. I'm just giving examples of how correlation does not equal causation when examining the observation you posted.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I doubt TimothyFish is running into a lot of people riding mountain bikes on the trail who are so ill they're emaciated.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    I doubt TimothyFish is running into a lot of people riding mountain bikes on the trail who are so ill they're emaciated.

    It was simply an example of how unseen causes effect what we see. When causes are unseen we tend to draw conclusions with what's directly in front of us.

    Which is EXACTLY why it's so easy for people to think "Oh look that person works out and they are skinny, so working out makes people skinny."

    And then they are confused when they work out but keep eating tons and don't lose weight.

    It was simply an EXAMPLE.
  • RobBasss
    RobBasss Posts: 65 Member
    I lost 65 lbs 212->147, and when people ask, I tell them diet is 80% of it, that all the exercise in the world will not make a bit of difference if you don't get your diet in check. I have seen so many coworkers, friends, lost a good bit of weight short term, 3-6 months, but because they don't change their lifestyle, the weight comes back. Its not easy, even after 5+ years, it takes me being conscientious of what I eat still.
  • Enjcg5
    Enjcg5 Posts: 389 Member
    Great thread and great responses. What gets me is that people don't understand that in order to MAINTAIN the weight loss, you must MAINTAIN what got you there. Isn't the intense workout (stuff with big calorie burns) going to lead to burnout in the "average person?" Yet the same average person thinks using a food scale and counting calories is extreme.
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  • gradchica27
    gradchica27 Posts: 777 Member
    Exercise--vigorous exercise, that is--usually suppresses my appetite a bit. When I'm in a good place with exercise, my diet is better. I'm more motivated to keep a handle on my eating, and the effects of fried food or beer show up very obviously in decreased performance or GI pain during next workout (witness last night's homemade pizza and wine fest coming back to bite me as I type, walking after a tough lifting session). When I can't exercise bc of injury, etc I eat like crap. It's like I can't muster the energy to make a salad and just lay on the couch with Oreos. No immediate repercussions bc I'm not moving enough to get them....until I step on the scale.

    But...I totally see the "I earned this sundae " mentality too. Isn't there a term for the way doing something you perceive as virtuous (exercising, using your reusable shopping bag) giving you the moral license to cheat/be looser with another choice?
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
    edited July 2017
    Oh I totally would believe that this problem affects people. I was at the gym once and saw two girls walk in, go on the spin bike for literally 20 minutes, drink Gatorade, then afterwards eat protein bars and leave.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited July 2017
    katadx wrote: »
    Oh I totally would believe that this problem affects people. I was at the gym once and saw two girls walk in, go on the spin bike for literally 20 minutes, drink Gatorade, then afterwards eat protein bars and leave.

    Well I don't know how many calories are in Gatorade but the protein bar makes sense to me.
    I drink a bottle of chocolate milk (fortified with 26g of protein) after I work out.
    Ok that's also after an hour of weightlifting... and done for recover... and worked into my daily calories...


  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    There was a study (don't feel like Googling) that people ate more after "exercise" than after "sightseeing", even when the setting/distance were the same. People reward themselves for suffering.
  • Hypsibius
    Hypsibius Posts: 207 Member
    edited July 2017
    katadx wrote: »
    Oh I totally would believe that this problem affects people. I was at the gym once and saw two girls walk in, go on the spin bike for literally 20 minutes, drink Gatorade, then afterwards eat protein bars and leave.

    It's funny, now that I'm in better shape I only drink Gatorade when in either A). Running a half-marathon or long-distance bike ride or B.). I'm really sick (we're talking the flu) and need to replenish fluids.

    Back in the day I used to drink tons of the stuff to "hydrate" and didn't realize just how many calories I was adding to my diet. It shocked me when I finally started looking at nutrition labels just how much sugar is in these beverages.
  • callum969696
    callum969696 Posts: 1 Member
    If your going to work out and try become healthy you shouldn't be eating or drinking anything bad anyway, you just need to be making sure that the pros and more than the cons but remember that you need to stay interested, mid it up
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