Exercise doesn't help you lose weight...say what?

rylieistrapgod wrote: »

From excercise alone i went from a size 50 in pants to a 38 thats without changing my eating habits.

So you burned more than you consumed. That's called a calorie deficit. If you consumed your TDEE, you won't lose weight. Exercise doesn't cause the weight loss, it's not eating up to your TDEE.

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

Doesn't matter how much you exercise, if you eat too much you will gain

Eating less is what mainly helps you lose weight, but also fuel those muscles, provide nutrients etc

Exercising helps you lose weight quicker and build muscle as well as making you body healthier, such as heart, lungs etc which eating does not

So both is just as important as each other

I've never been able to lose a significant amount of weight without increasing my activity/exercise, so it works for me!

@Nony_Mouse Sorry, I'm bored at work. The last post was actually just June of this year though, in my defense. LOL

So I agree with the comments above that diet is the most important thing, with exercise being a good way to supplement your weight loss and help you look lean. So that being said, why do shows like The Biggest Loser focus so much on exercise and hardly show anything regarding diet? I've always wondered what the obese contestants are eating because they make it seem like rigorous exercise is all these people need and if they miss a workout they wont lose weight. If weight loss meant being tortured with intense exercise the way they are.. I would have thrown in the towel ages ago

Amanda387575 wrote: »

I’ve heard that exercise does help you to lose weight in conjunction with a balanced diet but it’s the myth that getting your heart rate going etc will help you lose weight that is wrong...that’s what I read anyway.

If by balanced diet you mean eating less than you burn in total - then correct.

All the exercise does for weight loss is allow you to eat more than you could without exercise to keep the same deficit.

Now, it could very well be that eating more is what is needed for you to adhere and sustain the diet.

But it's a whole lot easier for majority of people to cut 500 calories from existing eating level than attempt to burn 500 extra each and every day, to lose the same amount.

Exercise is for heart health and body transformation - it actually has side effect of increasing weight. And in free-living individuals (not counting calories) it actually causes them to usually eat more than they even burn.

missysippy930 wrote: »

Calorie deficit = weight loss, burning more calories than you consume.

Exercise is beneficial to overall health, but you need to eat less calories than you burn for weight loss

Or, as you noted in your first sentence, you need to burn more than you consume. That's where exercise helps.

Cherimoose wrote: »

ashleypetrie4 wrote: »

You can't out run a bad diet

Not sure i agree with this cliche. Many have lost weight while eating foods perceived as "bad", simply by increasing their calorie output.

"Most studies indicate that .. when combined with dietary restriction, exercise has a synergistic effect and enhances weight loss beyond the effect of diet alone."
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23174547

Unless you define a "bad diet" as one in which you consistently overeat [any] foods and consume more calories than you burn.

YepItsKriss wrote: »

missysippy930 wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

missysippy930 wrote: »

Calorie deficit = weight loss, burning more calories than you consume.

Exercise is beneficial to overall health, but you need to eat less calories than you burn for weight loss

Or, as you noted in your first sentence, you need to burn more than you consume. That's where exercise helps.

Exercise doesn't help you lose weight unless you eat at a calorie deficit. You burn calories just living. You do not have to exercise to lose weight.

You don't have to eat at a deficit, you can eat to maintenance and then exercise to create that deficit. Its just easier to make a deficit with food then it is with exercise.

Semantics. You are burning more calories than you are consuming. Eating less calories than you are burning.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

missysippy930 wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

missysippy930 wrote: »

Calorie deficit = weight loss, burning more calories than you consume.

Exercise is beneficial to overall health, but you need to eat less calories than you burn for weight loss

Or, as you noted in your first sentence, you need to burn more than you consume. That's where exercise helps.

Exercise doesn't help you lose weight unless you eat at a calorie deficit. You burn calories just living. You do not have to exercise to lose weight.

If a person is overeating by 200 calories a day (enough to gain 20 lbs a year) they could easily burn their way to a deficit with zero dietary changes.

Again, burning more calories than you are consuming.