What is worse, a bad food day or mostly sedentary day?
CDCosta1
Posts: 5 Member
I have an office job and can be largely sedentary (sitting down). I need to exercise or go for walks but can days where I am glued to my desk.
Conversely, I can have some very active days (playing with kids, gym, walks) but may indulge is some comfort foods and treats.
So what is worse?
Conversely, I can have some very active days (playing with kids, gym, walks) but may indulge is some comfort foods and treats.
So what is worse?
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Replies
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It all depends on the calories. How many calories do you burn vs how many do you indulge? If you indulge more calories than you burn from exercise, then it worse for weight loss.6
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hmmm I am not so sure about that. I think in terms of basic calories-in verse energy-expenditure then the response hits the mark.
It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.
For example, people often feel that if they have exercised then they can indulge in alcohol or processed foods which can be counter productive to the exercise performed.
Also considering momentum, if I have been sitting around for a long time it can be harder to get up and moving again.12 -
Worse for what? For me, personally, if I am not lifting, unless I am eating at maintenance that is not a good situation for me. Now one day wouldn't matter to me but I would feel worse about not getting my lifting in vs bad food days consistently. As long as I'm lifting I'm good to go, even if I'm gaining a bit.
*But since you did not specify, this is for me and my goals,. not for general weight loss. Just to clarify4 -
Neither is better or worse without context, and neither is the only option. You can have an office job and take an evening walk, or be active and set alcohol limits for yourself. If you understand that momentum doesn't emerge from thin air (it has to be built) and that a day with one less alcoholic drink is progress, you wouldn't be making comparisons only at the extremes. You'd be watching your progress through small incremental changes without sorting your days into black or while "good" and "bad" categories. A day doesn't mean much, what happens over time is what matters. If you're asking what is worse in general, being sedentary or being fat, that's a whole other discussion, and even that has nuances.5
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hmmm I am not so sure about that. I think in terms of basic calories-in verse energy-expenditure then the response hits the mark.
It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.
For example, people often feel that if they have exercised then they can indulge in alcohol or processed foods which can be counter productive to the exercise performed.
Also considering momentum, if I have been sitting around for a long time it can be harder to get up and moving again.
You're contradicting yourself with regards to whether or not it's ok to have a day that is mostly sedentary and/or doesn't include any purposeful exercise. You say that often people who have exercised feel that they can indulge in alcohol in processed foods which can be counter productive. In the very next sentence, you talk about sitting around being a problem for you with regards to garnering the motivation to introduce some amount of movement into your day.
I would also argue that for many people, the idea that one can "indulge" after exercise isn't about emotions. It's not an emotional response for most people. It's funny because when you said, "It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.", I thought you were going to talk about the oft discussed idea that exercise can be helpful with regards to anxiety and/or depression (not for me, sadly).
And going back to what has already been said, weight loss is about calories in calories out. How you get there can be diverse, but it's about consuming fewer calories than you burn. Having comfort food and treats can fit in one's allotted calories of the day depending on how much they eat of those foods and how many calories they've burned (both by the very act of being alive as well as by exercising).2 -
hmmm I am not so sure about that. I think in terms of basic calories-in verse energy-expenditure then the response hits the mark.
It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.
For example, people often feel that if they have exercised then they can indulge in alcohol or processed foods which can be counter productive to the exercise performed.
Also considering momentum, if I have been sitting around for a long time it can be harder to get up and moving again.
You're contradicting yourself with regards to whether or not it's ok to have a day that is mostly sedentary and/or doesn't include any purposeful exercise. You say that often people who have exercised feel that they can indulge in alcohol in processed foods which can be counter productive. In the very next sentence, you talk about sitting around being a problem for you with regards to garnering the motivation to introduce some amount of movement into your day.
I would also argue that for many people, the idea that one can "indulge" after exercise isn't about emotions. It's not an emotional response for most people. It's funny because when you said, "It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.", I thought you were going to talk about the oft discussed idea that exercise can be helpful with regards to anxiety and/or depression (not for me, sadly).
And going back to what has already been said, weight loss is about calories in calories out. How you get there can be diverse, but it's about consuming fewer calories than you burn. Having comfort food and treats can fit in one's allotted calories of the day depending on how much they eat of those foods and how many calories they've burned (both by the very act of being alive as well as by exercising).
I agree especially with the bolded.
Also, I eat more when I've exercised a lot because my body needs fuel.
Regarding the emotional/psychological aspects of food & exercise ...- Fortunately, exercise works very well for me to keep my emotions etc. on a reasonably even keel. I use it to burn off frustrations. I use it to celebrate victories. It's all good.
. - Eating, on the other hand, has never been an emotional thing for me. I've always regarded food as fuel with the fortunate bonus that some food tastes great! Or maybe not so fortunate, because I can eat more than I need of the food that tastes great.
2 - Fortunately, exercise works very well for me to keep my emotions etc. on a reasonably even keel. I use it to burn off frustrations. I use it to celebrate victories. It's all good.
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some good responses and I think some people have picked up I intentionally omitted a context.
For me, exercise and diet never happen in isolation of my life so can never discount the impact of my emotional state or thinking going in to a health commitment. Kids, partner, work, future, past, and present impacts all play a role. A tense confrontation can really bolster a great aggressive lifting session. Poor sleep, unfortunately can lead me towards comfort eating.
I do think balance is a temporary state as is happiness. True happiness with life comes from not necessarily being happy but knowing how to find happiness. However happiness is not our only driver to take action.0 -
hmmm I am not so sure about that. I think in terms of basic calories-in verse energy-expenditure then the response hits the mark.
It does however, miss the real emotional and psychological impacts.
For example, people often feel that if they have exercised then they can indulge in alcohol or processed foods which can be counter productive to the exercise performed.
Also considering momentum, if I have been sitting around for a long time it can be harder to get up and moving again.
Being sedentary makes me feel like time is slipping away and I'm not making great use of it. And then it's gone forever. I know the reality is much more complex than that, like in the sense that having a job is really good for quality of life. But with that said, getting up and walking around a few blocks is emotionally very good for me.3 -
You have two buckets. One is labeled "Bad". The other is labeled "Worse".
Each evening, you toss your day into one of those buckets.
I suggest you get another bucket. Label it "Great". Make excuses to put your days in the Great bucket.
If you want to lose weight, stay in a calorie deficit most great days.5 -
I didn't go back very far to see if you stopped for a period of time but it looks like you have only been logging a week. Maybe the other thing you are missing here is that you should give yourself a little time to alter habits and ways of thinking. Perfection is not required to meet your goals and it is not a worthy goal because life is not a controlled experiment in health and fitness it is messy. Shoot for good enough as your goal.1
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hmmm I am not so sure about that. I think in terms of basic calories-in verse energy-expenditure then the response hits the mark.
For example, people often feel that if they have exercised then they can indulge in alcohol or processed foods which can be counter productive to the exercise performed.
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Not me. Quite the contrary.
I often feel I can indulge in alcohol and processed foods without even doing any excercise
I don't find them counterproductive at all.
But that's fine, my overall weekly calorie allowance is at the right level.
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I LOVE to exercise but I do think diet is more influential regarding weight loss/maintenance. So if you know you have a busy week or something and only have time to focus more on diet I.e. food prep, tracking, etc, OR squeezing in some exercise, I believe you’d have better results with option one and then getting back to exercising when you are able. Also, you can just try and take the stairs a little more, go for a short 10 min walk when you have a few minutes to spare, or thrown in a quick body weight circuit while you relax and watch TV.
Both dieting and exercising are types of stress for our bodies. So if you are going through a busy/stressful time and can only focus on one, I’d say diet is going to give you more bang for your buck. If you’re sedentary but eat at or below your maintenance, you’re going to be progressing toward your goals. However, if you exercise and blow up your diet, you may improve your fitness if that’s your primary goal, but will not succeed regarding weight loss or maintenance.
My husband is the prime example of this. He has a sedentary job and exercises here and there yet remains slim bc he doesn’t overeat very often. Now the other health benefits of exercise are another story. T0 -
My answer to topic question, it depends on what the day before was like.1
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Depends...which day has a higher calorie surplus?2
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eh i always think diet is more important, so i'll go with the 'bad' food day thing, if such a thing exists.0
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Potentially being truly sedentary is a higher health risk than being slightly overweight.
I believe the crossover is in the obese range.
<Data have not been verified>0 -
For me, a bad food day would be worse, but I've got other issues going on besides weight.1
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For me, neither.
I am more sedentary than "mostly sedentary" every day and it is purely by choice. CICO still works for me even without voluntary additional physical activity beyond what is necessary to live and function as an independently living adult in the US.
A "bad" food day as far as massively excessive caloric intake beyond my calculated daily goal used to mess with my head and even caused me to abandon more than one weight loss attempt in the past decade+. After almost four years on here, not anymore. So I no longer see how it is a "bad" thing, either, because I don't let it become one.
Probably helps that I no longer anthropomorphize/moralize or otherwise attribute emotional or psychological attributes to my food choices or level of, or absence thereof, physical activity. For me, it is indeed helping massively, at least this time around anyways. Probably also helps that the thing I am crutching on this attempt is not motivation or inspiration or resolve or anything along those lines but merely determination that finally decided to show up.
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