Exercise alone will not lose the lbs!!!

fang19423
fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I started a 30 day fitness challenge on 1st February - needless to say the aim was to become fitter, but I fully expected to be drop the pounds also. Today was day 20 and the latest progress report day and while I can categorically say I am toning up, I can also say, I have not lost any considerable weight. You can follow my challenge on my blog at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/fang19423/view/no-excuses-30-day-fitness-challenge-day-20-results-so-far-214275

I have lost the inches but not the pounts - Summary of results since challenge began 01FEB12 – Lost 0.45 lbs and lost 17.1”

I know that the experts have been saying for years that diet and fitness should be taken as a whole component, but I guess I have now prooved it. Have any of you found anything similiar?
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Replies

  • BIGJIMMYU
    BIGJIMMYU Posts: 1,221 Member
    Mine was the opposite. I dieted until I lost weight, then balooned back up. Once I started exercising I gained muscle which in turn raised my metabolism and now when I lose weight by exercising AND eating healthy the weight stays off when I lose it.
  • fang19423
    fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
    Mine was the opposite. I dieted until I lost weight, then balooned back up. Once I started exercising I gained muscle which in turn raised my metabolism and now when I lose weight by exercising AND eating healthy the weight stays off when I lose it.

    I guess we are saying the same thing - to keep the weight off you need to eat well and exercise together - one or the other on it's own won't work :-)
  • cadency
    cadency Posts: 51
    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/
  • littlehokie
    littlehokie Posts: 79
    The only way I lose is to eat less and move more. :-)
  • wickedcricket
    wickedcricket Posts: 1,246 Member
    17 inches!? that's awesome! with or without weight loss, 17 inches off LOOKS like you lost pounds so what's the diff?
  • camerongroupj
    camerongroupj Posts: 17 Member
    I am eating less, eating healthy, started running 3 miles/day, 6 days/week and after an initial 6 pounds lost I have gained back 2 (loss and gain took place over the course of 2 months). This is so discouraging! :sad:
  • mark2605
    mark2605 Posts: 23 Member
    Hear, hear. Exercise is no doubt very important, especially for mental and physical health. But I find, anecdotally (but it is also backed up by a lot of studies), that for pure weight loss, nutrition seems to be 70-80% of the battle. In fact, intensive exercising, in my case, seems to slow down my rate of weight loss, if anything, maybe because of the mythical "muscle growth" (dubious - it is seriously hard to build muscle, just google it) or maybe because exercise makes you retain serious amounts of water (more likely).

    To be clear, I'm not saying exercise is not an essential component in a weight loss journey. Besides its effects on health, it can also have a motivating effect and keep one on the straight and narrow. But I do feel like it has become very over-emphasised on weight loss shows. If I think of the Biggest Loser, we see endless scenes of people dripping with sweat and exercising themselves to the limit, but are told almost nothing about what they eat....other shows about weight loss seem to adopt a similar format, all but ignoring diet and nutrition. I know it's just TV, but still find it irresponsible, since it implies, by omission, that it can be done by exercise alone.

    There is no exercise programme intense enough to counter a bad diet. There are enough overweight or fat professional athletes to bear this out (a seriously overweight Ronaldo, the Brazilian one, in the 2006 Football (soccer) World cup is a good example).
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!
    ^^^This! 17 inches is nothing to sneeze at! That's a great loss for 30 days.
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member
    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!
    ^^^This! 17 inches is nothing to sneeze at! That's a great loss for 30 days.

    ^^Heck yeah!^^
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!
    ^^^ This, it's not like you walk round with your weight tattooed on your head, but wearing a size smaller sure shows, and that's a helluva lot of inches, well done!
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member
    As long as I look great, feel great & my clothes are hanging off of me because I've lost inches I don't care what I weigh!
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/
    Even men have to eat less than they burn to lose weight. It's just that with exercise they will generally burn more and therefore be able to eat more.
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/

    Last year I exclusively exercised with no dieting. I did manage to drop 30 lbs, but it took a full year! Starting this year I combined my exercise routine with dieting & I'm nearly down 10 lbs in a month! Diet + Exercise = turbo charged weight loss & size loss.

    While you are able to lose weight through exercise alone. The math is the same: you have to burn more calories than you're consuming. That should hold true for men & women.
  • gleechick609
    gleechick609 Posts: 544 Member
    You lost inches which means you are burning fat and sculpting lean muscle mass.

    For every pound of lean muscle mass, your body burns 50 calories more!
  • okerachel
    okerachel Posts: 45 Member
    You can't out exercise a bad diet.
  • M_lifts
    M_lifts Posts: 2,218 Member
    i would say well done on the inch loss! i think someone's already mentioned it- no one needs to know how much you weigh and surely wearing smaller clothes would be a bonus?
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
    I sincerely hope that I lose some inches. I've lost about 15lbs so far, which is great, but my waist has only dropped a couple of inches. I want more!
  • Skinny_Kitty
    Skinny_Kitty Posts: 136 Member
    17" is amazing! I understand the frustration though. I have been doing the Bob Harper Inside Out Method for 1 month. I am down 4.5" however I am only down 2.8 lbs... it's just so slow and very frustrating! Especially when I see other people on MFP losing weight so fast. I started the same time as others and they are already 10-18lbs less while I'm chilling at 2.8.
    I know I should not complain becasue any loss is good.... however it's very discouraging!
  • Chloe110
    Chloe110 Posts: 12
    Hear, hear. Exercise is no doubt very important, especially for mental and physical health. But I find, anecdotally (but it is also backed up by a lot of studies), that for pure weight loss, nutrition seems to be 70-80% of the battle. In fact, intensive exercising, in my case, seems to slow down my rate of weight loss, if anything, maybe because of the mythical "muscle growth" (dubious - it is seriously hard to build muscle, just google it) or maybe because exercise makes you retain serious amounts of water (more likely).

    To be clear, I'm not saying exercise is not an essential component in a weight loss journey. Besides its effects on health, it can also have a motivating effect and keep one on the straight and narrow. But I do feel like it has become very over-emphasised on weight loss shows. If I think of the Biggest Loser, we see endless scenes of people dripping with sweat and exercising themselves to the limit, but are told almost nothing about what they eat....other shows about weight loss seem to adopt a similar format, all but ignoring diet and nutrition. I know it's just TV, but still find it irresponsible, since it implies, by omission, that it can be done by exercise alone.

    There is no exercise programme intense enough to counter a bad diet. There are enough overweight or fat professional athletes to bear this out (a seriously overweight Ronaldo, the Brazilian one, in the 2006 Football (soccer) World cup is a good example).
    wow, I never thought of it that way! How weight loss TV shows show us all the hard work they put into exercise but don't really focus on what they're eating. Americans think they can get away with eating whatever the hell they want and they'll just work out and burn the calories off, but that's not right at all. I've seen it on countless shows, people eating unhealthy and saying they'll work it off later.
    Very good point.
  • cadency
    cadency Posts: 51
    I read an article recently that said men can lose weight with exercise alone (partly related to testosterone and more muscle mass) and that women require diet and exercise (usually) to lose weight and will lose it at a much slower rate :/

    Last year I exclusively exercised with no dieting. I did manage to drop 30 lbs, but it took a full year! Starting this year I combined my exercise routine with dieting & I'm nearly down 10 lbs in a month! Diet + Exercise = turbo charged weight loss & size loss.

    While you are able to lose weight through exercise alone. The math is the same: you have to burn more calories than you're consuming. That should hold true for men & women.

    I think the key word for me in the article was that men CAN lose weight with just the one - not that it's full proof. There's other studies that suggest that people unconsciously increase their intake when they start exercising if not monitoring it and so that will always be a factor. Congrats on the 10lbs a month! I know it's not full proof for men but it's the running joke... a women stops drinking soda and loses a lb. A man stops drinking soda and drops 10. Happened to my husband. So annoying :p
  • FaithHopeBELIEVE
    FaithHopeBELIEVE Posts: 626
    I've been lifting, cardio and eating from 1500-2000+ cals a day (just took another test and my BMR is 2200 and I have 10 lbs of FAT to lose). I am having no problem eating and for the most part it is healthy eating. I just weighed myself and I am up 7 lbs and inches all over. Have no clue what else to do. Needless to say I am very depressed and tired of tracking and getting no where.
  • lorib75
    lorib75 Posts: 490 Member
    The only way I lose is to eat less and move more. :-)

    My sentiments exactly!
  • sulliwedd
    sulliwedd Posts: 4
    I have been in training for a month and lost 4 inches and 2 pounds. You did AMAZING with 17 inches!!!!
  • sharrison1969
    sharrison1969 Posts: 11
    After years of yo-yo dieting, I believe I have found the key. You are correct, exercise and diet go hand in hand. You can't do one and not the other. I used to work my butt off, then reward myself with something totally unhealthy. I went through years where I did not change my diet, continued to eat whatever, worked out many days in the gym, and the results were minimal. I believe I have found the answer now. I am more aware of what I put into my body and remember this everyday when I work out. I need good, healthy food to help me maximize my workout.
  • hklaquadra
    hklaquadra Posts: 48
    Don't forget that muscle tissue is denser and weighs more than fat, so you have been losing fat and replacing that with lean muscle tissue. While your weight may not have fluctuated much, losing all those inches of fat was definitely a productive result of all your hard work. Don't be disappointed! You did good!:smile:
  • fang19423
    fang19423 Posts: 1,407 Member
    If you lost the inches, why care about the pounds?!

    You are right of course - but I suppose I have subconsiously set my measuring bar on the scales.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
    If you lost 17", then you have certainly been losing fat. However since you're on Day 20, there is a good chance you are retaining water to mask the fat loss. That can happen when Cortisol levels elevate due to stress from exercise and/or dieting.
  • Ahluvly
    Ahluvly Posts: 389 Member
    Weight management is 80% diet, 20% exercise. The theory is, the more exercise you do, which allows you to build more lean muscle, the more effectively your body will run, burning more fat!

    What goes in, must come out! It's so difficult saying no to foods we love but, clean eating is the best way forward but you need your treat meal or a few glasses of wine otherwise...what's the point?! A miserable life?! Noooooooooooooo none of us want that, now do we?!

    Well done on the inch loss, that's fab!!
  • junyr
    junyr Posts: 416 Member
    People put waaaayyyy to much stock in what the scale says.

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