Exercise to lose weight MYTH? (or way overstated)

SirZee
SirZee Posts: 381
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974,00.html

Finally, an article and scientific study of something I have started to suspect, after 10 years of sometimes near crazy gym-rat behavior (ex: 1 hour bike to work in the morning, kickboxing class at noon, weightlifting for 45 min after kickboxing, 1 hour bike home after work, coaching youth soccer for 2 hours in the evening). As a weight loss/control tool exercise is almost irrelevant, its all about managing food intake.

Edit:
I forgot to add, despite all that working out (and eating healthy foods, just not worrying about quantity much), still OBESE on the BMI rating at 249lb start weight (232 this morning). Sure I was fit, but also fat.
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Replies

  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight. You can create that by eating less, or by eating the same and exercising more, or any combination.
  • Meaganandcheese
    Meaganandcheese Posts: 525 Member
    I think every person falls on a different place on the spectrum. For me, losing weight is 90% eating well. I almost see exercise as serving a different purpose entirely - for fitness and health, but not for weight loss. I lose pounds in the kitchen and inches in the gym, if you want to see it that way.

    But like I said, I think every person's body responds differently, especially depending on where they are in their weightloss journey and fitness level.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,449 Member
    Exercise does so much more than burn calories, though. Sure, you can lose weight by calorie-deficit only.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    The people that say exercise to lose weight are the ones that pass by the drive through on the way home from the gym. You can eat your way through any workout.

    So yes, it is overstated, however those that exercise look better because of muscle tone :love:
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    I think every person falls on a different place on the spectrum. For me, losing weight is 90% eating well. I almost see exercise as serving a different purpose entirely - for fitness and health, but not for weight loss. I lose pounds in the kitchen and inches in the gym, if you want to see it that way.
    This!

    Restricting calories will make you lose weight. Cardio exercise will make you more fit. Strength training will increase your muscle mass so you burn more calories at rest.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    Exercise does so much more than burn calories, though. Sure, you can lose weight by calorie-deficit only.

    Yep, exercise is very important (reduces all kinds of disease risks, countless studies support this), just not in terms of weight loss.

    I still work out quite a bit, but now its more of building myself a "buffer" on my low cal/high protein MFP diet in case I get hungry in the evening, then I can go 200-300 cal over my goal without feeling guilty much :)
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I know people that decide to start exercising but have no plan whatsoever to change how they eat. They get very disappointed pretty quickly.

    I think weight loss is mostly due to eating. Excercise has a different purpose.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    I think every person falls on a different place on the spectrum. For me, losing weight is 90% eating well. I almost see exercise as serving a different purpose entirely - for fitness and health, but not for weight loss. I lose pounds in the kitchen and inches in the gym, if you want to see it that way.
    This!

    Restricting calories will make you lose weight. Cardio exercise will make you more fit. Strength training will increase your muscle mass so you burn more calories at rest.

    The article points this out. Converting 10 pounds of fat to muscle, a MAJOR accomplishment, only burns you extra 40 cal. Sure, 40cal is "more" but practically nothing when cast against a 2000 cal daily intake.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Exercise is an integral part of my weight loss because if I didn't exercise, I would feel deprived food wise. I am able to eat more BECAUSE I exercise and I know from past experience that simply restricting calories to a level where I lose is too hard to maintain for long.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    .... I lose pounds in the kitchen and inches in the gym, if you want to see it that way. ...

    I love that, just became my new mantra :)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Well of course it's about managing food intake. But that doesn't make exercise irrelevant. It makes it a method to achieve food management. Exercise more so you can eat more. The fact that exercise also makes you look better and reduces your risk of most diseases is a really nice perk.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    You can kill yourself in the gym and burn 2,000 calories. Might take 2-3 hours. But you can eat that back in about 20 min via fast food.

    So if you are working out alot and not losing, it's your diet.

    But exercise can get you into a net deficit if you choose your foods correctly. It can go from having to be hungry to being able to eat a decent meal and still be under your calorie count
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,082 Member
    Calorie in , calorie out. It does not matter whether you do it through eating less or work out.
    Sometimes I don't do cardio work out because I know I would be so hungry after so I decide just to stop eating for the rest of that day.
    But exercise makes me feel good about myself, reduce stress, build more muscle mass, it helps me stick to my diet.
  • devinbugland
    devinbugland Posts: 15
    In my past experiences losing weight, I have discovered that successful weight loss is due to equal parts lowering your calorie intake & increasing the amount of time you exercise. also, hydration during your workout is a key factor as well.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    "Last year the International Journal of Obesity published a paper by Gortmaker and Kendrin Sonneville of Children's Hospital Boston noting that "there is a widespread assumption that increasing activity will result in a net reduction in any energy gap" — energy gap being the term scientists use for the difference between the number of calories you use and the number you consume. But Gortmaker and Sonneville found in their 18-month study of 538 students that when kids start to exercise, they end up eating more — not just a little more, but an average of 100 calories more than they had just burned.

    Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974,00.html#ixzz1oSqs1LQD"

    Bingo!

    This has got to be the most important article I read in the last 10 years...
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
    For the sole purpose of weight loss, diet is by far the most important. However, for FAT loss and overall health, in my experience it's 50/50 diet and exercise. I'm sure that's not the case for everyone, but it has been for me.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    I lift an exercise so I won't be a boney mess if I lose weight. I don't want to sacrafice muscle mass for a # on the scale.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    I think every person falls on a different place on the spectrum. For me, losing weight is 90% eating well. I almost see exercise as serving a different purpose entirely - for fitness and health, but not for weight loss. I lose pounds in the kitchen and inches in the gym, if you want to see it that way.
    This!

    Restricting calories will make you lose weight. Cardio exercise will make you more fit. Strength training will increase your muscle mass so you burn more calories at rest.

    The article points this out. Converting 10 pounds of fat to muscle, a MAJOR accomplishment, only burns you extra 40 cal. Sure, 40cal is "more" but practically nothing when cast against a 2000 cal daily intake.
    My point, of course, is that you should be doing all three. And while 40 calories seems like "nothing", you have to think long term. Once you're in maintenance and no longer restricting calories, that 40 calorie difference is 14,600 calories for the year or just over 4 pounds of fat gain. 4 pounds per year is actually a pretty substantial weight gain when you're looking at it year over year.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    This has got to be the most important article I read in the last 10 years...
    Really? I thought this was pretty basic.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I know people that decide to start exercising but have no plan whatsoever to change how they eat. They get very disappointed pretty quickly.

    I think weight loss is mostly due to eating. Excercise has a different purpose.

    I think this is often true, but not always. I didn't really change the way I eat at all when I decided to lose weight. I switched to healthy eating years ago, but I'm hungry if I eat little enough to keep me thin without exercise. All I did was get off my lazy *kitten* and start exercising regularly again. I never had any clue how many calories I was eating until I joined this site, and I was almost to goal by then.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974,00.html

    Finally, an article and scientific study of something I have started to suspect, after 10 years of sometimes near crazy gym-rat behavior (ex: 1 hour bike to work in the morning, kickboxing class at noon, weightlifting for 45 min after kickboxing, 1 hour bike home after work, coaching youth soccer for 2 hours in the evening). As a weight loss/control tool exercise is almost irrelevant, its all about managing food intake.

    Edit:
    I forgot to add, despite all that working out (and eating healthy foods, just not worrying about quantity much), still OBESE on the BMI rating at 249lb start weight (232 this morning). Sure I was fit, but also fat.

    How much time/effort does it take you to burn 2000 calories?

    How much time/effort does it take you to consume 2000 calories?

    There are very few people (as in, I have yet to meet one but I acknowledge that they, like the tooth fairy, might exist) who cannot out-eat any workout program they may do.
  • Shadowcasting
    Shadowcasting Posts: 124 Member
    The article states that the *reason* exercise doesn't work is because people eat back all of the calories or more. That doesn't mean that for people who do *not* eat back all of the calories, it doesn't help. Upping my exercise (though not changing my eating, which was already reduced) helped break a plateau I was on for quite a while.

    The article also states that exercise makes people hungrier. For me, I find that to be the opposite. I eat less and snack much less when I work out. On 'rest' days, I'm much more likely to give in to temptation or mindlessly snack if I'm not super vigilant.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Re: BMI ..... don't take too much stock in this number. This is just ONE number, like the one on the scale. BMI does not really reflect your overall health. People can be very lean & muscular & have a high BMI

    I look at exercise this way. The only way (for me) to maintain weight loss is to "diet" for the rest of my life OR add regular exercise which gives me some breathing room.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    This has got to be the most important article I read in the last 10 years...
    Really? I thought this was pretty basic.

    Judging by the responses, not so much. What I found extraordinary is that the findings of the article (well researched and supported with studies cited) runs contrary to popular belief for the last quarter century, and that it absolutely fits my personal experiences over a long term period. 10 years, countless of hours of working out, sore body existence (I rotated my weights perfectly, there was always a muscle group ready to go, and a couple in various stages of recovery). Heck I even ate healthy QUALITY foods (in what I now know were in UNHEALTHY quantities).

    All that got me is an OBESE marking on BMI (side note, I mock BMI because it is supposed to be only for demographics, and when I was a lean mean fighting machine in the army it considered me overweight at around 200 lb of mostly muscle packed in my 5' 9.5" height), and two torn tendons: bicep distal playing hockey, and achilles playing basketball.
  • 1sweetpea70
    1sweetpea70 Posts: 48 Member
    I workout and watch my caloric intake and have always. Exercising, for ME, is a means to maybe have a little treat, or one cheat meal a week. Like 3 pieces of pizza and some fries, or, like today, some of my sweetie's bday cake. I've lost inches doing the workout i do, including 30 Day Shred, an hour on the treadmill, or pilates. Soon, i'll incorporate the Brazil Butt Lift into my routine. I could never see myself where i am today, if not for eating right AND working out. Im almost 15 lbs down from where i was in mid January.,
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Restricting calories will make you lose weight. Cardio exercise will make you more fit. Strength training will increase your muscle mass so you burn more calories at rest.

    Cardio exercise will also make you burn more at rest. A virgorous 45 min cardio workout can increase your metabolism for more than 1/2 a day after you stop.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    hey if you're okay looking mushy and flabby as a skinny person then by all means, do you.
    i personally want to look good naked as well as clothed.

    i agree with those who say that for weight loss it's about calorie deficiency. eat a little less, move a little more. i personally love working out and that will always be a part of my life, but i didnt start losing weight until i decreased my calories.

    the main difference i see between me who works out and a friend of mine who just cut her calories is
    1)she's had to cut way more calories than i have in order to get the same 2 lbs a week loss (we're similar height,weight and age) 2)we've lost about the same amount of scale weight, but people are asking me if i've lost twice as much because i'm primarily losing fat.
    3)i'm more than likely not going to have to decrease my calories further as i lose weight because i'm adding muscle whereas she will need to decrease her calories the more she loses
    4) the entire weight loss process is much less stressful for me, so i dont have to freak out if i have a spike day. when she has a spike day it definitely affects her weigh in. when i have one, it has no affect.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Well, I thought it was basic information for people using this site, which is based on the same principal: that you have to control your food intake relative to your exercise. Guess I was wrong.
  • BeeElMarvin
    BeeElMarvin Posts: 2,086 Member
    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974,00.html

    Finally, an article and scientific study of something I have started to suspect, after 10 years of sometimes near crazy gym-rat behavior (ex: 1 hour bike to work in the morning, kickboxing class at noon, weightlifting for 45 min after kickboxing, 1 hour bike home after work, coaching youth soccer for 2 hours in the evening). As a weight loss/control tool exercise is almost irrelevant, its all about managing food intake.

    Edit:
    I forgot to add, despite all that working out (and eating healthy foods, just not worrying about quantity much), still OBESE on the BMI rating at 249lb start weight (232 this morning). Sure I was fit, but also fat.

    This isn't exactly a new discovery. If you eat fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight.

    AND, your edit hits the nail on the head "just not worrying about quantity so much" <<<- HERE'S YOUR SIGN.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
    Incidentally, I wanted to add that MFP has been a godsend. The first few days was a shock in how little amount of food did it take to hit my daily goal, and I though oh boy, this is going to be a horrible multi-month battle against hunger.

    Surprisingly, hunger has not been an issue. Love the site/app and love the good threads on here :) Its why I thought this article would be an interesting topic.

    I still exercise of course, kickbox an hour 3 times a week, endurance caliber (10-15 reps, 2 or 3 sets) weights 4 days a week (30-45 min, rotating muscle groups), and am doing the C25K program in a modified/accelerated form: I do whatever pattern is required for the full 3.1 miles, except cut the long walks, for example today was 8min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run, well I did 8min run 2 min walk 8 min run, 2min walk, 8min run, and then walked until I hit 3.1 miles (was just about 2 more minutes). So no, I am not advocating giving up exercise, just proposing that its better to base your weight loss plans on food control, as opposed to exercise.
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