Exercise to lose weight MYTH? (or way overstated)

I think it depends on the person. My friend lost 50 pounds and didn't change her diet at all. She just runs outside now for about an hour every morning. I've watched the just weight melt right off her over the past few months, while she eats great big Chipotle burritos for lunch.

I don't know if that would work for me though. Of course an hour running outside in the winter burns a ton of calories!

Yeah but you said her diet didn;t change at all - as in she has always ate giant Chipotle burritos which means that she is creating a deficit from the exercise. The article was saying that a bunch of the people added a burrito as a post work out treat and that is why they gain or only maintain.

Both are equally important I think. If you lose weight with no exercise, you wont gain muscle. Lean muscle mass is important the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest alone. So yes exercise is important when it comes to weight loss.

You can lose weight just by dieting---but why lose weight if you wont gain any muscle. Muscle is what makes you appear smaller, more cut, lean, etcc.. ( whatever word you wanna use).

I don't by any means speak for everyone but I have a friend who lost OVER 140LBS last year and she did NO exercise! No gym, none of it. Just eating.

why lose weight if you wont gain any muscle. Muscle is what makes you appear smaller, more cut, lean, etcc..

Well, LOTS of reasons. Seriously, do you really think this? Weight loss is good for you. Exercise is too, but losing excess weight, even without exercise VASTLY improves your health. And, the lack of fat also makes you look 'smaller' and 'more cut' because there actually are muscles under all that fat, after all.

Eat well to lose weight, exercise to look good naked. Pretty simple.

For me, changing my diet made me lose the weight. Exercise will ensure that I never gain it back. But it is indeed a very individual thing.

Both are equally important I think. If you lose weight with no exercise, you wont gain muscle. Lean muscle mass is important the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest alone. So yes exercise is important when it comes to weight loss.

You can lose weight just by dieting---but why lose weight if you wont gain any muscle. Muscle is what makes you appear smaller, more cut, lean, etcc.. ( whatever word you wanna use).

I'm with you completely, but we all have our own goals. Mine is to shed fat, increase muscle mass, and look HOT and nicely cut without looking like a man -- and to KEEP the excess fat off my body.

My cousin doesn't want to see ANY muscle definition at all; she likes the "skinny fat" look, and as long as she sheds the fat healthfully, I don't care what she looks like. Too bad all she's worried about is the number on the scale, though...

I also fall into the category of being able to have flexibility in my food intake only because I go to the gym. If I don't exercise my weight spikes and I'm always hungry (besides not sleeping well and feeling lousy). Exercise also make me want to eat healthier food and not waste those hours in the gym or on the bike on junk food.

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.

~Love this~

While it's obvious that caloric content is important for everyone, that's not the central aspect of weight-loss for everyone; it aways comes down to individuals. When I was running cross-country in high school and cross-training for my black belt, I ate crap foods (like donuts, pizza, Junior Mints), but I was running my butt off and training hard. I lost 15lbs in several weeks easily, because I was simply working out hard. But I didn't keep track, so I followed my body's cues and just ate when I was hungry, so apparently my body moderated itself to adjust to that strenuous shedule pretty well. Even now, as long as I'm working out and training hard, I can pretty much eat what I want (not stuffing my face, of course), and lose weight, because my body just responds really well to exercise.

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 used to exercise all the time, A LOT but exactly how this post says "never changed my eating". I gained 44 pounds and figured that i had a health issue since i exercised a lot.. actually went to do the Dr and asked for tests!!!... it def wasn't the large fries, chicken mcnuggets, 3 slices of pizza & m&ms I ate of course lol. Now that I've lost the 44 pounds and am ready to run a half marathon I realize the exercise is for myself and other reasons, the eating is for the weight maintenance. It's all about the calorie deficit.. no workout = less calories consumed that day.... 500 calorie deficit for 7 days = 1 pound lost however that deficit is done the formula is the same :-)


SW 155.1
GW and CW 112.0

excercise makes your poop fluffy

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.

I wonder where they got their numbers. It should be higher than that. Or does it means that the many times we've read or heard about ''a pound of muscle burns 50 cals'' is a myth?