Calling all those who have successfully lost weight!

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  • NicoWoodruff
    NicoWoodruff Posts: 369 Member
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    I'd say at least 80% dietary 20% exercise.

    There have been times that I was exercising a lot, but not eating as smart which didn't give nearly the results like when I did both.

    I noticed especially when I eliminated most sugar and dairy.. (focusing on unprocessed food, lean meat, eggs, veggies, whole grains, raw nuts, and a small amount of fruit) the weight suddenly seemed to just fall off even though I'm eating more calories.

    Your mileage may vary. :flowerforyou:
  • brendacooks
    brendacooks Posts: 103 Member
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    I have read that it is 80-90% what you eat - and my personal experience bears it out. A few years ago I worked with a personal trainer - I worked really, really hard (three x week with trainer 3 x week by myself) without changing my eating habits. Let me repeat - I worked REALLY REALLY hard. For a year. I was fitter than I had ever been. I made amazing progress cardio wise and strength wise. I did not lose one pound. Not even one. In the last 6 months I have lost 31 lbs (and counting) by drastically changing what I eat. I do exercise too because I really am trying to get healthy but sometimes it isn't possible. Last week my son was out of school and life was very busy. I only got to the gym twice. I lost 1.6 lbs anyway. Eat healthy food, Eat less than you use to. Move more. You will lose

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  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    It's all about balance.

    My eating habits weren't all THAT bad, but not right for how sedentary I'd become. Becoming more active and getting regular exercise was the missing link for me. I do eat healthier now and make more of a concerted effort to get more protein, more fruits and veggies, etc. And less Pop Tarts. :frown:
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
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    For me it has been 90% calorie control and 10% exercise. I couldn't even get on a treadmill in the beginning and lost the first 40 lbs with just gentle pool swimming. As the pounds came off I started the exercise(treadmill) and as I lose I find i need to constantly increase the exercise for the weight to keep coming off. I have lost over 150 lbs so far and about 20 more to go. I now run 5 miles 5 days a week plus pool exercise (for arm strength and waist) 6 days a week. I have so much more energy and really feel like moving
  • Frumpy2Fit
    Frumpy2Fit Posts: 137 Member
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    Thank you to everyone for your responses!!! This has really motivated me to clean up my diet :) I really, REALLY appreciate everyone's input! :):):)
  • deniseselah
    deniseselah Posts: 225 Member
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    Great topic and responses - really enjoyed reading everyone's viewpoints. Thanks.
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I exercised when I was overweight. Honestly I didn't start to lose weight until I changed my diet.
  • DAM_Fine
    DAM_Fine Posts: 1,292 Member
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    Strangely enough, I'm going to say the opposite. I cut calories and watched what I was eating, but I never really started dropping pounds much until I started exercising and stopped worrying so much about the food. ymmv
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    Just wondering what % of your loss you would contribute to the way you eat and what % you would contribute to the amount of exercise you did/do? I know to successfully lose weight you need to do both but I feel like I have been exercising a lot while still struggling with healthy eating, and I haven't lost a pound! Thanks ahead of time for your input!!!

    I've never had a huge amount of weight to lose, but I would have to say that 85% of it was calorie reduction. (Obviously, the percentage is a guess.)

    This is NOT to say that exercise isn't important: It calms you down, makes you more body-conscious (in a good way), increases your endurance, strength, flexibility and so forth. It's just not that instrumental for weight loss per se.
  • Steve_Runs
    Steve_Runs Posts: 443 Member
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    need to have your metabolism checked out! you probably have low metabolism. meaning you can't include your calories gained from exercise!
  • salxtai
    salxtai Posts: 341 Member
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    Just wondering what % of your loss you would contribute to the way you eat and what % you would contribute to the amount of exercise you did/do? I know to successfully lose weight you need to do both but I feel like I have been exercising a lot while still struggling with healthy eating, and I haven't lost a pound! Thanks ahead of time for your input!!!

    For me, it was 100% exercise - I ate healthy for 6 months, salad for lunch (no dressing) etc, and lost nothing.
    Started going to the gym 3xwk and weight started melting off.

    Currently its more like 50% ex 50% food, since I'm at ideal weight so need to maintain but maximise muscle gains
  • jillian769
    jillian769 Posts: 247 Member
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    I think it's different for everyone. I cannot lose weight on just diet alone, I have to exercise a lot. For me it's like 60% diet 40% exercise. Before I started Zumba I had already lost 40 pounds, but after I started Zumba a few days a week, 25 pounds fell off super quick!!! I have lost 76 pounds in the last year, the quickest I have ever lost this much...and I attribute it to working out hardcore and also mixing up what I do to break through plateaus.
  • TinaLTaylor79
    TinaLTaylor79 Posts: 140 Member
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    I think both are needed!! I lost over 80lbs with doing both regularly and i have also maintained for a year now. I did slow down at the last 15lbs though, it took me like 6 months to drop the last few lbs...the less you have to drop it seems the longer that part takes!!
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
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    personally, I've seen my best results now that I'm amping up my exercise. I've always heard it's 80% diet and 20% exercise... but for me, it's exercise that's made the biggest difference! that being said, I'm referring to QUALITY of diet vs quantity, since I'm assuming we're all going to eat a proper deficit.

    so my response: 60% exercise, 40% diet. for ME. for someone starting with a different body composition it might have been different.
  • mwicklander87
    mwicklander87 Posts: 8 Member
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    My first 20 pounds was probably 95% eating and 5% exercise, but I found that I started to plateau even after adjusting my intake. So the last few weeks I've really picked up the exercise and found the weight dropping again so I would say now it like 60% eating and 40% exercise. I've always hear that its 80% eating and 20% exercise, but remember that everyone's bodies are different and there can be a big difference between a male and a female losing weight, men have an easier time just removing things from their diet and dropping ten pounds than women do, something about our hormones, no y chromosome, I don't know...but the real key to losing weight really is calories in vs. calories out, so healthy eating is super super important.
  • TotalTiger
    TotalTiger Posts: 74
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    I think it depends on how much you have to lose. For me so far, it's 99% diet. That's not saying that I'm not exercising, I am, but the habit I need to change is the food one. As I get further down this path, I'm hoping that the way I'm eating now becomes the new habit and then I will focus more on the exercise side of things and fine-tune that.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Lost 40lbs. Even when I was kickboxing 4 days a week, I didn't even BEGIN to lose weight until I got serious about my eating. So, 99% diet and 1% exercise. Exercise helped my overall fitness but by itself it didn't make a dent.

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