Diet vs Exercise

Hi all - in your opinion, which is more important in your weight loss journey - Diet or Exercise - and why?

They are both EQUALLY important. But realistically if you're just trying to lose weight, diet alone can do it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I've done both.

I ran without paying attention to what I ate. I got slightly slimmer/trimmer but didn't lose much weight.

I "dieted" without working out. I lost weight but just was a smaller version of me...no muscle tone...it wasn' t very pretty.

Neither one is as effective as when I do them together.

When I put both together, I look great and feel great and my body is strong and defined. Not to mention I feel like I can conquer the world "Raawwrrr"!

I am in the both camp. Adjusting your diet, watching your calories & what your put into your body, tracking EVERYTHING on MFP is super important. And, you will lose weight. But exercise, no matter what you do, will help you feel better, burn even more calories, and allow you to see results better. Here's the thing, you don't have to be a gym rat to get exercise. Take walks around the block, do push ups/sit ups. Stretch, yoga, resistance bands. Hell, even get a fitness game for your Wii or xbox. Just do something and balance it with a healthy diet and you will be better off in a month than you are now.

I've just had a month of enforced rest due to carpal tunnel surgery and I've pretty much stayed the same weight by watching my diet. Hoping when I get back into training the last half stone will drop off me. I've been on a plateau since October! Actually maybe my scales are stuck?! I hadn't lost for months then i do no exercise and still stay the same. There is no logic in this journey for me.

Ignore anyone who says exercise is important. It's not. Diet is exponentially more important. Your calorie burn from exercise is a fraction of what your body burns just from existing. So the idea that exercise is somehow equally important as diet is pure and utter nonsense. Vast majority of people here will find it impossible to do any meaningful exercise that will really change their caloric demands.

That said, for body recomp and health exercise is critical. But thats different than weight loss now isn't it...

Also to note, once you get good at exercise, then you can start to out exercise your diet. When I actively tried to gain weight, it was sickening how much I had to eat as my metabolism was just on fire from how much I could lift. Eating 5000 calories a day with mostly healthy foods takes an impact, but thats what I had to do to gain weight. Hell, I was losing weight on 3000 a day, and thats just from 7 hours a week lifting weights. So at a certain level exercise starts to make a big difference, but issue is most people just can't get to that level.

Think of it this way, your body burns .8-3 calories a minute just from being alive. Exercise can add to that a bit, but the bulk is just from existing. It's far easier spending seconds monitoring what goes into your body, than hours upon hours trying to work off what's already in. Diet far more important.

Like others have said, both are important.

I used to think diet alone was enough.. (this was before MFP) and I would never stick with it. I find that when I exercise, I want to eat less not only because exercise will actually diminish appetite, but I don't want to give up my hard work.

weight loss - diet
exercise - fitness