Is exercise REALLY that important???

[babygrant]

I lost the first 9 lbs by exercising and calorie counting. Then I got stuck....for a while. I was eating 1600 calories a day and exercising 40 minutes 4 or 5 times a week. When I was stuck I upped my calories to 1800, I gained weight even with exercise. I lowered my calories to 1400-1500 and I stayed the same even with the same amount of exercise.

I haven't had a chance to exercise the past week, but I've been keeping my calories between 1300 and 1500 and I've lost 5.2 lbs in a week and a half. I'm not hungry at all in the evening, yet when I was eating 1800 calories and exercising I was constanty ravenous.

I'm 5'7, 197.8 lbs this morning.

[Qalliope]

It kinda depends on how you're exercising and what you're eating, not just how much you are doing of either. If you are working out pretty intensely, you may need more protein rather than more calories, for example. There may be some other issue at play (nutritional, hormonal, sleep, etc.) that is inhibiting your weight loss. But ultimately, yes, exercise is vital in every sense of the word. 1400 calories seems mighty low for intake at your starting weight.

[phathui5]

The book The Eat-Clean Diet says that your shape is 80/90% diet. Exercise is good, but she says it's not what makes you lose weight.

[babygrant]

I guess my thing is that I don't just want to be at an ok weight...I want to look healthy and feel healthy and make sure I do it right.

[Qalliope]

Originally Posted by phathui5

The book The Eat-Clean Diet says that your shape is 80/90% diet. Exercise is good, but she says it's not what makes you lose weight.

And there are books that argue the opposite as well. There are books that claim you should eat every 2-3 hours, books that claim you should fast periodically, books that state you should eat only at mealtimes, books that claim you should snack, that you should eat lots of meat or no meat, that you should exercise three times a week for 20 minutes or an hour every day or not worry about it at all.

In reality, every physiology is a bit different. (And there are books that capitalize on that, too. You can eat for your blood type, your Ayurvedic type, etc., etc.) It takes time to figure out what works for you and what doesn't, but when you give your body what it needs and what it is asking for it will function at it's best.

Personally I need lots of exercise - with more strength training than cardio - and a vegetable-centered diet - including carb-heavy vegetables and legumes. I don't function well on a low-carb or high protein diet. My immune system tanks, and my digestion gets totally messed up. It's taken me several years to figure this out and I still get off-track for long periods of time. But no matter what programs I try, it's always the same combination of stuff that puts my body and mind back in the right place.

[phathui5]

That's true. Personally, I work out 4-6 days a week, but I don't lose weight unless I change the way I eat. When I'm not being careful about what I eat and I'm working out, I don't gain weight, but I don't lose it either. I think that the amount of exercise I was getting was making up for the extra food I was eating.

I have 13 pounds left to go to get back to the weight I was before I got pregnant with baby #4 (who just turned 3), so I did start Weight Watchers a couple of weeks ago.

[lolar2]

Exercise is extremely important for general health, but not very important for weight control.

[Sharlla]

i lost 125 lbs doing low carb after i had ds1. i found that I did better just being active in everyday life rather than full on exercising. i toned up with strength training after I lost the weight.

right now I started the HCG diet in april and have lost 70 lbs with no exercise. so no I don't think it's important and for calorie restriction i think it's counter productive

[nolansmummy]

For myself, exercise is the only thing that helps me lose weight. It doesn't matter if i eat 1200, 1400, or 1800 cals, i pretty much maintain my weight.
I eat a fairly healthy diet, mostly vegan, and lots of fruits and veggies too.

I am envious of those who can just eat less and weigh less. i have to put in at least 45 min 4 x per week with lots of strength training to lose.

[babygirlie]

I think exercise is good for your heart but has little to do with weight. I think people think they are burning way more than they are. For instance an hour or two on the treadmill can equal about 200 calories. Is it worth the extra serving or two of yogurt? Not really. :P (Don't get me wrong, it's good for your heart but little to do with weight.)

[babygirlie]

I should also add studies have seen that exercise can harm diets. It increases your hunger/thirst, people assume they can eat more, they actually exercise LESS per day as opposed to a normal activitied person.

For instance, they did a study on school kids. One school had a PE type class and were required to exercise for a certain amount everyday. The other had none. They discovered it ended up evening out and that the school that exercised had no overall improvement in health. It ended up being that those who did would come home and veg out. Sit on the couch and eat while the other school who did not have a PE would naturally go outside and ride their bikes and do after school activities. So they both ended up having the same amount of exercise. Same with adults. If you feel you just worked your butt off for an hour and then spend the rest of the day on the couch as oppose to filling your day with chores and activities like you normally would.. it may not be benefiting you at all.

Also how can you properly work out and body train without sufficient food to build muscles? Wouldn't you get weaker and your body more set on returning to it's old habits sooner rather than later? (ie the biggest loser)

[Sharlla]

Originally Posted by nolansmummy

For myself, exercise is the only thing that helps me lose weight. It doesn't matter if i eat 1200, 1400, or 1800 cals, i pretty much maintain my weight.
I eat a fairly healthy diet, mostly vegan, and lots of fruits and veggies too.

I am envious of those who can just eat less and weigh less. i have to put in at least 45 min 4 x per week with lots of strength training to lose.

see when I incorporated a lot of exercise (2 hours at the gym daily) my weight loss halted. I did not budge those whole 2 months and my intake (i did WW for a while after DS2) was no different. I didn't even lose pant sized. it's definitely a person to person thing.

[Qalliope]

Originally Posted by babygirlie

I should also add studies have seen that exercise can harm diets. It increases your hunger/thirst, people assume they can eat more, they actually exercise LESS per day as opposed to a normal activitied person....

...If you feel you just worked your butt off for an hour and then spend the rest of the day on the couch as oppose to filling your day with chores and activities like you normally would.. it may not be benefiting you at all.

Also how can you properly work out and body train without sufficient food to build muscles? Wouldn't you get weaker and your body more set on returning to it's old habits sooner rather than later? (ie the biggest loser)

Well either way with dieting or exercise, you are talking about attempting to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Not eating enough will make you tired and sick. And you are right that an hour of treadmill walking probably won't cut it. Nor will guessing how much you should eat or exercise. You have to up the intensity and really build muscle, and the quality of food you eat has to be impeccable if you are going to be able to keep up the pace, and you have to keep track of it all. Most nutritionists will recommend eating extra calories equivalent to half of what you burn in your workout. Keep in mind though, that when you build muscle, your body continues to burn extra calories after the workout is over. When you work harder, your body has to work harder to rebuild oxygen stores, rebalance your heart rate and internal temperature, synthesize ATP, and remove lactic acid from the muscles, and it spends even more calories doing this.

So I do very intense circuit training or intervals for about 45 minutes to an hour, and my estimated calorie burn, based on my heart rate, body weight, etc. is around 600-900 calories. I'd have to stuff my face pretty good to undo all that work. As it is, when I work out really hard, I have trouble eating for quite a while afterward. I take a high protein recovery drink that is about 200 calories. Otherwise, my calorie intake is around the same - about 1500-1800. I had been slacking off for a long time before I picked up P90X recently, but I am now dropping weight like crazy, and I am strong, energetic, and healthy as a horse. But that's me. Not every body works exactly the same.

I think, as a rule, if you train like an Olympic athlete or a Navy Seal, you'll start looking like one eventually, but that process might be slower or faster for your body than the hypothetical average person. Likewise, I could eat a very low calorie diet and lose weight without exercise, but it might happen slower or faster for me than the average based on personal metabolic and nutritional factors that don't have to do with the basic formula of calories in minus calories out. There's so much more to it than that.

[mommajb]

I can out eat any level of exercise. I say this as a fit person that also likes cheese cake.

I tell myself that weightloss/maintenance/weight gain happens in the kitchen. Fitness happens on the trail/in the gym. They are linked but for me it helps to look at the issues independently. My exercise keeps me fit physically and emotionally. My food fuels my body and keeps me ready to go.

I don't have it all figured out but this is the perspective I find most helpful.

[Purple Sage]

I have to preface this by saying that I don't believe in the 'calories in vs. calories out' theory of weight loss. It's a lot more complicated than that. With that said, I do not think that exercise is the way to lose weight for most people who are overweight or obese. It's important for health and overall fitness, but losing weight is about what you eat.


Basically, what I've read and what makes sense to me is that people become overweight because their cells think they're starving, which is related to insulin and other hormones and how certain foods affect them. So when an overweight individual (who has a hormonal imbalance which is what led to the excess fat storage) exercises, the body will compensate for that exercise one way or another sooner or later. You either get hungrier and eventually eat more - once your willpower wears out - or you stop moving as much in your normal day-to-day activities (NEAT) and therefore burn fewer calories overall, or both.

The key is to stop your cells from thinking they're starving by eating the right foods and not eating the wrong foods. It's not about counting calories because you can eat a calorie restricted diet of crap, and your body will eventually compensate (as above) and weight loss will halt. But if you repair the hormonal imbalance with a proper diet, then your cells stop thinking that they're starving and you start burning the excess stored fat. Then you naturally feel more like exercising, and you burn more energy via NEAT, too.

However, if you are a healthy person who does not have a hormonal imbalance and only have a little cosmetic weight to lose, then exercise is more important to lose that weight. It's a whole different ball game at that point.

Here a good article from Time magazine: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

And if you're up for a long dry read, there's Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes which really goes in depth explaining why 'calories in/calories out' is bad science. Or just read the extensive notes here.

[ambereva]

Your diet determines your weight, exercise determines your shape. I think I read that here, actually, and it's the truest weight loss words ever spoken.

Oh, exercise also determines your heart health. Good stuff there.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ambereva

Your diet determines your weight, exercise determines your shape. I think I read that here, actually, and it's the truest weight loss words ever spoken.

Oh, exercise also determines your heart health. Good stuff there.

I always agree with you!

You can lose weight without exercising, but you'll still be shaped just like you are now -- ponchy belly and everything.

Exercise is important if you want to look good or if you want to be healthy, so whatever your reason for loosing weight, exercise IS part of how you get there.

However, what you were doing for you before wasn't working for you. I don't do calories so I'm no help with those (I do Weight Watcher points).

While having the right number of calories is VERY important to weight lose, eating the right foods and drinking the right beverages is also important. Our bodies are happier to give up fat when they really are getting everything they need in the intervals needed. May be if you tell us more about a typical day for you, we could help tweak. But try to be honest about munching and portions.

I also think it is important to find ways that you enjoy exercising so that you stick with it. There's no point doing anything to lose weight that you aren't willing to keep doing. I lost 70 pounds and got in shape, and I'm sad to report that staying this way is far more difficult that getting here.

[GoGoGirl]

Originally Posted by mommajb

I tell myself that weightloss/maintenance/weight gain happens in the kitchen. Fitness happens on the trail/in the gym.

I like this saying!

OP, I found that for me, at least in this stage of my life, diet is more important than exercise when it comes to losing weight. This winter I still weighed 35 pounds more than I did before I got pregnant, so I decided to lose it. I did the 30 day shred and lost...nothing. Super.

Then I changed the way I ate (vegan, with huge amounts of produce and not a lot of grains, and very low fat) and the weight melted off. I lost 32 pounds in 4 months. I was exercising (treadmill and elliptical) but not often--twice a week on good weeks, zero times on bad weeks.

I'm almost back to my prepregnancy weight but I look a lot different. Before I got pregnant I was really toned from weight lifting and pole dancing. Now I look kind of scrawny. I really need to start lifting weights again so I can look (and be!) a little healthier.

Oh, and I do cardio for my heart, not for my weight.

[june'smom]

For me, working out was a super important factor in my weight loss. But I do think it was more mental. It kept me focused and feeling good.

I just read something (don't remember where) about the chemicals on our foods and in plastics (think tupperware) that scientists are calling obesogens -

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35315651/

It was really interesting to me. It makes total sense that all those chemicals would have an effect on our hormonal balance.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by june'smom

For me, working out was a super important factor in my weight loss. But I do think it was more mental. It kept me focused and feeling good.

When I exercise I drink my water, and when I am both exercising and drinking lots of water, I don't want to screw it up by eating junk.

Exercise is GREAT for emotional balance, and many of us struggle with our weight because of emotional eating. Walking some where beautiful or doing yoga are sooo good for our bodies, and help influence the kind of food choices we make later.

Exercise does sped up our metabolism, and building some muscle means we keep burning more calories later.

No matter what our weight, we look better in shape than out of shape. A thin person who never exercises looks less healthy than a *slightly* overweight person who exercises.

The increase blood flow also does nice things for our skin.

Sweating during exercise helps our bodies detox.

Exercise is the fountain of youth, both from a health perspective and from a looks perspective.