Take off that Fitbit. Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight Article

[mintons]

What does the fitbit community think about this article?

[MRose]

Could you possibly post it (or a link to it) so we are all on the same page? Also, welcome to the community!

Just from the title, it sounds like a good mindset presented in a haughty way. A FitBit is not going to make one skinny, nor does it make us work out or eat healthy, but it gives the mental "push" that so many people are lacking. If I challenge my husband to see who can lose 5 lb quicker, I know it's going to be him because of x, y, and z. But if we challenge each other to each get our 10,000 steps, we are both much more likely to do the extra little things throughout the day to meet that goal. This weekend, we were only at about 6 flights of stairs, so we started running up and down the stairs outside our apartment building. We walk to the grocery store now, and I forgot a jalapeno (a single, trivial thing) and what did we decide to do? Walk back! Would we have done that on a normal day? Of course not! It's always been in our power to walk up and down stair or run around the living room a bit at night, but we never would have done so without the visual. The FitBit isn't a magic "lose weight" wand that attaches to your jeans, it's a product that shows how someone realized the power of visual aids. When you're getting the kiddos to do chores, a chart with star stickers works wonders. Could they pick up the toys without the chart? Of course. Does the chart give them a sense of accomplishment over the work they've done over the course of the day (or week)? You bet! FitBits are the same way, and they've brought the community aspect with it. I'm in a "Workweek Challenge" group with a bunch of ladies and we've never met, but it's still encouraging and challenging to be simultaneously competing with and uplifting others! 

One of the biggest things is that I had no realization of how stagnant I'd become since graduating college and having 3 surgeries. I felt like I was active enough and that I was doing plenty. Wrong! I was barely getting 3,000 steps per day, but it felt like so many more because the decline was rather gradual. I've had the 'Bit about 6 months now, and I've already done two races and I'm starting training for a half marathon. Now that might not seem like a huge deal, but I've always hated running. Now I'm excited for it. Weird.

[LocoMutant]

I agree but it helps.  I've lost 71lbs so far but using fitbit and myfitnesspal. I track everything I eat on MFP and it has helped a ton.  Getting away from processed food and eating healthier is the key along with exercise.

[HelenaFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @mintons! I agree with @MRose, although it is a sneaky title for a post, it is true that not only exercising helps you lose weight. 

A bit part of weight loss is working on improving your food intake and reach a caloric deficit to help you lose weight. 

[pidgeon92]

I believe this is the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/15/take-off-that-fitbit-exercise-alone-wont-...

I disagree pretty strongly with this:

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"Exercise — no matter how many gym memberships you buy or how often you wear your Fitbit — won’t make you lose weight.

The idea that our obesity epidemic is caused by sedentary lifestyles has spread widely over the past few decades, spurring a multibillion-dollar industry that pitches gadgets and gimmicks promising to walk, run and kickbox you to a slim figure. But those pitches are based on a myth. Physical activity has a multitude of health benefits — it reduces the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and possibly even cancer — but weight loss is not one of them."

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At my highest weight, I was about 180 lbs. About 6 years ago, I quit drinking soda, and gave up fast food and junk food. I dropped 20 pounds, and my weight hovered at 160 for a couple of years. So yes, food plays big part in obesity.

Then about 3 1/2 years ago, my blood test indicated a pretty high cholesterol of 283. My doctor told me to go exercise (which in reality he'd been telling me for several years already). So, I started exercising (from a completely sedentary lifestyle). In a year and a half, exercising an hour to an hour and a half 5-6 days a week, I dropped 30 pounds. No change in diet in those 3 1/2 years.

Of course, I believe a combination of healthy diet and exercise are the key to losing weight, and just good for overall health. I just disagree that exercise alone won't help you lose weight. Really, most of the rest of the article was spot on, but I really dislike provocative titles like this, and they way they singled out Fitbit.

[RivalDealer]

You didn't post the article, but the statement in the title is true, you lose weight from your diet, exercise actually makes you more hungry. That definitely doesn't mean you shouldn't exercise though.

It makes about as much sense as: "STOP DRINKING WATER, WATER ALONE WON'T MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT".

Getting regular exercise has a load of health benefits of it's own, one of which is burning calories, if you can burn those calories and not replace them with junk food, then exercise will help you lose weight. In addition to this, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest 🙂

Exercise alone won't make you lose weight, but it will definitely help as part of a healthy lifestyle.

[WendyB]

I agree with everyone else. It has more to do with diet then exercise.

Though exercise does help with other things.

[DominicJ]

Gutter journalism of the worst kind.

Half truths, speculations, "common knowledge", strawmen, 

[Gandhi]

Mintons

Thanks for sharing the article 

Well for one thing the fitbit tracker is a tool that helps in overall fitness

It is not the treatment for obesity

Obesity has various causes and dealing with it in ways and being fit is a way a small step in that direction

As a heamtologist I see patients and even though i dont treat obesity i do tell them one thing always

Be fit Be active and u will be happier . 

[Gandhi]

DominicJ

Love your post so true even for /  in this part of the world 

[Colinm39]

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@mintons wrote:

What does the fitbit community think about this article?

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@mintonsWell done for posting this. Many Fitbitters are aware of the balance between exercise, I like to call it toning the body..... and food. Ironically when you posted this, yesterday, the Australian Newspapers articled the "new" food pyramid.

[bdaniels04]

I agree. I have lost 50 lbs since getting my Fitbit, HOWEVER, I know it is not solely because of that. The Fitbit has made me more aware of my level of activity, my calorie burn, etc. and has provided the catalyst for my weight loss, but it has also included logging my food with MyFitnessPal, portion control, more exercise, and smart decisions. It has inspired a lifestyle paradigm shift, but the tracker itself is not the sole tool for weight loss. eople who think they can put on a single item on and instantly lose weight does not fully understand weight loss. It is a combination of things, pure and simple. The fact that the media can't understand that is very sad.

[HelenaFitbit]

That is a great image @Colinm39! I might need to save that one for reference 

[Rainafterthesun]

Fitbit is a tool not a pill.

People may buy it with the idea to lose weight, some to be healthly, some to maintain weight--and some all three.

I'm finding there's multiple benefits to charge hr. Like when my boss pulled one on me again & texted me 4:55pm yesterday--asked me to stay later instead of another coworker who lives closer and less of a commute..

plus I already have plans..and she does this constantly even though I'm the type of person who likes plans (can't help it) and is stressed by changes..I mean, I plan for flexibility..that's how much of a planner I am.

Anyways, hr let me know what my heart rate is while sitting, and it was definitely higher than usual. So I took a walk. I closed my eyes, tried to clear my head and took deep breathes.

Things I would never do if I had not known.

This is addition to me moving more and being more mindful of my eating.

I've used other devices and apps and found Fitbit to be most useful so far.

[Baltoscott · Accepted solution]

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@MRose wrote:

One of the biggest things is that I had no realization of how stagnant I'd become since graduating college and having 3 surgeries. I felt like I was active enough and that I was doing plenty. Wrong! I was barely getting 3,000 steps per day, but it felt like so many more because the decline was rather gradual. I've had the 'Bit about 6 months now, and I've already done two races and I'm starting training for a half marathon. Now that might not seem like a huge deal, but I've always hated running. Now I'm excited for it. Weird.

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Great point @MRose.  THAT is what fitbit is good for.  Helping you realize, over time, that you may have become really inactive.  It does so because it helps you measure and become mindful of how much you move.   The article concedes that there are many health benefits to increasing activity -- and I think that is true even for those of use who may already exercise 1, 2 or more hours/day.  I was active before fitbit, with around 1-2 hours of bike commute/day ... but what about the rest of the day?  If it is all sitting down in front of a screen (computer, TV, iPhone), I am not moving enough.  

I read the article and a lot of assertions are based on studies where people self-report their physical activity.  And most of of one of the reports cited in the article is focused on how self-reported activity is up during the 10 year period studied.  http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/pdf/1478-7954-11-7.pdf.  Curiously, the same people in the study who reported their activity level is up, also reported that the eat less now than 10 years ago. And, yet their weight went up?  Maybe, just maybe, people generally don't have a very good memory about how hard they worked out, or how well the ate, 10 years ago ... or yesterday. 

I agree with the general assertion that you can't exercise your way out of a bad diet, but I think this article, especially the headline, dismisses the value of exercise as a tool in weight management, as well as the many other reasons you should exercise.  If you are outside walking the dog, you are not on the couch in front of the TV, mindlessly eating.  Definitely, do NOT take off that fitbit.

[tallson]

You can't outrun a bad diet. Exercise, as the article clearly states has a boatload of healthy attributes but weight loss is not one of them.

[DominicJ]

I burn 900 calories an hour when I run
Maybe *you* can't but that doesn't mean we cant

[kaelarenee7]

I think it's true that you can't outrun a bad diet, but for some people exercise is definitely an important tool in weight loss.

For me, I haven't lost weight from just a diet change since middle school. At that point, I lost about 20-25 lbs and then ended up gaining it back.

A few years ago, I started a very active job and lost 50 lbs. Ever since then, focusing on working out and exercising helps motivate me to eat better. When I don't exercise, I find it hard to eat at a calorie deficit and I get discouraged and end up eating junk food and/or eating larger portions than I should. When I exercise, I pay more attention to portion sizes and don't want to eat as much junk food.

Weight loss is about finding what works best for each individual and to say that what works for someone else isn't really what works for weight loss isn't productive.

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

Of course exercise alone doesn't make you lose weight.

Side effect of exercise is weight gain actually, water at first.

But, if exercise helps you burn more each day, and then when you eat less than you burn you lose fat weight, and it's now a high enough eating level you can adhere to it better - then in a round about way, exercise did help you to lose weight - by allowing you to eat more than otherwise.

Love the references to studies where almost everything is self-reported in big chunks, all food eaten at end of day or on weekly memory, or exercise intensity isn't measured but guessed at.

Let's apply that to the Fitbit and MFP type communities where the food eaten is logged while eating it or soon thereafter, and exercise is measured as you've done it.

[SunsetRunner]

I am just starting out with MFP and Fitbit, I've been using them both for about two weeks now. I've lost 3 lbs. I'm learning how to plan healthier meals (having a plan makes it easier to make better choices) and how to balance calorie intake throughout the day. I know I'm lacking as far as exercise goes because I work a desk job and the weather has been poopy lately, and I can't afford a gym membership right now. Do you have any tips about getting started?