Loosing weight is 75% what you eat - a few thoughts on that.

[Lucet]

I noticed that exercising and eating healthy goes together. The day that I work out I am most likely to eat healthy like 95% of the time. The other 5% well- Life happens.  Its as if I am more motivated , Also- It cuts my appetite - specially if I just had had an abs work out- Then I feel full pretty quicly. Where I am  now working out is more important- because it motivates me to eat better. No way am gonna over-eat after almost dying in an LA fitness boot-camp class- Kind of how my mind works. What you eat is also super important but I would change that 50%-50% for me at least. Anyone think alike?

[emili]

weight loss starts in the kitchen 100% of the time. You can excercise until you drop but if you aren't eating at a caloric deficit- you will look leaner but there won't be weight loss. Whatever motivates you to eat well- keep doing it. Eat less + move more= magic!

[bcalvanese]

I think exercise is more important than diet, and weight loss don't start in the kitchen. Calories out are just as (if not more) important than calories in.

There are two things you MUST do if you want to to be healthy and maintain a healthy body weight.

1. get to and maintain a good fitness level.

2. Eat a well balanced healthy diet.

It's all about making a comitment to changing your life style and replacing bad habits with good habits, and yes treats are fine once in a while, you just can't over do it.

[Dominique]

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@bcalvanese wrote:

I think exercise is more important than diet, and weight loss don't start in the kitchen.

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@bcalvanese: There is no denying exercise is important, so I won’t argue about that. Likewise, there is no denying it is possible to lose weight with exercise alone: if you have been eating at maintenance and have been mostly sedentary, just add a brutal amount of exercise while eating the same (even if "unhealthy") and you’ll have a deficit that will lead to weight loss.

However, for most people, especially those severely overweight and out of shape, nutrition will be more important.

Your profile shows a rather high step count (about 20k in average). If you have a deskjob and have few opportunities to move during your workday, you need at least 1.5-2.0 hours (assuming brisk walking) in order to reach that kind of activity level. While you may have the time and the physical condition to do this, it’s not necessarily the case of everyone else. Just because some approach has been successful to float your boat doesn’t mean the same approach would (or should) float everyone else’s boat.

[bcalvanese · Accepted solution]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@bcalvanese wrote:

I think exercise is more important than diet, and weight loss don't start in the kitchen.

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@bcalvanese: There is no denying exercise is important, so I won’t argue about that. Likewise, there is no denying it is possible to lose weight with exercise alone: if you have been eating at maintenance and have been mostly sedentary, just add a brutal amount of exercise while eating the same (even if "unhealthy") and you’ll have a deficit that will lead to weight loss.

However, for most people, especially those severely overweight and out of shape, nutrition will be more important.

Your profile shows a rather high step count (about 20k in average). If you have a deskjob and have few opportunities to move during your workday, you need at least 1.5-2.0 hours (assuming brisk walking) in order to reach that kind of activity level. While you may have the time and the physical condition to do this, it’s not necessarily the case of everyone else. Just because some approach has been successful to float your boat doesn’t mean the same approach would (or should) float everyone else’s boat.

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I am glad you mentioned this, and you have some good points.

I do have a desk job, and a year ago, i was obese and extreamly out of shape. I could barely walk 1 mile at a slow pace without feeling like I was litterally going to die and had to lay down for an hour.

I got an activity tracker and started with 5,000 steps per day (and that was hard). I then started walking that mile. Sometimes 3 times a day, and kept doing it until I could walk 2 miles. Then 3 miles, and so on. Then I started picking up the pace so I could keep my heart in the cardio zone for at least 20 minutes (the point of getting a minimum cardio training effect). Once I reached the point of getting a training effect, I started really seeing a difference in the way I felt, so I stepped up my game even more, and I kept feeling better and better.

I try to eat healthier and I do log my calories each day, but that part is pretty easy because I burn so many calories on my walks that I can have a satisfying well balanced diet, and not have to be hungry all the time.

As I mentioned, I have a desk job, so I walk 3 to 4 miles at a 4 to 4.5 mph pace during my lunch hour. I then do another 1 to 3 miles when I get home from work, and if I feel like it I try to get another mile in before bed. I can now power walk at a 4 to 4.5 mph pace for over 8 miles, and I'm 58 years old.

My fitness level has gone from poor to good, and my resting heart rate has gone from the 80's to the 60's over the past year. Also, my blood work comes back good now.

I have lost 57 lbs. in 52 weeks and still have about another 20 lbs. to go to get to the middle of my healthy weight for my sex/age/height/age, and I have absolutely no doubt that doing what I am doing, I will reach that goal without being hungry.

Being healthy is not just starving yourself to get to a healthy body weight.

Being healthy is getting to and maintaining a good fitness level so you can easily maintain a healthy body weight.

You must do both, and you have to commit to it. You have to do it over a long period of time, and you have to turn bad habits into good habits.

It is my opinion that anyone who can walk can do this, and once you get over the hump and start getting a training effect, you will feel what I mean.

This is just my opinion, and people are going to do whatever they want, but over 90% of diets fail.

[Swuzz]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@bcalvanese wrote:

I think exercise is more important than diet, and weight loss don't start in the kitchen.

---

@bcalvanese: There is no denying exercise is important, so I won’t argue about that. Likewise, there is no denying it is possible to lose weight with exercise alone: if you have been eating at maintenance and have been mostly sedentary, just add a brutal amount of exercise while eating the same (even if "unhealthy") and you’ll have a deficit that will lead to weight loss.

However, for most people, especially those severely overweight and out of shape, nutrition will be more important.

Your profile shows a rather high step count (about 20k in average). If you have a deskjob and have few opportunities to move during your workday, you need at least 1.5-2.0 hours (assuming brisk walking) in order to reach that kind of activity level. While you may have the time and the physical condition to do this, it’s not necessarily the case of everyone else. Just because some approach has been successful to float your boat doesn’t mean the same approach would (or should) float everyone else’s boat.

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I absolutely agree!  I have a friend who struggles with obesity.  She exercises and eats well but has to work out 6 days a week, pushing herself through cardio, to maintain her still overweight status so that she doesn't creep back into obesity.  Everyone is different.  I will never argue against diet and/or exercise, I am simply saying that once you know how your body responds it is easy to assume that you have found the "key".  

I subscribe to the "small wins" philosophy in that if you give up alcohol-that is a win.  It may not result in weight loss alone, but it is a healthy "win" on your way to a healthier lifestyle.  Likewise, if you go for a walk-even just to take out the trash when usually someone else does it, that is a "win".  You have to acknowledge the steps you are taking towards a healthier lifestyle and choose to keep doing them.  If you don't you can become overwhelmed and frustrated very easily which can lead towards back-sliding into old habits.

Listen to your body and use common sense.  Yes diet and exercise combined creates a calorie deficit and keeps your BMR at a higher rate, but if you find that you cannot exercise, watch what you eat.  If you do exercise just remember that it is rare that you actually "burn off" what you have eaten if you are eating high calorie foods or drinking alcohol.

Don't get discouraged.  Keep a positive mindset and try to achieve a "win" today.  For me, today I am working from home and probably will not get to the gym so my "win" that I am striving for today is a 500 calorie deficit from my BMR (which is estimated anyway).

[Lucet]

Thank you guys for all of your responses. It is a very  individualistic thing I guess. Right now I am in a place where it is 50/50 where my activity level is as important then the eating alone. I find that working out motivates me to eat healthier. And do better; And it  is such a reward for me at the end of the day to see the calory deficit in my Food log summary. Perhaps in the futur I will change my mind. Its a long journey we will have to see. 

[bostonkatie]

For me personally, I noticed a difference when I started counting calories along with exercise (I used the app MyPlate). I've been going to bootcamp classes for a few years, 3x a week, giving it my all with and saw no weight loss or real change in my body. I didn't think I overate or had a crazy bad diet until I started portion sizing and plugging things into my app. At that point, cutting my calorie intake along with exercise made the change.  Even weeks I couldn't hit the gym as many times as I wanted to, I still saw some weight loos because I was still watching my calorie intake. So I would say the number is higher than 50/50 personally. Maybe more 60%diet-40% exercise. I also swapped out some of my typical workday snacks for more fruit and have left my Crackerfuls habit for just an afterwork snack after eating apples and watermelon during the day.