Exercise ain't that great for weight loss?!

Pin_Taco

Pin_Taco

Well-known member
I'm seeing more and more about how exercise isn't all that helpful for shedding pounds.

www.newscientist.com

It's not really news, I guess. I always figured diet was 90% of it. Now I'm wondering if exercise is even 5%. Sounds like the body adjusts to compensate for the extra energy you burn.

The interesting part is that aerobic workouts seem to cause the body to compensate by dialing back energy use elsewhere. Resistance work, on the other hand, seems to actually increase energy use without the compensation effect. So, maybe lift more weights?
 
Articles like this just give people an excuse to skip exercising. While I do think the right kind of exercise can absolutely assist in weight loss, there are many more benefits to exercise than just losing weight.

People think walking for a half-hour a few times a week is 'exercise'. It's not. You need daily Zone 2 cardio for 20-30 minutes. No excuses. And weight training with progressive overload, too. Eat right, maintain a deficit, and you'll slim down and get healthier.
 
Before peptides, when I was able to drop a few pounds, exercise was definitely involved. It's weird going to the gym these days just to maintain my health and improve my life instead of trying to lose weight. I don't punish myself at the gym for eating too much anymore, mainly since I'm not overeating anymore.
 
I found that paper interesting. I was wondering if going from a BMI of, say, 25 to maybe 22 or so makes a difference to heart health. I lost a bunch of weight and was walking 4-11 km daily but I've been slacking a lot lately. This makes me think I should be exercising more.

From what I've read, exercise isn't a huge factor in weight loss. When I was losing, the extra calories I should have been burning made no difference. I lost weight at the same rate, eating the same calories, whether I was working out or not. But exercise has been shown to help keep the weight off.

This study suggests that cardiovascular fitness matters more for heart disease and death than weight does. You're better off fit and overweight than skinny and out of shape. Of course, overweight people are often less active. And carrying extra weight can lower your fitness overall.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/59/5/339.full.pdf
 
Yep, there's the other side where people think hitting the gym means they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight.

The benefits of exercise for overall health are clear. The article even says, "Exercise is tremendously beneficial for our health in many ways.” I must have missed the part where this provided an excuse for not exercising, but I see @Journey's point.
 
Nutrition and exercise are two sides of the same coin, really. They work best together.

Nutrition is the foundation. It’s much easier to eat 300 calories than to burn them off via activity.

And people get hung up on how much exercise they need. Any movement above what you're already doing counts! Park further away and walk a bit more. Start with GPP (general physical preparedness).
 
Did you do exercise while losing the weight? You're at my goal size and height right now. I'm hoping I can get results like yours! You look great!
 
Increased energy use from working out combined with eating less can lower your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). I just learned that term recently while researching GLP meds. NEAT can be 10-50% of the calories you burn.

The idea is, if you go hard at the gym, you don't have as much energy for everyday stuff because you're recovering. Kinda like the blah feeling that can come with Tirz.

Also, remember that fat loss isn't the same as weight loss. The number on the scale isn't the only goal.

Walking to burn 500 calories daily was my starting point... I'll keep doing that until it becomes routine, then maybe I'll add some resistance training with simple compound exercises.

The biggest improvements come when you go from doing nothing to doing something. After that, the returns decrease.
 
In my experience, you have to get the diet right first, and then exercise makes things happen faster.

I dropped about 80 pounds in maybe 10 months by counting calories, hitting my protein goals, and running 10k like 5 or 6 times a week.

I recently hurt my Achilles tendon and have cut back from 5 or 6 runs a week to 2 short runs to test it. I went from losing weight every week to just maintaining.
 
Oh, I'm not saying the article is saying that people shouldn't exercise. But people see the headline, don't read the article, and go, "See, I knew exercising was useless."

People who exercise regularly *should* be able to eat more and still lose weight. It's calories in, calories out. If you're burning more, you can eat more, and still be in a deficit. I exercise and do extra cardio so I can eat more protein while staying in a deficit. I need 180-200g of protein, and it is very hard for me to do that without cardio or strength training. I do 40-50 minutes of Zone 2-3 cardio every day and lift weights 6-7 days a week, and I can easily get my protein in while staying in a deficit.
 
The only weight-related benefits I've ever seen from exercise are: 1) When I'm out on my scooter, I'm not sitting and snacking. 2) Just being thinner isn't enough. I want to look and feel good while being thinner, and exercise is essential for that.
 
The only times exercise worked for me was when I was going hard on the stairmaster for 90 minutes, then doing circuit machines, every single day with no days off. It worked great until I got sick with a bad respiratory infection. And why 90 minutes on the stairmaster? It had the computer that let you enter your weight etc, and 90 minutes supposedly burned 1500 calories to start my day. Then my knees started to hurt and I moved gyms and didn’t want to go. Then I moved in with my mom, changed jobs, got stressed, and without that daily workout I steadily gained it all back. Then I got married and my ex didn’t want me going to the gym. The good habits were gone. I want to go back to the gym, even though I walk the dogs and do the vibration plate now.
 
I've been on these weight loss meds for a few months now, but barely lost anything - maybe 2 pounds! I haven't done any exercise, not even walking. The food noise is gone, but I snack at night. I think that is the issue.
 
Hey @SemaGotMe, I saw someone else say that movement is key when you're on a GLP-1. Not necessarily hard workouts every day, but just moving more than usual. They said it helps keep your muscles because the meds can eat away at them if you aren't getting enough protein and using them.
 
It's amazing to see what these meds can do. Someone I know went from being pretty inactive at about 300 pounds to losing fifty pounds in like 5 months. They found they loved hiking and HIIT workouts. A calorie deficit, exercise, and medication changed their entire life!
 
Nice progress there! Honestly, the upper belly might tighten up naturally over time, but the loose skin lower down would probably need some procedure work. That said, it's still so much better than carrying the extra pounds. Solid effort.
 
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