The key is to not eat the quarter pounder after exercise, even if your body cries for 3.
Yup, that’s the problem. If you run 5 miles you burn about 500 calories. Hardly enough to make up for even the fries in the meal. A lot of people overestimate calories burnt and underestimate calories consumed.
A bit of exercise every day is good for your heart, lungs, circulatory system etc. but it won’t make up to overcome an otherwise sedentary lifestyle if you don’t change your diet.
Yep I’ve lost 30kg and by far the biggest thing that allowed me to achieve that was to start counting my calories. At first that’s all I did, only later I started to introduce weight lifting and exercise to prevent losing too much muscle and to start making them stronger and more visible.
Weight training also helps considerably, as while it doesn’t directly burn as many calories as intense cardio, bigger muscles require more calories to maintain, so by building muscle you’re increasing your resting calorie consumption
Exactly this, like obviously you should exercise, but when it comes to losing weight it’s really the diet that matters most.
I actually, within the span of about a year, went from 280 to 179 lbs through diet alone, I literally did no exercise. I’m 6’ btw.
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t exactly recommend that, without exercise you’ll also be losing tons of muscle. But my point is that diet is incredibly powerful.
It’s the diet only in the sense that if you’re not careful you will just eat the extra that you’re burning, but if you keep eating the same and start being active when you weren’t, we can say that it’s being active that made you lose weight.
Sure, we can say it, people try to convince themselves of lots of things.
Input stays the same
Output changes
Me: “What changed? The output.”
You: “Sure, your can convince yourself of that”
Nah the key is to get rid of insanely calorie dense ultra processed garbage that digests in minutes and makes you feel like shit. Roast chicken breast with tons of herbs and it’s delicious - you can quite literally eat as much of that as you can physically handle and you wont gain weight. Plenty of ways to cook veggies that make them delicious. Fruits arent that many cals and fill you up. Unsweetened yogurt is the same cals per protein as protein powder. Dont eat cereal or half the packaged garbage in the grocery store. Just eat real food and it’s a million times easier to lose weight.
Well the issue here is that food companies have been pushing the calorie balance mantra, you can eat more as long as you exercise more, except studies have shown you cant, the mantra “you can’t outrun your diet” exists for a reason.
Kurzgesagt has a good video on the workout paradox https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s?si=KQUibk9D3Cj8sYyi
Renesaince Periodization is a good youtube channel for science backed methods for losing weight if you are interested, but spoiler alert, it takes a long time and you need to eat less for periods of up to 3 months then stay at that weight for the same amount of time before continuing your weight loss to avoid bounce backs and excessively diet fatigue
I admit to not watching that video, at least not yet. But the idea that a person can’t eat more while exercising seems to conflict with the first law of thermodynamics.
I cordially invite you or anyone else to sell the lazy among us on watching the video above. Dispel our concerns… if you dare.
Edit: I gotta say. At -22 currently (sure to increase after this), and with a ton of really great, informative responses below… What are we doing here?
I asked an open question encouraging discussion if anyone is interested in doing that. So why all the down votes? Was it the “if you dare”? Didn’t think a /s would have been necessary but maybe it wasn’t clear?
And look. This isn’t about my imaginary comment score. It’s about community. The comment section is for discussion. Feels like once a comment gets one or two down votes everyone else just adds to them without considering the content. Do we want Lemmy to be a place for interaction or not?
I haven’t yet watched it either, but I’ll take a punt. It’s very hard to apply the first law to bodies, because we ingest, burn, store, and excrete in very complicated ways. It’s not as simple as calories in vs calories burned.
but- my doctor told me that although i’m bedridden, if i just start fasting, i’ll be able to walk without pain again 🧐🤌 /s
edit: this is a joke about the american healthcare system frequently deciding that overweight patients would not have a problem if they weren’t overweight, and many doctors also preaching the CICO (calories in, calories out) method, it is a joke agreeing with the poster
You are not immune to the basic laws of thermophysics. Weight loss is literally calories in < calories out.
No shit. That’s not some great revelation and I’m kinda tired of seeing it posted as if it is.
You don’t burn a great deal more calories exercising than you do just sitting on the couch. Your body is very good at conserving energy. Not to say exercise isn’t beneficial, it is, it’s just not a great weight loss tool. Not at last as good as common wisdom might suggest.
The caveman in your skull is also very persuasive, and wants you to eat far more than you need, because it thinks you might not be able to find food again for a while. The caveman really likes carbs, and foods high in sugar and fat, and will ask for more the second you have any.
Ignoring the caveman is hard, harder for some than others. It’s also taxing and after a while the caveman will wear you down.
Effective weight loss isn’t just about putting less food on your plate. Fucking anybody can do that and it’s exceedingly obvious to those trying that that’s what they need to do.
Losing weight is about beating back the caveman in your skull, convincing him that he’s had enough, and feeding him in a way that also nourishes the body you both live in.
There’s a reason most people fail, and fail repeatedly to lose weight. It’s as simple as eating less but it turns out, eating less for people who eat a lot isn’t actually that simple. There are psychological and physiological drivers causing them to keep going back for more, to lie to themselves about how they’re doing, and to ignore the obvious cues that something isn’t working.
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There have been many times that I justified gaining weight via alcoholism because I thought maybe if I was disgusting no one would assault me again. Turns that that’s not only not true, I’ve become disgusted with and hate my own body. So now I have a crippling alcohol addiction in addition to hating myself, and being afraid of interacting with certain people.
I’ve done a lot of therapy. And I will continue to do a lot of therapy. I almost graduated from therapy this spring, and had curbed my alcohol intake. But, then I had to get a restraining order and my brain fell right back into it’s old habits. It shouldn’t be this hard to feel safe as a middle aged adult lol
Hey friend. I’m on your team here. I can’t help you but I’m rooting for you so hard.
It’s hard. Fuckin hardest thing you’ll ever do. You don’t have to succeed in one try, or all at once. Every day is another chance to succeed just a little bit more, even if you stumbled yesterday.
Shit’s hard, it sounds like you have come a long way. I’m rooting for you ❤️
Thank you 💜
You don’t burn a great deal more calories exercising than you do just sitting on the couch.
Depends on how intense the exercise is, but it can easily be more than a factor of 3 times as much energy as sitting around (something like walking) to more than 10 times as much (things like vigorous cycling, running, etc). Would be really hard to maintain 20 times sitting output for any significant period of time though.
That’s serious athlete level of performance, though. And a result of that rigorous of exercise is an increased appetite, for obvious reasons.
Yes, freakish athletes like Micheal Phelps do exist, and intaking enough calories to fuel their workout is actually difficult. But for the regular humans just trying to lose weight, it’s far more effective to focus on calories than to focus on heavy exercise for 3+ hours a day.
What is serious athlete level of performance? 10x for at least 30 minutes/day seems pretty manageable for someone without significant medical conditions to work up to in a short period. Even if you eat back 80% of that, it can still lead to an equilibrium weight that’s like 20lb less.
Anecdotal, and I agree with you overall, but I hit the gym hard (2-3 hour jiu jitsu/MMA sessions) 4 times a week for 3 months and lost 18 lbs. I didn’t change my diet at all, though I will admit it’s possible I ended up eating less overall. But my point is I think exercise can definitely be a pretty good weight loss tool if you’re working your ass off. Just depends on the amount of exercise and the intensity etc.
Yeah, massive amounts of exercise without a massive increase in consumption will work. But people act as if you can go for a jog 3 times a week and that will take care of it.
(also your last sentence is mangled)
“Depressed? Just cheer up, bro.”
I’m part of a whole-foods plant-based potluck group. A number of people are eating that way to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. Most people in the group are maintaining a healthy weight without any major exercise plan.
Damn I wish I had this group in my area
They are all over. Search for the closest one here: https://plantpurecommunities.org/find-a-pod/
Thanks! Sadly my closest pod(?) is the next town over. I joined in case I ever get the time to join in person.
Cool!
The number doesn’t matter - composition does. Workout a few times a week and eat like a human instead of a cow… Shockingly most people will end up fit.
But the real issue is that people are either too lazy, ignorant, or just plain stupid to figure out how to count calories and/or estimate their BMR.
It’s also funny how many people seem to not realize that they have to change habits permanently if they want permanent change.
But why does excersize have to suck so much.
Like if I wanted my muscles to hurt I could just slap em with a belt or if I wanted to gasp for breath… I could also use a belt.
Like I have “slow-twitch” muscles which means I’m better running I guess, but then Jesus fuck that hurts my knees and feet, which I could probably use a belt to cause pain to as well.
Muscle soreness mostly goes away after a while when doing strength exercise. I kind of miss it, to be honest - it’s a clear signal that you’ve accomplished something.
As for running, it is indeed quite hard on everything. I generally prefer biking, which I find a lot more fun and less straining on the body.
As for running, it is indeed quite hard on everything. I generally prefer biking, which I find a lot more fun and less straining on the body.
Until you crash, and then it takes you forever to heal as you get older. Swimming is good, but if you’ve spent your whole life in the water like I have, you wind up with burnt out rotator cuffs, etc.
Basically, any repetitive exercise will destroy you over time. Best to mix it up as much as possible
I guess you could go stationary if you want to eliminate the risk of crashing.
… Do you want to be slapped with a belt? We can certainly accommodate that request
Yeah I hate almost any and all forms of exercise. I picked up running back in March because people say exercise improves your mental health.
No it fucking doesn’t. I’m still doing it every few days and it does not at all improve my mental health. Also running fucking sucks. People who enjoy it are psychopaths.
Figured I’d keep at it for now though. I don’t run super far or fast. I run a bit over 3 miles every few days. It still sucks every time.
Running sucks ass, but cycling is fun. You just need to find something you enjoy
Cycling and swimming as well sucks less than both. Significantly better for your joints and exercises pretty much all muscles. Downside is that not everyone has access to a pool regularly.
Simple, because you never do it. All forms of cardio are unpleasant when you are completely out of shape. It gets better rather quickly if you keep at it and once you have some endurance it is actually fun.
Athletic people tend to say that, but I really doubt it’s true for everyone. I have never enjoyed sport - being out of shape it sucked more, but while maintaining a sensible training regime I really dislike it as well. For me it’s about as enjoyable as doing housework. I do that too, but not for fun.
The only thing that has helped me is to accept that evolution is a bitch and biology is unfair; I will probably never enjoy working out, but I can do it anyway and find a form of exercise that is kinda okay and allows me to listen to good music while I do it.
For some people, “it will be fun one day” just sets a really unrealistic expectation.
I assure you european peasants were not eating pizza and cheesecake multiple times a week
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I’m not saying losing weight is easy, but it is a simple math problem.
