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Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

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Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#191

Post by [deleted] »

Scramblejams wrote: post #118
pjlegato wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd bet there is some exercise intensity threshold step function at work. The article says exercise is, "only around 10 to 30 percent [of total energy expenditure] depending on the person (and excluding professional athletes that workout as a job)," implying that when you are doing lots and lots of hardcore exercise almost every day, it will use up a greater percentage of calories.

Yeah, I've wondered the same. I recall another study -- no idea where I'd find it now -- which did body scans of runners. They found that runners which averaged 11mi/wk had substantial interior fat deposits. Runners that averaged 17mi/wk had very little. Actually, did a bit of Googling, looks like it might have been a study by Dr. Uwe Schütz published in 2009, found a mention of it here: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk…

[deleted]

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#192

Post by cushychicken »

yuzi wrote: post #153
cushychicken wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're nitpicking the article's message. You're saying that exercise caused you to eat better, but the article (and the data) are suggesting that it was eating better, not exercising, that led to the weight loss. We can agree to disagree regarding what decision gets the credit for shedding those pounds, but in any case, congratulations on your weight loss. That's a real accomplishment.

I put forth a response below to a similar point here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11598409 Thanks :)

Interesting. My experience - personally, and from other people who have lost weight - seems to mirror the article's conclusions.

Ah well. Not terribly important when faced with the end result - you lost the weight, and that's all that matters!

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#193

Post by tdyen »

jkljkljkljjj wrote: post #168

Often ignored aspects to exercising as an obese person are that it plain sucks, is difficult, and likely to result in injury; it's harmful . Whenever I see obese people out running in public, obviously attempting to lose weight, these thoughts come to mind: 1. Impressive; that's a lot of hard work, not to mention embarrassing. Nobody fit I know could do the same carrying the equivalent weight in a backpack full of sa…

You've hit the nail on the head with the exercise theories. Injuries can stop any program dead in its tracks. Avoiding injury is the key.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#194

Post by yuzi »

mholmes680 wrote: post #61
yuzi wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience: I didn't have a sedentary life, well at least lets just say I wasn't sitting at a computer all day. I was always out and about. My extra weight was from a mix of overconsumption and poor food choices. I noticed there were unforseen changes in behaviour due to diet that I still find strange. Things like quitting pop. I used to grab McDonald's food more often, but since quitting pop I avoid the plac…

I have also decided this past Jan 1 to stop Soda. And I've phased out sugar in my morning coffee. Not being a big juice drinker in the first place, I think I'm better off as a long term goal to limit the amount of sugar i "drink". I'll stick to just "eating" it, focus on cutting out more processed sugar and being smart about balanced diet in general. I do crave it still tho, I have not found myself avoiding fast food…

One more tip. Finding substitutes really helps. Soda stream is awesome provided you don't add the syrups. I do 90% soda water with 10% orange juice or grape juice and I love the stuff.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#196

Post by fizx »

epimetheus wrote: post #161
paulsutter wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> exercising might actually be harmful to their weight loss goals, due to how we tend to overestimate how many calories were burned The actual number of calories burned exercising is unaffected by our mental estimates. Thinking you earned the right to eat junk food is the problem, not exercise.

Exercise makes me ravenous, I'm certainly not the only person for which that is true. Swimming is the worst offender, IME. I can be vigilant, but even knowing that I didn't burn enough calories to counterbalance that meatball sub I want to get after my workout, doesn't help all that much in keeping me from actually buying it anyway. This is similar to the problem of calories in = calories out. Dieting isn't a chemist…

It's really important to stay hydrated, because your body often mistakes thirst for hunger. Drink water every 10m in the pool. Also, I often take a small amount of heavy protein immediately after the workout (~1/2 of one of those 33g protein bars is typical), then jump in the shower.

Between these two habits, I've killed the post-swim binge. Hope it works for you too!

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#197

Post by Gibbon1 »

beloch wrote: post #166

What other people see when they look at you is determined almost entirely by your diet. Nobody can see your muscles if they're buried under blubber. How you feel, on the other hand, is hugely impacted by your physical activities. Not only does exercise give you energy and focus, it has a huge impact on mood. Exercise is more effective at fighting depression than most medications. There's more to being healthy than be…

An idea that carries some weight (heh) with me is that your weight consists of four 'compartments'

   Skeletal: Hard to argue that more skeletal mass is 'bad'
   Muscle: Also hard to argue more is bad
   Subcutaneous Fat: This is what people don't like.
   Visceral Fat: This is the stuff that kills you.
If you're judging the progress of your cunning diet and exercise plan using a bathroom scale, you're going to be disappointed because muscle/skeletal mass increases.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#198

Post by seanmcdirmid »

ethanbond wrote: post #183
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is "I'm hungry" and then there is "If I don't eat something, I'm going to crash." It is not success, it means something is really imbalanced in your diet, and if you have the mental power to successfully ignore it, well, isn't that just an eating disorder?

That's no more of an eating disorder than the inverse: not having the mental power to acknowledge and respond to it appropriately. Anyways, parent comment didn't say to starve yourself. It said to learn to be okay with being a bit hungry. Instead of learning to be okay with the feeling of hunger, people learn to be okay with the equally unpleasant feeling of being stuffed.

Grand parent's comment was about feeling ravenous during swimming, not just "hungry." Diet is not as simple as eating less food, since you are eating less, you need to make an extra effort to ensure your body is still getting what it needs.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#199

Post by slfnflctd »

loxs wrote: post #129
slfnflctd wrote: post #117

I've noticed in some cases that exercise can actually stave off hunger pangs - both while doing it and afterward for a while (you want water more than food) - and in this manner it can act as an appetite suppressant. As long as you ignore the body's impulse to eat more than usual when you finally do sit down for a meal, it can very much work in your favor. There's also a phenomenon people refer to as "shrinking stoma…

I have seen exactly the opposite effect on myself. After exercise I can (and really want) to eat the world.

Certainly both responses happen. I've noticed I tend to have a delayed reaction and get hungrier later, then eat a whole day's calories in a sitting without even trying. Regardless, there are all kinds of ways to help suppress appetite, and if exercise is having this affect for you, alternating with other methods can allow you to delay and/or reduce eating.

Re: Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight

#200

Post by orky56 »

cphoover wrote: post #165

I guess people go to the gym for different reasons. Me personally I don't care about losing weight. I want to convert my body fat into muscle. If I don't eat a lot I can lose tons of weight, but I also look and feel weaker. So for me, exercise is very important.

You can't convert body fat into muscle. You can choose to cut (lose fat), bulk (gain muscle), or lean gain (gain muscle without gaining any/little fat). Unfortunately, it is frustrating and futile to do any of the above 3 at once.
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