WHAT IS YOUR VIEW???

I READ THIS ON SOME SITE, WHAT IS YOUR VIEW??

Exercise is not intended to lose weight. Exercise is intended to keep us healthy and maintain our weight. The best way to lose weight is to be on a healthy diet of no more than 1200 calories a day and hold off on exercising other than the daily activities. Once reaching the goal weight, then start muscle/cardio exercise to start toning up the body and maintain the weight.

Here is where many of us get confused. Exercising helps to build more muscles, and those muscles do burn more calories than fat does, but we have to remember, it is only by extra 3 calories per lbs of muscle, which is not much at all. Exercising regularly is good because it promotes healthy heart, lowers cholesterol and chances of cancer, but it does not help much to shed extra lbs in our body.

I used to be size 8-10, and I hit the gym one hour a day, three, four times a week to reach my goal of size 4. At the same time, I also tried to be on healthy diet, no fast food, no soda, no dressings and sauces, etc.. After 8 months or so, I did go down to size 6, but I was not satisfied with the result. I did look a little better with long pants and long sleeves on, but I still had big calves, chubby upper arms, and abdominal fat, and it seemed like whatever I did, I was not losing any more weight and wasn't sure if I was doing anything wrong. And I came across this lady at the gym who seemed very fit told me that, exercise builds muscles and helps to shred some fat; however, the majority of the fat will stay in body and will mix with the new muscles, and when this happens, the body can actually grow more in size and can be harder to lose that fat that's now mixed with the muscle group. I took her advice and stopped exercising and focused on staying on healthy diet and noticed I started going down on my body size, and I finally reached size 0-2 last year. My arms, legs, abs were a lot slimmer. One downside was that my butt and breast decreased in size also, but I was very satisfied on how I looked. Then I started exercising again, doing 30 minute muscle work out and 30 min cardio, still staying on healthy diet, and I still am at size 0-2, feeling more fit and toned.

Bottom line, I realized losing weight heavily relies on what we eat, not on how much we exercise. Exercise is definitely needed to promote a healthy life style, but if one's goal is to lose weight, I would recommend strictly staying on healthy diet with the max of 1200 calories a day until reaching a goal and then start exercising.

Sorry for the long reply, but I wanted to share my experience since I had same questions as some of you guys did. Hope this helps.

As a diabetic, I was encouraged to exercise to help with blood sugar control. I can tell a difference in my numbers if I do or if I don't, and it absolutely helps. As far as the rest? I'm not sure. I've heard pros and cons on the subject.

I agree with what you say. I have noticed the more I exercise,the more I eat and can not get satisfied and do not lose weight just maintain which is good i guess. Eating less is the key!

I absolutley believe that an active lifestyle and eating chemical free foods is the best way to maintain a healthy life, and healthy weight. Exercise is part of that. If you cut calories back to less than 1200 per day, your body uses your muscle to live on. Which means you might be size 0-2 but you won't have the strength to do everyday activities. Is skinny more important than being fit and a size 6? I would rather eat more good food, 1600-1900cal per day and work out more. I like to have more usable muscle on my body than be super skinny and have no energy. I also don't believe in these 0 cal or low cal things like diet coke or anything with aspertame! soo bad for you! Just my opinion, and it works for me.

I think that a combination of both eating fewer, but healthier calories and exercise is the key for me. Everyone is different, so the results for one person may not be the same for another. I tried just eating less for a while and didn't lose anything, but when I threw some exercise in I saw a loss. I think it just varies from person to person. I personally like the exercise because it makes me feel better, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

I agree that weight loss is far more dependent upon nutrition than exercise - it is much easier to cut 400 calories out of a diet, than to add 400 calories in exercise. Replacing highly refined, palatable, and calorie-dense foods with whole foods - particularly those high in protein and fiber - can keep you feeling full on substantially fewer calories. Moreover, exercise can be a powerful appetite stimulant, and it's very easy to burn 250 or 300 calories in exercise, and then take in 500 or more on a post-exercise "reward" - setting you further back than before. Most people significantly overestimate the amount of calories burned by exercise of all types.

Having said that, exercise is important for overall health, and calorie partitioning. Losing "weight" is not the goal - losing fat is. Regular resistance training helps retain lean mass, so that you are preferentially losing fat rather than muscle (it's not absolute, but it's an improvement). Lifting weights while you are in a calorie deficit will often result in a large difference in your body composition when you reach your goal weight - "skinnyfat" is not the goal most people have in mind when they begin losing weight.

Moreover, a limit of 1200 calories per day is not at all a good idea for everyone. That may be appropriate for some, but it would be a disastrous recommendation for others. I maintain my weight around 2900 to 3000 calories per day, for example. A 1200 calorie diet would be absolutely terrible for my health and appearance.
A modest calorie deficit that includes sufficient protein, dietary fat, and micronutrients will result in different absolute levels for everyone.

This is great info. I will print it out as a matter of fact. Continual attention to good facts like this help me to counter the OCD thoughts that aren't nearly as productive.

May I ask, dropping the weight and mentioning your chest and bottom, did the skin (there, and I guess everywhere else such as thighs) bounce back to taught? I'm on my journey and my end goal will be a much smaller size than I am, but I'm curious about what does and does not snap back.

If that's too personal, my apologies.

Best ~ woowoo

I lost about 20lbs. before I started working out. The weight loss came quicker once I incorporated exercise - I did not eat more once I started exercising. Regardless of the weight loss, I FEEL much better now. I have more energy. I look more fit. That is worth it to me. I have lost close to 70 lbs. now and have a little bit of loose skin in the arms and stomach, but probably not as much as if I hadn't exercised. I agree that nutrition is the most important factor in weight loss, but I think exercise is important too. I want to look fit and thin, and I want to have a good body fat %. You can lose weight and still have a high body fat %. I also find that incorporating exercise helps with the "healthy lifestyle" mode of thinking. It keeps me on track for following a healthy diet.

I don't know about skin and "snapping back", but I do know that for about a month, my face looked a little on the gaunt side, but it has evened out and I think it looks rounder now than a couple months ago. I think things get shifted around, but do balance out.

That is article is factually inaccurate. Firstly 1200 calories is an extremely low amount of calories to have. I lost 8 stone eating 1800-2000 calories per day. And I lost it faster than recommended. Exercise, while it cannot be relied up to bust the fat on its own, can be helpful to weight loss. Its important to exercise from the beginning in order to get healthy as we lose weight. Building muscle will tone you up (and make you look slimmer) and speed up your metabolism. Its diet that controls how much you lose or gain and exercise can help by about 20%. Also you want to develop habits that will see you through life and that means exercise if we want to keep healthy.

I think that in a way that is true, I think loosing weight is primarily diet. But exercising is a key component to making your body look healthier. I know that the look of my body changed a lot when I started gaining muscle, even though I didn't loose a ton of weight.

I lost ~30lbs over a 12 month period by doing nothing more than watching what I ate. Despite the weight loss, I was not satisfied with how I looked until I started going back to the gym. My conclusion is that they go hand in hand and that one is possible without the other, but you need to be prepared to do both to optimize the results.

Oh my gosh I tried to tell myself to walk away from this thread, but I just couldn't.. Don't exercise until you've met your goal weight?!?!?!?! Are you kidding me? And telling everyone to cut down to 1200 calories a day is insanity.. There is a reason why everybody's body is different and everyone needs a different number of calories to sustain life/gain weight/lose weight. Some people might really hurt themselves and have serious health issues if they read this and try to cut back that much.



Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues in the body. That's like saying your eyelids will mix in with your eyeballs and it will be harder to see... The only reason why some women "bulk up" when they lift weights is because their fat is still there - if you cover an orange with tissue paper (lean body), it looks much smaller than if you cover the same orange with a down comforter (fat body). It doesn't make it any harder to lose the fat - you just have to make sure you are eating a sensible diet and incorporating cardio with your weight training!! You can't justify eating a triple-decker burger and fries because you exercised for 30 minutes.. You can't out-exercise a bad diet, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't exercise.

I don't know how much of this was your actual opinion and how much was just stuff that you saw somewhere else and reposted, so if I just went off on you for something that wasn't even 'yours' - I apologize.

Erika Like I said in the beginning in CAPPITAL LETTERS I READ IT SOMEWHERE AND WANTED AN OPINION.... these are not my views I went searching the internet wanting to find out why i am gaining whilst i am dieting and exercising - obviously a person cant ask for advise here coz every second thread someone is biting someone elses head off for asking a simple question, like what just happend.... I just want to lose weight thats all, and the media,and profesors etc are confusing the crap out of me witch makes it harder to get to do what i want to do and that is losing weight. Thanx in anycase not everyone here claims to be pro's otherwise half of us wont be here with the same problem, wanting to lose weight...

I saw that, which is why I posted my disclaimer at the end - I couldn't tell if that was you inserting your own opinion at the end or if the WHOLE THING WAS COPIED.. I wasn't trying to 'bite your head off' - I flat out said that if this wasn't your words, I apologize, what I was trying to do is bite the head off of whoever wrote that for you to read in the first place. That's the thing that frustrates me - you went searching for information and that's what you found, and that's so discouraging to me because, like you said, people make these very specific claims about weight loss and it's very confusing to the general public.

Can you post the link from the website? I'd like to see the credibility of this posting -- or if it is just from some random blogger.

Oh my goodness... no one was biting anyone's head off! Erika was replying to the info, and stating HER opinion. JEEEEZA. She gave a whole crapton of very helpful info, which (I think) will help you a lot in your goals if you take it to heart.

I personally read Erika's frustration as being with the info that the article was putting out there, and how easily that sort of thing can be taken as gospel truth to those who don't have better info at hand. As in, she was frustrated FOR people like you - beginners in this whole thing who are just trying to find some answers.

Sorry, I'm sounding pretty crabby. It just felt a little like a setup for you to ask for opinions and then accuse her of biting your head off for giving one.

*retreating to the crabby old lady corner*

So I take in about 1200 calories a day on average, not done purposely but what I eat ends up always seems to add up to 1200 a day. Proof is in my diet calendar if you want to see.

Now I haven't seen any adverse health effects, I actually feel better. The 1200 calories I eat, the majority are healthy calories that are filling like quinoa, rice and beans. So *some* can eat 1200 calories a day but it's not for everyone like Erika stated. And the 1200 calories a day that you choose can still provide you with the proper nutrients if you choose them wisely.

One other thing, I do have hypo-thyroid that is slightly acting up at the moment. They do say that people with hypo-thyroid should take in 200 calories less then what is recommended. Oh and I do run as well long distance every other day.

At 1200-1400 calories per day with no exercise... lost 105 pounds. Exercise is an enhancement and not a requirement.

Read my tips on my bio.....plain and simple......exercise isn't a must and i don't even run because I have gotten so heavy so I am waiting until I get to a weight I think is safe to start running again. I am not going to run to lose MORE weight I am going to because it is something I enjoy. I will however do a little weight action so that my weight loss isn't muscle. There has to be balance in everything even in what you consume. I know I didn't get fat over night so it is ridiculous that ppl even search for a quick instant weight loss miracle. It isn't healthy for your body or your mind.

TRosales, one of the tips on your bio is indeed to exercise... plain and simple... I absolutely understand that some people are not quite physically capable or ready to exercise, so they need to focus more on their diet (not being ON a diet, but just having a healthy food intake with good choices) before they can incorporate exercise. But the post from the other site said to hold off on all exercise until you hit your goal weight, and you can't tell me you agree with that.

I'm not arguing that cutting down to 1200 calories a day and not exercising won't make you lose weight. In fact, I'm pretty certain that it will. What I AM arguing is that "the BEST way to lose weight is to be on a healthy diet of no more than 1200 calories a day and hold off on exercising other than the daily activities."

As you lose weight, your metabolism slowly decreases because it takes less energy to move around less weight.. Smaller people need fewer calories. So if you start out at 1200 calories when you are 300 pounds, how many are you going to eat when you are only 150 pounds? Why do you think so many people lose a ton of weight just to gain it all back again?? It's this ridiculous rollercoaster of cutting HUGE calorie deficits and then trying to get back to a 'normal' eating life...