Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

[b0llywud]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

also agree with liv, exercise makes you look and FEEL better. Releases serotonin and can lift the mood. This all helps towards making you feel better about yourself and can help you stick to your eating plan especially if like me one is a comfort/emotional eater.

[ShannonM]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

b0llywud, good points. Isn't exercise recommended for diabetics to help manage blood sugar swings? That right there will help with fat loss. And exercise definitely has a positive-reinforcement effect - it helps motivate me not to cheat because I don't want to undo all the hard work I put in.

From all the comments here, looks like exercise is much more helpful for fat loss than the article was willing to give it credit for.

[imagood1]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

Isn't exercise recommended for diabetics to help manage blood sugar swings? That right there will help with fat loss.

When I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes I was told to walk as my exercise, and eat small meals several times a day, take my medicine and stay away from "bad foods"....but also to eat starches, and that a "carb" was 15 grams of carb = 1 carb....so I gained weight because I wasn't doing enough exercise and the foods I was told to eat and amounts were too much.

Since I started Atkins and got off starches, started counting a carb as a carb and upped my exercise the weight has come off...slowly, yes, but it has come off.

Loosing slowly gives me an advantage.....when I was younger I went for the quick fix diets to loose 25 - 30 pounds for "an event" then would gain it all back....I would cheat while I dieted because I could and got away with it.....NOW, I fight for every pound to come off so when they do I am less likely to do anything to gain them back. Plus my blood sugars are so much better now I don't want to go back to the pathetic way I use to eat and have those swings back and forth. I was an emotional eater before I'm not now - since my sugars are under control I don't feel the need for the crutch of "emotional" eating.

[msanjelpie]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

I mostly agree with the article. Many people believe that if they just exercise they will lose weight. We know that it takes BOTH exercise AND dieting to lose weight.

Now looking at it from the other perspective, I diet, but I don't exercise. Yet I still lose weight. Would I lose faster if I exercised? possibly... would I be healthier? most definitely. But I prefer the 'move around more' type of exercise, gardening and walking here and there, than the regimented time to go pop on a machine type of exercise.

When I used to exercise (tennis, running, stairmaster, aerobicize) the first thing I would do is have something scrumptious to eat afterwards as a 'reward'... I wasn't exercising to lose weight though, just to be healthier, have a better heart, be more mean and lean etc... It made me feel as if I was accomplishing something good for myself...

I agree with the point of the article which is that people think that exercise alone is going to get rid of that extra flab, and it just ain't so... I don't agree with the thought that exercise makes you more obese because you are more likely to eat more..., yah you might have a snack afterwards, but generally speaking, regular exercise controls appetite on a daily basis...

I think that when people diet they should drink more water, not because it helps them lose faster, but because it is good for them, it helps flush out toxins etc... I think that when people diet they should do more physical activity, not because is helps them lose faster, but because it is good for them, it helps tone muscles, strengthen the heart, make the body run better etc...

Bottom line about the article... Exercise is good for you, but don't expect to lose tons of weight with exercise alone.

[stacy3477]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

This reminds me of the article last week stating that low-fat diets will make us live longer based on scientific studies on chimps (sorry, I don't have the link). EXCEPT, they ignored any chimps in the "low-fat" category that died of natural causes! Science doesn't quite work that way. Be cautious of stories like this...

[liv]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

This reminds me of the article last week stating that low-fat diets will make us live longer based on scientific studies on chimps (sorry, I don't have the link). EXCEPT, they ignored any chimps in the "low-fat" category that died of natural causes! Science doesn't quite work that way. Be cautious of stories like this...

No kidding. There is such a disconnect between what the science and researchers are saying and what and how it gets reported in the press. I never usually read stuff like this at all. It is usually crap and sensationalism. I do sometimes look up the studies they claim to be basing these ridiculous stories on though.

No wonder most people think low carb is unhealthy and dangerous because what they know about it comes from newpaper stories like this. Journalists pretty much spin it their way. I think I have yet to see a story about Atkins without a picture of a plate of bacon and eggs swimming in fat. Like that is what we eat all the time.

[jgurl1026]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

"My elliptical says I burn 810 calories an hour, but I also know that my elliptical overstates the burn rate by 50% or more."

Does anyone have a CORRECT health calculation in which you can figure out what you are truly burning during certain activities? I've seen many online.. but how accurate are they...?

[phil h]

Re: Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

In my experience I have a lot of documented wt loss with diets.All kinds of diets but very low carb has shown to be the one I can stick with as it addresses hunger so well.As far as exercise alone,I can honestly say I have never lost any substantial weight.Heavy exercise with low carbs stimulates my appetite considerably.Exercise such as a 4 mile walk has little if any effect on my hunger.I lift quite a bit of wts and have to be careful not to over do it.Funny, I can do a lot of body wt exercises such as burpees,pushups,pullups without a problem.I think the article is somewhat accurate in that heavy exercise may be counter productive if you are trying to lose wt.Think I will stick with walking and body wt exercises and lift heavy with few reps on occasion.Amazing what squats holding a 25lb plate to your chest and pullups will do.For the ladies pullups might be too hard to do but try reverse pullups.Will tone up those arms very quickly.And we have all seen what burpees will do when we see those prisoners in remarkable shape.