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Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

I haven't read the article yet, but exercise alone doesn't make you thin. Losing weight and keeping it off is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Eating healthy is the way to go.
 
I read the article a few days ago and it seems to make sense to me. They hit it dead on when they mentioned how people would "reward themselves" with a muffin or something after completing a workout. I have a friend who does this and he never loses weight.

They seemed to endorse lighter exercise or rather short bursts of activity.
 
themoonisdown09 said:
I haven't read the article yet, but exercise alone doesn't make you thin. Losing weight and keeping it off is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Eating healthy is the way to go.
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Exactly right.

Seems most people miscalculate their calories and tend to underestimate their calorie intake while overestimating their exercise expenditure…

If more people thought for a moment about how far they'd have to run or cycle to work off the calories of a single chocolate cookie — never mind a McDonalds meal — there would be a lot less obesity.
 
Its only makes sense.

Exercise will make you thin, provided you burn more calories then you consume. By ordering that large pizza after being on the treadmill kind of defeats the purpose of working out.
 
Of course diet is part of it- no one has ever said it wasn't. Caloric intake definitely has a lot to do with it. I would still say exercise is the most important part, and most people avoid it.
 
leekohler said:
Of course diet is part of it- no one has ever said it wasn't. Caloric intake definitely has a lot to do with it. I would still say exercise is the most important part, and most people avoid it.
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If you eat very badly and exercise a lot, you still won't be as healthy and lose as much weight as if you eat healthy and exercise very little.

Obviously, the combination of the two is the best way to go, but diet does improve your health and weight more than exercising.
 
themoonisdown09 said:
If you eat very badly and exercise a lot, you still won't be as healthy and lose as much weight as if you eat healthy and exercise very little.

Obviously, the combination of the two is the best way to go, but diet does improve your health and weight more than exercising.
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I think that depends on the person. You can have the best diet in the world, but if you don't exercise, it's not going to matter either.
 
Another article with a catchy title followed by 4 pages of fluff that has nothing to do with the title. Cliff's notes version. If you eat more calories than you burn by exercise you will tend to gain weight. Sorry for the spoiler.

So let's correct the title. "Why exercise won't make you thin if you eat excessive amounts of crap after you exercise".

If you want to be thin follow the diet of emaciated runway models. It will work. If you want to be healthy and fit. You need to exercise on a regular basis and watch what you eat. I'd say it was pretty much 50/50 if you looked at the importance of both variables but it could be 55/45 either way.

My favorite part of the article..."but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain." No wonder Americans are fatter than ever - we engage in fiery spurts of vigorous exercise. Who knew!
 
I've personally lost over 115 pouch (and still loosing) weight in my life so far and I'm 21. I've gone up and down in weight my whole life and I can definitely tell you that exercise is what gets you in shape and keeps you there.

I hate reading articles in magazines or newspapers about how people can lose up to 40lbs just by eating this special piece of cake or some BS like that. The truth of the matter is, people don't want to exercise, they are just too lazy so they try to take pills and "special food" instead.

Every time I continue to eat well but stop exercising, I gain all the weight I had lost back and have to start all over again.
Of course it's common sense that you can't have tons of junk food (take-out, chocolate, ice cream) and still expect to lose. Eating a normal 3 meals a day and some good exercise will do it for you.
 
hmmfe said:
Another article with a catchy title followed by 4 pages of fluff that has nothing to do with the title. Cliff's notes version. If you eat more calories than you burn by exercise you will tend to gain weight. Sorry for the spoiler.

So let's correct the title. "Why exercise won't make you thin if you eat excessive amounts of crap after you exercise".

If you want to be thin follow the diet of emaciated runway models. It will work. If you want to be healthy and fit. You need to exercise on a regular basis and watch what you eat. I'd say it was pretty much 50/50 if you looked at the importance of both variables but it could be 55/45 either way.
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I agree. Look at all the diets Americans have tried over the years- they don't work by themselves. People will use this article as an excuse to sit on their butts and do nothing.

Artofilm said:
I've personally lost over 115 pouch (and still loosing) weight in my life so far and I'm 21. I've gone up and down in weight my whole life and I can definitely tell you that exercise is what gets you in shape and keeps you there.

I hate reading articles in magazines or newspapers about how people can lose up to 40lbs just by eating this special piece of cake or some BS like that. The truth of the matter is, people don't want to exercise, they are just too lazy so they try to take pills and "special food" instead.

Every time I continue to eat well but stop exercising, I gain all the weight I had lost back and have to start all over again.
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Thank you. I came from the opposite end- super skinny. I could eat and eat and never gain a pound. Food just went through me. I was not able to gain weight until I started lifting weights. It took a long time too. Exercise and eating well are what does it. Just one or the other isn't going to help.
 
Artofilm said:
I hate reading articles in magazines or newspapers about how people can lose up to 40lbs just by eating this special piece of cake or some BS like that. The truth of the matter is, people don't want to exercise, they are just too lazy so they try to take pills and "special food" instead.
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Exactly. The pills and "special food" is not the way to go. Losing weight and staying in shape is a lifestyle, not a one time (or year long) thing.

This is one of the main reasons why a lot of people who lose a lot of weight gain it right back. They think that once they get down to their goal weight, they are done. Wrong. You have to keep eating "clean" and healthy, and must maintain a regular exercise routine.
 
exercise may not make you thin, but the act of exercising builds muscle, and burns fat.

the more muscle mass someone has, the faster they can burn calories.


I think what most people don't understand is if you are taking in 2,000 calories a day and burning some of that off, you can't say ok well this hamburger is 400 calories so i'll work out twice as hard.

if someone needs to lose weight they will, but most people give up. i have lost 2 belt notches over the past month or two but it doesn't have anything to do with 'dieting' per say.

it has to do with not eating crap all the time.
 
michael.lauden said:
i have lost 2 belt notches over the past month or two but it doesn't have anything to do with 'dieting' per say.

it has to do with not eating crap all the time.
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That's what I mean when I say "dieting". I'm not talking about crash diets, liquid diets, the "special food" or pill diets, I'm talking about having and maintaining a healthy diet.

When I say diet, I'm talking about food intake. You either have a healthy diet or a poor diet.
 
Yup, exactly.
The first time I lost my weight I went from 240lbs to 160lbs. It took 2 years to gain it back, but when I started to gain, it only took about 5 months to put it all on, just from not exercising. I wasn't eating properly, but as long as I exercising after eating I would still hold steady, the moment I stopped, I would start gaining.

Now I'm working on losing the weight I had gained again, I reached 230lbs and now, after almost 5 months of crazy working out and insane liquid only diets at some points, I'm 194lbs.

People nowadays look for easy ways to lose weight, and it'll never happen that way.
 
leekohler said:
Thank you. I came from the opposite end- super skinny. I could eat and eat and never gain a pound. Food just went through me. I was not able to gain weight until I started lifting weights. It took a long time too. Exercise and eating well are what does it. Just one or the other isn't going to help.
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Funny thing about metabolisms. When I was young, I was the same. I could not gain a pound no matter what. I'm in my 40s now and I have to exercise to keep the pounds off. I don't have to restrict my diet too much but I do vary my caloric intake from day to day.
 
Artofilm said:
Yup, exactly.
The first time I lost my weight I went from 240lbs to 160lbs. It took 2 years to gain it back, but when I started to gain, it only took about 5 months to put it all on, just from not exercising. I wasn't eating properly, but as long as I exercising after eating I would still hold steady, the moment I stopped, I would start gaining.

Now I'm working on losing the weight I had gained again, I reached 230lbs and now, after almost 5 months of crazy working out and insane liquid only diets at some points, I'm 194lbs.

People nowadays look for easy ways to lose weight, and it'll never happen that way.
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It would be much better if you got yourself off this extreme cycle. This pattern you have is simply unsustainable. Are you going to be on a liquied diet and work out as hard for your whole life? I don't think so--and that's why you have fallen off the wagon already and why you will again. You need a more steady, sustainable diet and exercise regimen that you can realisitically maintain throughout your life.
 
themoonisdown09 said:
That's what I mean when I say "dieting". I'm not talking about crash diets, liquid diets, the "special food" or pill diets, I'm talking about having and maintaining a healthy diet.

When I say diet, I'm talking about food intake. You either have a healthy diet or a poor diet.
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i agre with you 100%. most people misunderstand the word 'diet' with 'South Beach Diet' and 'Nutrisystem'.

it really doesn't add up. if you eat right, you will feel right. you don't need to pay extra for food that isn't much better than what you could eat on your own.

if you think it's unhealthy it probably is. it's all about balance. you either do it - or you don't. with your health, it's one way or the other. no in between.
 
The title is incredibly misleading. It should be: Why Exercise Alone Won't Make You Thin.

If you are very overweight, then you can lose most of it on diet alone, but those last 20-30 pounds, when things start to equalize, is going to take hard work in the form of some serious exercise, to imply otherwise is kind of silly.
 
barkomatic said:
It would be much better if you got yourself off this extreme cycle. This pattern you have is simply unsustainable. Are you going to be on a liquied diet and work out as hard for your whole life? I don't think so--and that's why you have fallen off the wagon already and why you will again. You need a more steady, sustainable diet and exercise regimen that you can realisitically maintain throughout your life.
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Actually that's not why I gained the weight back the first time, but that's okay. I had to have surgery and that set me back most of the weight.

Anyways, I agree with you, I don't plan on doing a heavy routine for the rest of my life. Everything takes time and I plan on slowly going back to eating regularly and exercising lighter, I already have started. Holding weight steady is easier than losing weight, which is why I'm working harder now than I will be. Not to mention, summer is almost done here and I need to get in as much exercise as possible before the winter takes over.
 
Seeing as its kind of on topic anyway, what is everyones views on supplements like whey protein and creatine. Creatine is something i try very hard to just stay away from. Whey protein I don't know enough about to make any informed decisions on.

Either way, I don't care when others want to use supplements but for me personally I try to avoid it simply because I have no understanding of the long term effects or what happens when you stop taking them.

I ask only because on campus here we have a smoothie bar that specializes in "healthy" shakes (actual fruits which is good) but they have special mixes for pre workouts, post workouts, off days, etc.
 
hmmfe said:
Another article with a catchy title followed by 4 pages of fluff that has nothing to do with the title. Cliff's notes version. If you eat more calories than you burn by exercise you will tend to gain weight. Sorry for the spoiler.

So let's correct the title. "Why exercise won't make you thin if you eat excessive amounts of crap after you exercise".
Click to expand...
Exactly my thoughts. If you exercise for 30min then 'reward' yourself w/a Big Mac and fries of course you are going to gain weight. It's beyond common sense if you know the first thing about diet and exercise. The logic used in that article is just unbelievable.


Lethal
 
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