Why add excercise?

Hello everyone! I've got a couple of questions :]

I am 26yo 5'6'' and 150lbs. I didn't used to weigh this much... went from 118 to this in about 3 years. [thyroid disease and 2 failed pregnancies] So I have been working on my diet to get back to about 120-ish. I've never had to worry about my weight until now, so I am not quite sure of what to do.

So my question is, if I am down to 1200 calories a day [700 cal. deficit] and am doing fine and losing weight, what would be the benefit of adding exercise? Would I lose more? Or would that just up my caloric requirement for the day? Does this make any sense? I just ask because if a 1.5-2 lb loss is healthy for a week, and that is what I am achieving now, what would be the benefit [besides getting in shape of course ;]

My company provides free gym memberships, so I was going back and forth on if I should join or not. :]

Thanks in advance!!

I would like to know this answer too, actually I kind of think since I started working out I am losing less than when I was just dieting. Hm.

Many people have trouble sticking to a low low calorie limit, such as 1200 calories a day to create enough of a calorie deficit, which is why they add exercise. Burning more calories requires eating more calories. In addition, it is reccommended not to eat under your BMR caloric intake for a long period of time, since your metabolism will eventually slow down and your body may go into "starvation mode." The metabolism slows down and begins to preserve fat because the body is taking in much less calories than it needs to support the vital organs in order to create that 500 to 1000 calorie deficit.

By adding exercise, you can safely eat your BMR amount of calories or higher (depending on how many calories you burn through exercise), which keeps the body healthy and keeps the metabolism from slowing down and therefore keeps the body from going into starvation mode. And like you said, exercise has the added benefit of sculpting muscles and losing inches from all different areas.

I have experienced starvation mode, where I was actually working out vigorously 2 times a day, every day, and barely eating anything... maybe 1000 to 1200 calories a day. I did this for 2 months and didn't lose any weight. I didn't understand it at all. My body was holding on to the fat because I wasn't eating enough to support my body or my acitivity level. I have since upped my calories slowly to 1600 - 1700 a day and exercise for about an hour 6 days a week and I am losing weight again.

Hope this helps :) Good luck!

Hope this helps :)

That makes perfect sense. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me! :] I really appreciate it.

Not to mention of course that exercise is crucial to living a long and healthy life- it's not just about weight loss and the cosmetic benefits!

You need exercise to make sure all your internal organs function properly! Diet is only 1/2 the battle, even if you don't lose weight from exercise, you are doing your body SO MUCH GOOD by breaking a sweat 3 - 6 times a week... & if your job offers a free gym membership, why not take advantage of that!!! Not many jobs offer such nice things! 

Research consistantly shows that people lose most weight from reducing calorie intake but the key to maintaing weight loss is EXERCISE. The people who maintain weight loss over the long term use both diet modification and exercise together.

ALso exercise helps to reshape a person's body in a way that food cant.

Good job and good luck.

Sure, most people can lose weight by diet alone, making sure they always maintain a deficit.  And even though exercise has many benefits, to people who don't have a bunch of weight to lose, diet may be enough.

But for people like me who had to lose 100+ pounds, it's a bit of a different story.  I could have lost the weight with diet alone, but by now, without exercise, I'd look like the Pillsbury doughboy after someone poked him one too many times and deflated him!  Exercise - a combo of cardio and weights - has helped me to lose the weight AND at the same time has helped me get curves where I'm supposed to have them, and reduce the curves where they shouldn't be. :)  Because I was heavy for so long, I knew I was going to have the "saggy skin" problem to deal with.  I still do, but weights especially have made that noticeably better.

And I don't even exercise all that much - on the days I do weights, it's no more than 45 minutes.  Cardio is anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes.  In fact, the only time I ever do cardio longer than an hour is riding my bike, and I LOVE riding my bike so it doesn't seem like work to me.  I do some sort of physical activity five (sometimes six) days out of seven.

So you may not, theoretically, NEED exercise, but even a half hour a day, three or four days a week, will help you keep fit looking (and if anything, burn enough calories that you could have an extra snack and it wouldn't make a difference!) :)

Yes, it is great that I work for a company that provides gym memberships. :] They take great care of their employees.

Thank you for all of the advice about exercising. I am not sedentary and walk my dog and ride my bike frequently. I am not unhealthy by any means. I was just wondering the benefits of adding a hardcore workout.

And, I don't remember saying anywhere that I was doing it for the cosmetic benefits... But thanks again for the advice.

justlaura -

Thank you for your reply. That is exactly what I was looking for. I know the benefits of being active and healthy, and was basically just looking to see if what I was doing was correct.

I wish you the best of luck!!!

also, if i just spend all that time working out i was way less likely to eat a cookie and ruin all my hard work.

> what would be the benefit of adding exercise?

The benefit of exercise is this. There are two stages in life: the first and the last.

In the first you are healthy and can do what you want.

In the second you are weak and need other people to help you do things, and you die soon after.

People who do NOT exercise begin this last stage MUCH quicker than those who do exercise. Like, 15 years quicker. The people without exercise die even sooner, too.

> I am not sedentary and walk my dog and ride my bike frequently. I am not unhealthy by any means. I was just wondering the benefits of adding a hardcore workout.

Take women specifically, for instance. When women don't do cardio and strength training (weight bearing) exercise, they get weak and lose their coordination. They slip and fall, breaking bones and becoming even slower and weaker. At this point they need a lot of help. If their husband cannot help them (by this point he usually cannot), hopefully young family members (usually only children) can help. If not both seniors quickly decline to death or slowly die in a nursing home bed surrounded by other people.... who didn't exercise either.

Big picture... it comes into view when you see it happen around you, over, and over, and over. With some work you can keep your body in top shape all your life so you don't see this big decline. Ideally you'll be as healthy as possible right up to the last minute.

Diet is important, but it takes real hard exercise to tell your body to continue living and not break down (as much).

For me the benefits of exercise are as much mental as they are physical. I spin 3 times a week vigorously for 40 minutes and use the elliptical twice a week for 45 minutes. It greatly reduces my stress level as well as brings my blood pressure down. The other major benefit is sleep. I sleep like a baby when I exercise and not as good when I don't. I do up my calories when I exercise like this so my metabolism does not slow down.

For me there is nothing quite like a good sweaty 40 minute workout.