Why is it better to exercise than diet?

I know most people do both, but the exercise is just so you can burn off calories isn't it? For example, if you ate 500 calories and did some aerobic work for 25 minutes, you would probably burn about 180 calories. It's probably alot easier to just cut out 180 calories in your diet.

yes but doing it that way you lose fat as well as muscle mass.  And since lean tissue burns cals and fat tissue doesn't you'd like to keep as much lean tissue as possible. The working out while dieting helps to lose less muscle and more fat. 

Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle.  It is something that you should be doing regularly for your health regardless of your weight.  It gives you a healthy heart, strong bones, muscular strength, and balance which leads to greater longevity.

Exercising makes your metabolism faster, so you can burn what you eat

I'm kind of surprised by this question, honestly, but that doesn't make it a bad question.

Exercise serves more purposes than merely burning off calories. Exercise builds healthy muscle, which takes up less space than fat. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat (fat is meant to be an energy store, not an energy drain). Muscle is typically aesthetically more pleasing than fat. Even curvy people can be benefited to have a bit of muscle foundation under the padding to help distribute it better.

Then there's the matter of cardiovascular health and the various studies that show that exercise helps increase your longevity and quality of life. Consider that the strength you build now will be with you as you get older, giving you a greater chance at freedom and independence in your later years. It's a long-term investment and not just a short-term calorie burn.

Take this in context: I do not love exercising. I would much rather sit around doing nothing, watching TV, playing games, running the online game I moderate with our 200 insane players, or doing just about anything but sweating. I still do it in the name of delayed gratification and a healthier body.

Personally, I find it hard to limit my calories enough to lose weight, and even with exercise, it's difficult to create a great enough deficit. So, subtracting 500 calories off of my average daily burn is nearly impossible for me. Not only that, but I love to exercise - run, walk, dance, and bicycle. (single mom here, though, so lack of time alone/at the gym is the issue) Also, I love the thrill of accomplishment when I run further or faster than the time before, and the way I feel during and after working out. Exercise lifts my mood and firms my body, so those are some of the reasons I would rather have the extra calories and burn them off, rather than not eat them at all. Knowing I am helping keep my heart healthy and building stronger bones is a plus as well.

I love to eat - that motivates me to exercise more :)

There are a million reasons to exercise as already mentioned here, but really weight loss is first, second and third due to your diet, NOT exercise.

Neither exercise nor diet alone are sufficient for good weight loss - losing primarily fat. Exercise generally increases appetite, canceling out some of the calorie burn, especially if your exercise is only light or moderate. However, it's important in that it preserves lean mass and can even cause modest fat loss and lean gain in some people. Diet drops pounds but if you're not careful you can drop muscle weight as well. So both are necessary if the goal is to reduce body fat; the diet makes your body burn its own tissues, and exercise encourages your body to get more of that tissue fuel from fat than muscle.

I think old fashion [free] workouts such as push-ups, jumping jacks, and sit-ups are nessacary for building muscles (slowly.) I don't bother with fancy machines at the gym becuase realistically I don't have time to do that nor do I have the money for it. I think along with old fashion workouts people should try their best to walk/bike to places instead of driving and carry a bottle of water with them at all times (Thirst is mistaken for hunger alot).Pair that up with healthy eating and I think it's allll gold.

That is what I personally think. We are all different :]

I had a conversation with my obese cousin about exercising. He was rationalizing why he shouldn't have to exercise. Afterall who has the time or the motivation to bother with it. Most of the people I know don't exercise at all. Not all of them are fat, but many start to gain weight after 25. I exercise almost everyday, I do it without thinking about it. I don't rationalize it, I don't ask myself why I'm exercising today. I do it out of habit, like brushing my teeth. If you want to find a reason not to exercise you will find one. Here are the reason why I exercise everyday - I feel great afterwards. Its a good way for me to get a liter of water without forcing myself drink it throughout the day. I work a stressful job and it really helps me calm down. I'm thin. I don't feel guilty for eating more. I have awesome looking arms from lifting at the gym. I look youthful. I have great posture. I fall asleep easily at night. I'm healthier. I don't feel guilty for being lazy.

I have learned to boost my metabolism with five mini meals and I am losing three pounds a week on avg. I do weigh 392 so I have alot to lose but that has been working for me. when I exercise it is only walking in three 10 minute increments for now.Good luck to you.

Original Post by billsaint:

I have learned to boost my metabolism with five mini meals and I am losing three pounds a week on avg. I do weigh 392 so I have alot to lose but that has been working for me. when I exercise it is only walking in three 10 minute increments for now.Good luck to you. 

And good luck to you!

Original Post by spirochete:

There are a million reasons to exercise as already mentioned here, but really weight loss is first, second and third due to your diet, NOT exercise.

this...

I like the posts regarding the overall health benefits of excersize here, both  internal and external. I'm agreeing with everyone but a lil surprised that no-one said anything about weight lifting/strength training. It's almost more important to me than cardio because I know by adding that muscle eventually I'll be able to eat up to 2000 cals per day and maintain a healthy size and weight.

Besides I like to eat too, and cardio/weight training ups your metabolism for up to 24 hours after you last trained. :) What's not to love about that?

 ... oh, sorry I disagree with the posts about weight loss depending stricly on your diet. It's the deficit you create regardless. Until you burn or use 3500 cals you will NOT lose a lb. And there are two ways to do that, eat less and let your body use muscle along with fat for energy or incorporate both and hope that your body only uses the fat for energy.

Original Post by odie03:

 ... oh, sorry I disagree with the posts about weight loss depending stricly on your diet. It's the deficit you create regardless. Until you burn or use 3500 cals you will NOT lose a lb. And there are two ways to do that, eat less and let your body use muscle along with fat for energy or incorporate both and hope that your body only uses the fat for energy.

That's what they mean by "diet" - in other words, if your diet isn't in order and you are eating more than you burn, no matter how much you burn, you will not lose weight.

People often think that if they start exercising, they will lose weight, but if they aren't controling what they eat, they could still not lose.