so ive been reading some things lately online from some pretty credible sourses saying that weight loss has nothing to do with exercise. This is very strange to me. they say that the key goal to weight loss is a change in diet and exercise is only for energy..what do you guys think about this?
Yes you can do it with out it.
But i lose double the weight when i exercise.
As much as i hate i still exercise.
Original Post by res0kkw:
Yes you can do it with out it.
Yes, it certainly is possible to loose weight w/o working out. It depends on calories taken in via nutrition versus calories consumes via 'work.'
This, in turn, is based on your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which tells you how many calories are needed to maintain weight based on a person's gender, weight, height, age and level of activity. Even a person that does "nothing" expends calories.
If you are still loosing weight, then you are likely at a calorie deficit (spending more than you earn). And that's fine if that is your objective.
I think one can diet w/o excercise or exercise w/o dieting. And, by 'dieting' I mean "nutrition," and not necessarily decreased calorie intake because to some it may mean increased calorie intake!! I think the combination of a good excercise program (including resistance traing and cardio) along with good nutrional plan is the way to go.
But of course, it all depends on one's goals, objectives, desires and capabilities.
Good luck with your objectives! 
interesting info...but for me I have been a "good " eater all my life so my eating was not the problem that caused my weight gain it was lack of exercises (15 years in front of a work computer setting on my butt). So I think that it depends on the person. If you eat junk and stop, you will lose weight, if you add exercises you are going to burn more cal's faster and in turn meet your weight loss goals quicker. Also once you lose the weight don't you want to have your body look tone and have muscle definition? I am pretty sure that you can't achieve that with out exercise!
Any way thats just my opinion...
My understanding is the the obesity epidemic in the US is about 93% due to increased calorie intake over the past 30 odd years, and 7% due to decreased activity. But, these are population wide averages, individuals will vary regarding the cause of their obesity.
My guess for me, individually, it is probably about 50% from decreased exercise and 50% from bigger portions/too many "special treats". So my lifestyle change focus is on increasing activity and controlling portions and reducing "special treats" like wine and chips and desserts. I think that my weight loss is largely due to the calorie restriction, but my improved energy/health probably comes more from the increased activity, since it started well before my weight loss was very significant.
Everyone needs to figure out what factors led to their problem, and what sustainable changes they are willing to make to improve the situation.
well, I don't know if I would say that weight loss has nothing to do with exercise. What I think the articles may be trying to point to is how, in many cases, people believe that since they're exercising, they now have a license to eat whatever they want... and they don't realize that diet is the main component of a weight loss regimen, not exercise. Just take a look through the activity calculator on CC and see how much you burn with some of the most vigorous activities, and what that is equivalent to foodwise, and you'll get an idea of how important diet is to weight loss. I guess what sources like this are trying to say is that "you cannot outtrain your diet"--that is, that in order for you to successfully lose weight, what is most important is changing the way you eat - and what you eat. Of course, you get an even better result if you add exercise into the mix, but exercise by itself (without changing your diet) won't really do much for you if your goal is weight loss.
edited to fix a typo.
pretty much any credible things I've read say 80% is diet, 20% is exercise.
Personally, I started watching what I ate and working out a few years ago...I lost some, then gained back (same ole story!)....I had stopped watching what I ate, but still worked out 5 days a week....kept gaining.
THEN I did a major overhaul on my eating habits. I bumped up my workouts a bit, too. I lost all the weight I wanted to lose (plus some I didn't think I COULD lose). I have to agree basically that eating is the MAIN factor.
But I believe wholeheartedly that exercise is VERY important....weight training gives you the muscles which gives the nice toned look, instead of being just skinny looking. Besides the fact that it's good for your heart....and plus, helps keep heartrate higher and burn more cals in the longs run.
You can lose weight by changing eating habits alone, but it's MUCH easier if you do both...same with working out. You will lose (at least at first), but if the eating is not there, you are just treading water!
exercise is great and all but in my personal experiance it has little to do with weight loss. I lose the same amount of weight in a month not worknig out as I do working out. After I lost 100 lbs I kept trying different things to see what really works for me and concentrating on eating only while getting a small amount of excersise is the formula that works best for me personally.
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Exercise makes it easier to stick to a low cal diet, because since you are burning more, you can eat more, and still have a deficit (as long as you can accurately figure out how many more calories you are burning so you know how much extra you can eat, and don't just say "I walked around the block, so now I can have some ice cream!")
I get enough exercise that I can have 1700 calories a day and still have a weekly deficit of 7000 calories.
When you diet and lower your calorie intake your body, usually anyway, loses "weight" but not all of that weight is fat, some of it is muscle. If you diet and don't exercise then more of that weight loss is going to be muscle and you will become weaker the more weight you lose. When you exercise while dieting that maintains or builds more muscle so that the weight you lose is actually fat and not muscle. So you can diet and not exercise but that's how you end up looking scrawny, or you can diet and exercise and look fit.
Weight-loss is all about cals in vs cals out.
However, most people are overweight bc they are not very active (I used to be like that). Exercise is essential for overall healthy lifestyles.
Think of it this way: the more you exercise/get your heart pumping, the more cals you burn....meaning you can eat more.
What happens when you lose all the weight? For me, my goal weight cal recommendation to maintain is 1700. There is no way I would be able to eat only 1700 everyday. I choose to stay active after the weight-loss so that I don't have to worry about going over my cals and so I can walk up my 2 flights of stairs w/o getting winded.
One of my friends who is also dieting likes to say this to me. I just smile and say "oh really" and keep going. I know what is working for me and I am not going to get taken in by the fads this time. I will continue to eat better foods and exercise to the best of my capacity.
Moving one's body might not be the only thing necessary to losing weight but I know that all those times I tried to diet without exercising, I failed. This time (and the only other time I was successful in losing great amounts of weight) I am exercising and eating better and I am sloughing off the pounds and surprising even myself.
I say take all "research" claims with a HUGE grain of salt. There's always a new fad, a new study, a new finding that people will use to justify their unwillingness to do what it really truly actually takes to lose weight. I fail to understand why the human body is STILL such a mystery to all these researchers even after a bajillion years of studying it.
Pfft.
I think diet is critical. Exercise is too but to a lesser extent. For example, I love exercise. LOVE IT. I have gained and lost 50-60lbs at a time and kept it off for several years each time. Right now I'm on the fat end and yet I exercise 4-5 times a week. How is this possible?
Answer: my diet. I eat too much. Way too much. And each time I've had successful weight loss I've combined exercise and diet. The time where I tried it through exercise only is the time I failed. So diet is critical.
Exercise helps me keep on track and feel much better and controls my appetite as well. So it is also important. But for the most part you have to watch what you eat.
And your credible sources are..........?
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