Does exercise make it harder for you to lose weight?

[Ohbehave007]

I think of exercise as more of a muscle strengthener then a muscle maker (at least in my case). I never look at what the machine says I burned calorie wise or even add it to fitday or any other online source to see. I want the strength from exercising, not the bulk.

I feel so accomplished after a nice sweaty ride on the elliptical trainer that I never want food...water yes, food no.

I guess everyone has there own opinions and preferences.

[liv]

My body is looking kind of OK (for a woman my age) There is no way I could get there without exercise. Where would those batwings have gone to? Would I have a tricep muscle if I did not do all those triceps dips and downward facing dogs? What about those killer calfs - if I did not run. I feel so good when I exercise. It is calming and rewarding.
Yes I believe diet to be the key to losing weight. But when managed right exercise can be very helpful. I do make sure I feed it carbs and proteins at the right time to try to avoid excessive over eating.
And I agree with Sunny - not a very scientific article at all. Will people who work out hard really lose a lot of weight (well it depends what their starting weight was) but they may lose plenty of inches. I went down 4 dress sizes just exercing. I did not lose a pound. Do I look better? Yes I beleive I do.
Sorry got to run (literally )
And PS not too late to sign up for August challenges

[neutronnorman]

Everybody is different. When I finish my workouts I'm not hungry. I usually have a my post workout "meal" during the last 2 sets of my final exercise. If you are hitting the weights heavily and hard, you'd be looking for a bucket to vomit into not a carb loaded meal.

[neutronnorman]

Originally Posted by liv

What about those killer calfs -

Yeah, NICE!

[b0llywud]

I feel so accomplished after a nice sweaty ride on the elliptical trainer that I never want food...water yes, food no.

I'm the same, l love a good sweat! And i usually find that i'm actually not that hungry after exercising. I think - in my case at least (different for different people) - that when i'm exercising good, my body is releasing those ketones for fuel and as they are circulating i actually feel 'full' i.e. no blood sugar drops.

I do prolly need a liddle sumthin a few hours later but never immediately after exercise.

[b0llywud]

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]

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]

Originally Posted by ShannonM

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]

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]

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...