Is it the diet or is it the exercise?

[mygarden]

Am I mistaken or are many of the successful people doing major exercise?

I am going back to the gym, Monday.

[Brook]

A 3-legged stool. Diet-Exercise-Supplementation. Without any one of the three, you lack balance.

Nope. You're not mistaken! Enjoy your workout!!

[msanjelpie]

If I walk 30 minutes per day, calorie for calorie - I will burn an extra pound per month simply because of the calories I burned.

Muscle wise, my muscles will get stronger and more firm which will allow my body to look more trim as well as burning extra calories when I go to use those muscles.

Since I have started exercising, I feel like I have more energy, there is more of a bounce in my step and I find myself walking faster here and there and sucking in my stomach more when I pass a mirror... It seems to make me care more about what I look like...

Sure I'll lose weight without exercising, but at the end of it all, my muscles will just weakly hang there, I won't look or feel as good and worst of all, my heart won't be any stronger than it is today... What's the point of losing weight to 'get healthy' if you aren't going to exercise to get even more healthy?

[IrishIrish]

My main objective when I studied Atkins and determined that this would be a good match for me was to transform myself from an unhealthy person to a healthy person. Early on, even though my size felt prohibitive, I engaged in whatever "movement" I could do. And as the pounds melted off, my "movement" became more and more and in many different ways. I credit my exercise with "keeping my mind in the game". I stay focused. I work out 5-6 times a week with an aerobic and a weight program and I alternate with swimming. I also walk whenever I get a chance. It is my calming time for myself. Never thought or imagined that exercise would become this important to me, but I need it every day in some way.

Dr. Atkins said that exercise is non-negotiable. Thankfully, I got the message.

[Slapshot]

For me, it's 80% diet, 20% exercise. That being said, if I skimp on the exercise, my diet (and faithfulness to it) suffers. They both go hand in hand for me even though I think my diet is substantially more responsible for my weightloss. Exercise just makes me feel good.

[liv]

It is the diet for sure.
But the exercise is important. Makes you toned, and happy and does work on your metabolism - so you may get away with a few things food wise you would not otherwise be able to.
As you get thinner and your margins gets smaller, exercise will be more important factor in keeping you weight down.
Happy exercising.
Still time to join some challnges for October.

[SugarFreeSheila]

Definitely not me - it was my diet that got me here.

Ever notice that some of the most ardent exercisers at your gym are also quite often the heaviest? That used to be me, too ... until I quit relying on cardio to get my weight down. Oh, I've been diligent about cardio since the age of 10 and wouldn't be without it; but consistency of cardio is what I value - not the excessive practice of it thinking it will burn off anything significant. Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin - TIME

Cutting out the middle man and making it about the diet is what made the body fat difference for me. Cardio (only walking - never running) and strength training using light weights & high reps has proven to be merely the icing on the cake for my physique. It's all I need, so it's all I do.

[mygarden]

Thanks for your responses. I am so ready to get this weight off. I have been doing a little walking at lunch time or afterwork. I have an expensive gym membership that I need to take advantage of as well as a set of free weights and treadmill at home. Sigh..I kinda agree with Brook, I think that all 3 (diet, exercise, supplementation) go together.
Sugarfree Sheila..I love your website and pictures. Great job. I hope that I can be beautiful after like you and Brooke.

[ziggy]

this is what mostly happended to me

started at 330 pounds

a little exercise walking around 12 hours a week (delivery job) + atkins diet i whent to 230 pounds

i also figured out i may have been very metabolicly resistant because the days i ate the medium carb'd vegetables like tomatos or spagetti squash my weight loss would stall same whent for berries and such so i basically could only eat the lowest carb vegetables like broccoli

but also i did eat ALOT of food alot of meat and eggs and such that is maybe why i had to keep my carbs extra low and also i ate lots cause my gut was still damaged it took 6 months for it to heal on atkins and absorb food correctly anways i also stalled for along time at 250 pounds from these high fiber 10 net carb whole wheat wraps till i cut them out then i slowly whent to 230 pounds then later on i learned about the rungs


but the key points here for me were

finding the perfect food that gave me the best weight loss the more i think about it i think i stay'd on induction for the entire weight loss i had because if spagetti squash and tomatos or any medium carb rung 1 vegetables stalled me and whipping cream stalled me too thats rung 2 and berries as well then i stayed on just induction foods also lately for along time i thought cheese was not allowed till rung 2 so thats why i told everyone i could not go past rung 2 but now i learn cheese was allowed on induction and that rung 2 dairy is just more other stuff like yogurt or whipping cream so now i think truly i could not go past induction with out my weight loss really slowing down or stalling


so in short i had to stay on induction to lose weight and get to 230 pounds and i only did walking excerise


but anyways once i reached 230 pounds i looked better but i still did not look good at all then i started going to the gym for about 2 hours a day and it has shaped my body i lost about another 50 pounds of fat and gained 50 pounds of muscle and i now look ALOT better i can say i look like a good looking person now

another thing i have learned is when you go to the gym make sure you do your exercise fast so it keeps your metabolism up you dont want to sit there yawning you want to exercise all your muscles fast and sweat to keep your metabolism up a fast metabolism will make you leaner and all the weight lifting and such will put good looking muscle on you


so along with doing the atkins diet you will want to do gym exercises it will shape your body and make it look MUCH MUCH better

and dont do cardio its a waste unless just do it for 5-10 mins twice a week really hard if you need help geting your metabolism up

[msanjelpie]

Being that heart disease is the #1 killer in America, I wouldn't say cardio isn't important... It may not help you look any better, but it certainly will make your body a lot happier and healthier.

45 min of cardio 5 times a week is recommended... and yes it does burn calories which will speed up your overall weight loss over time...