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What's more important? Diet or Exercise?

14 replies

ShadowSpiral · 29/01/2015 21:12

Having a bit of a disagreement with DH about this.

Basically, we both need to lose weight. DH keeps saying that he wants to lose weight too.

I have been saying to DH that we should work on overhauling our diet, so if we cut out the junk and reduce portion sizes and so on, this'll help us lose weight. This is something that DH needs to buy into as well, as he has a habit of coming back from the post office with a selection of cakes.

DH, on the other hand, says that it's pointless cutting back on the food unless we do loads of exercise, and that even if we only ate one lettuce leaf a day, we wouldn't lose any weight if we didn't do more exercise.

This doesn't sound right to me - I know exercise can speed up weight loss, and it has undeniable health benefits even if you're not dieting, but I always thought that what you ate had a bigger impact on weight loss than exercise?

So... what's more important? Sorting out the diet or figuring out an exercise regime?

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PartyFops · 29/01/2015 21:19

Whatever you do, burn more calories than you consume.

I am eating less but still having some treats, but whatever I eat I ensure my calories burnt - calories consumed = 800 deficit IYSWIM.

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MeganChips · 29/01/2015 21:22

Diet. I lost 5.5 stone doing very little exercise and have maintained it. I'm sporadic at best!

Exercise will make you feel good and build muscle tone but you can't outrun your mouth.

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GobblersKnob · 29/01/2015 21:24

Generally it's said to be about 90% diet, 10% exercise. Personally I feel it's best to try and lose some weight first, white maybe doing some very gentle exercise if you are very unfit. If you start exercising hard, while cutting back on food you will just be starving, and likely to make bad food choices. Sort your diet out first, then add in the exercise.

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abitwrong123 · 29/01/2015 21:26

The ratio is supposed to be 80% diet and 20% exercise isn't it? In other words, your diet is the biggest factor in the weight of a person with no other underlying health issues.

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EldonAve · 29/01/2015 21:27

Depends on the exercise - lifting weights is better than cardio for weight loss

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TheCowThatLaughs · 29/01/2015 21:28

Definitely diet, but I find it much easier to keep to a healthy diet if I'm doing exercise.

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PacificDogwood · 29/01/2015 21:28

Do whatever you can sustain.
Calories in need to be less than calories 'out' i.e. used up.
So, eat less.
Or eat a little less and exercise a little.
Or exercise.

Of course exercise has other benefits wrt to muscle toning (muscle mass uses up more calories just to sustain it than fat btw so it helps to be muscular to keep weight down) and mood/energy.

Recent evidence shows that lack of exercise is probably more damaging than obesity, so fat and fit is preferable to less fat and couch potato.

At the end of the day, how you and your DH lose weight might be quite individual to the two of you tbh.

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namechange2468 · 29/01/2015 21:32

The programme on TV the other night about finding the right diet for you, concluded that exercise wasn't an effective way to lose weight, but it was the most effective way to keep it off.

I tend to agree - you can run for (what feels like) hours on a treadmill, only to burn off enough for a square of chocolate! Then you feel that you have earned a whole bar, and consequently sabotage all of your hard work.

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HorraceTheOtter · 29/01/2015 21:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MajesticWhine · 29/01/2015 21:41

Diet is more influential than exercise for sure. The problem with exercise is, if they have done extra, people tend to think in the back of their minds, they deserve a slice of cake, or extra portion or whatever. And exercise burns less calories than people believe. For example, I run just under 5k yesterday, and apparently (according to FitBit) this was only about 230 calories. Even though I thought I was a saint, and was really hungry. Quite a bit less than the calories in a single Starbucks muffin (even the skinny one). So the extra calories burned from exercise are very quickly cancelled out.

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ChippingInLatteLover · 29/01/2015 21:47

Weightloss is something like 90% diet, 10% exercise.

DH is wrong.

Our Post Office deals with Post. Slowly. Thank god it doesn't sell cakes as well Grin

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ShadowSpiral · 29/01/2015 23:29

Okay, so looks like we definitely need to focus on the diet rather than the exercise for the weight loss. While figuring out an exercise plan we can stick to for general fitness and maintaining weight loss once it's actually lost.

Chipping - our local post office is a counter in a corner shop, so one can easily stock up on cakes, sweets, chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks and beer while collecting parcels. DH claims that buying cakes is necessary to support the shop and therefore keep the post office open Hmm

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ChippingInLatteLover · 30/01/2015 01:29

I love your DH. My blood sugars wouldn't, nor my waistline! (Mind you, I'd have to find it first!)

Low carbing. It's the way forward. Come & join us on Bootcamp!

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Thistledew · 30/01/2015 02:21

Sure, it is possible to lose weight from exercise alone, but only if you are eating a good, balanced, healthy diet to start with and are not overeating.

I lost a stone between January and September last year without adjusting my diet. But I compete in triathlons and do about 8 hrs of hard cardio work a week. I don't eat crap, either.

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