to think eat less, move more isn't as simple as it sounds

[starshaker]

People say to lose weight you need to use more calories than you eat. This is obvious. However metabolism plays a big part too. How do you know how much calories you actually burn so you can work out how many to eat? Ive never been slim and yes, i probably need to exercise more but i have so much other stuff going on that getting the chance to isnt that simple.

So AIBU in thinking that its not as simple as what people say

[YouBrokeMySmoulder]

There's walking fast for a couple of miles, pushing a buggy so that when you get home you think youre going to have some sort of seizure, ie it has pushed your body so hard you can feel it and then theres ambling about. Very different things.

Its the same as people who say they go to the gym twice a week but dont break a sweat or look at all red in the face. Pointless. It takes a bit of work. Its hard.

[Anonymumous]

I walk very fast while pushing a buggy (unless I am with my four year old, who is the world's only human snail) but I still didn't lose any weight walking. But I can't drive, so I've always walked a lot - my body is used to it. It wasn't until I started vigorously exercising bits of me that weren't used to it that the weight dropped off without even trying.

[JustAHolyFool]

I disagree YouBrokeMyShoulder I think for a lot of people starting out just moving AT ALL is a big improvement. I don't see how saying "you have to feel like you're going to die" is going to encourage them into exercising.

Sometimes constant low-intensity exercise can work well too.

[MadBusLady]

I agree on low intensity exercise if you're not used to it. No-one is going to go for the burn from a standing start - nor do they have to. I was put off proper exercise for years by gym inductions whose apparent purpose was to make me feel nauseous (exercise induced nausea of the kind you apparently get with a max heart rate and putting pressure on the stomach muscles, NOT low blood pressure as most of the "fitness consultants" insisted). Start slow. Plenty of time to become a puffing red-faced martyr later.

[nkf]

What does "eat to hunger" mean?

[YouBrokeMySmoulder]

Yes Just I agree, but the OP says she already walks and isnt losing weight so I was responding to that.

Also I think that if you only up the exercise slightly and you arent used to eating according to your hunger and not your habit then you can easily eat the extra cals you have just walked off but if you shock your body by doing something very high intensity then you will lose more.

And for someone very sedentary, walking around the block would be a big shock but I dont think we should accept that just because someone is very overweight that they cant exercise hard amd push themselves. Thats the same old negative thinking.

[Chandon]

Youbroke, your opnion is that of a fanatic.

In real life, all exercise counts, even walking slowly. Any movement at all. Swimming, walking ccycling ( at a comfortable pace), even something lame like playing golf can get you fitter.

You do not need to suffer, to get fitter. You can ( and probably should) start with gentle exercise.

If you want a Californian Hardbody, youmay have to step it up though and follow youbrokemyshoulders advice.

[exoticfruits]

It is difficult to start with but once you accept that you are changing your habits for ever it becomes much easier and just a way of life.

[FredFredGeorge]

nkf eat if you're hungry, don't if you're not, and stop as soon as you're satiated not when the portion is finished - ensure you have appropriate meals available to eat whenever. ie if you're not hungry for lunch at midday, don't eat it, wait until you are and then eat. It can be a bit difficult to manage with certain jobs of course but most people still do get hungry at particular times so it's not too difficult to plan.

Hunger can go wrong as a signal when you're very unfit, which is why exercise helps so much as it improves your hunger response too.

[nkf]

Oh, thanks. I see it means eat according to hunger. I was translating it as eating to the point of hunger. Which made no sense.

[YouBrokeMySmoulder]

If all exercise counts chandon and the OP is already walking twice a day and eating well then why isnt she losing weight? Why are we all so bloody fat?

Am not a fanatic at all, I just know that if I want to lose weig I need to step outside what I normally do by a long way. Otherwise my body just rebalances itself and nothing happens.

I am lazy though and would much rather do 15 mins of hard slog three times a week than go swimming or running or cycling.

[FredFredGeorge]

YouBrokeMyShoulder People rapidly become fit for what they do, that's pretty much what fitness is really, the body only changes then it needs adapt. It's lazy - if you stop exercising it doesn't bother to keep repairing the muscles, the heart, or producing more blood cells etc. - and when you increase the amount of exercise it produces more.

So it could well be that the OP is pretty fit for the walking she does, she's adapted to it so the body doesn't need to respond by building more, burning calories etc. It's one of the reasons walking isn't a great exercise once you're fit because there is a limit to the intensity you can go - most other things as you get fitter you get faster or stronger or go longer so the intensity increases. Walking has a much lower limit on what is possible to do.

[MadBusLady]

I dont think we should accept that just because someone is very overweight that they cant exercise hard amd push themselves.

I do. Because the fact that they got that way suggests they really don't like exercise. So anything that encourages them to see the benefits of it, rather than immediately copping all the horrible stuff - feeling sick, out of control, heart racing and er, bowels loosening etc - is good as far as I'm concerned.

I speak as someone who has gone through this process. I hated exercise, hated PE at school, felt like utter shit and like I was about to collapse as soon as I got to any state that other people considered "worthwhile" exercise. Now, I'm happy and confident about my ability to exercise and improve my body and health, because I stopped listening to the natural gymrats that gyms naturally employ and went at my own pace. Mostly it was a result of reading the exercise-based bits of The Primal Blueprint, if anyone's interested.

In fact this thread is a useful reminder to me that I probably need to step it up a bit now (have been relying on machines and some weights so far) with a class and some more free weights. But I could never have got here without starting out doing something not-horrible on the treadmill, do you see?

[BoulevardOfBrokenSleep]

starshaker , you didn't say how long you'd been on the diet for, or if you'd lost weight already? Is it possible you're just plateauing?

[MrsHoarder]

What do you drink? Fizzy drinks or sugar in tea are very bad for weightloss because they're invisible calories.

Tbh, I'd be keeling over by lunchtime on your diet, I have a reasonable bowl of porridge for breakfast to try and keep me off the chocolate all morning. Then homemade soup with about 1/2 rasher of bacon per portion to make it more satisfying. And a good satisfying dinner: 1 chop, a small amount of potatoes and lot of veg; or a good thick stew. But if I'm putting weight on I cut the portions down, even if calorie counting suggests they should be fine. Because we don't all need exactly 1500 calories/day. Sometimes its more, sometimes its less. And to lose weight people need to eat a small amount less than they use.

On top of that I pop DS in the running buggy twice a week and we head out for a run (doing couch to 5k), and try to walk briskly and include hills on other days.

[Ilovecoffeeandchocolate]

Yes it is really that simple, worked for me and other friends, costs nothing, no clubs or tablets. The bit which is hard is motivation. It is in the diet industry's business to make it sound more complicated but it is not. I ate better food and was careful about how much i ate and started to wlak much more no need to sign up for the gym, a pair of boots/shoes is all you need.

[fuckadoodlepoopoo]

Just wanted to say that special k is awful for a diet choice. I know its marketed as a diet serial but it really shouldn't be. Its got loads of sugar in it and is so sweet that when I've eaten it I've felt really weird afterwards and wanted to eat other stuff to feel normal again . . . and I've got a sweet tooth! I tend to find that if i eat a lot of sweet stuff i then get tired quite soon after and when Im tired i want to eat for energy, so for me eating special k sabotages any good intentions.

You have to have a small portion of it because its not really low in anything whereas there are others that you could half a much larger portion for the same amount of calories etc.

I didn't realise this for a while.

[fuckadoodlepoopoo]

HAVE a much larger portion!

[YouBrokeMySmoulder]

But if you read one of my posts I was trying to say that you had to push yourself for you. Ie beyond what made you tired. So obvs that will be wildly different things for different people.

And very few people really like exercise surely? I cant stand it for the most part. Apart from pilates or dancing.

[bulletwithbutterflywings]

Yabu. It is that simple. Finding the motivation and commitment to do it can difficult though.

[HopAndSkip]

Just cut back slightly, have a few mouthfuls less that usual at each meal, and avoid sugary things. It honestly is that simple.

And try to fit exercise into your normal routine, eg, walk to the shops instead of driving, or park slightly further away that you normally would. You will feel better for it even if you don't loose vast amounts of weight.

[melliebobs]

I love these debates cos this area of discussion is my career. As for 'is walking exercise?' for my patients it IS if they tick all the 3 following criteria honestly

1. heart beating faster than at rest
   
2. breathing faster and heavier than at rest but can just manage to hold a conversation
   
3. starting to build up a sweat (but this one I'm dubious on anyway)
   
   More often than not though with walking, unless you have something telling u your speed my patients over report and probably walk their normal pace rather than slightly out their comfort zone

[fuckadoodlepoopoo]

I walk and consider it exercise, mainly for one reason . . . I used to walk a lot then got a car so stopped. I got fat. Started walking again and lost weight again.

So it must be doing some good!

I go for 2 hour walks and love it!

[TalkinPeace2]

Metabolic differences between people of the same age, weight and height account for a maximum of 5% of calorie usage

the other 95% is down to what you eat and what you do

fat people have a faster metabolism as their hearts work harder to move their bodies around

less than 1% of the population have medial reasons for being overweight
and half of them have thyroid problems that are eminently treatable

put EVERY bite of what you eat and drink into here
www.myfitnesspal.com/account/login
and check what your calorie needs are here
www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

[Chandon]

Shoulder, that does not mean walking does not make a difference.

It just means she is still eating too much, or not walking quite enough.

Or there is an underlying medical problem. Only OP knows quite how much she eats and exercises. We can only guess.

People with an active lifestyle, no matter what they do, lots of walking the dog, people without a car, fanatic gymsters, tennis players on the whole are mich less fat. That is a fact. IMO, what kind of exercise you do is just a detail.

A 10 mile walk is a 10 mile walk, whether you do it in 30 minutes, an hour or three hours.