To think that you CAN out exercise a poor diet?

[SallyAnne89]

I'm basically food bank poor right now. I'm getting back into exercising anyway. AIBU to think that even though I can't afford to change my diet i can still lose weight through exercise?

I'm currently maintaining so roughly calories in = calories out and should be burning 200-400calories a day once back into it. Exercise is free but healthy food isn't, so I can't think of an alternative right now. I do my best, so chose baked potato over bread that kind of thing, but can't drastically change my diet right now.

*dont

And I should add I lost those 20lb within 3 months.

We have weeks when we need to cut back drastically on food bills .
We don’t eat pasta though . For our cheap food we eat lentil dhal , with cheap frozen peas or
/ and rice .
Porridge ( cheap ) for breakfast Is really healthy and you can do overnight oats so you don’t have to even use any heat .
We also use the Aldi super six .. fruit can be 50p a bag .
As an aside .. we blackberry picked and had 5 days free fruit.
I don’t know if you have easy access to the countryside tho .
You can make hummus from a tin of chick peas for about 50 p .
Jack monroe does a ‘ 9 p’ burger recipie which is really tasty .. think it’s in line .. but it’s something like 2 carrots , one onion , one tin of kidney beans , spoon cumin .. they are really good . She also has a great use for anything tomato sauce which you could use for veg / with pasta or pizza topping ..
You really don’t have to live on carbs and a pulse / legume based diet is really healthy and what a lot of the poorer countries have traditionally relied on .

Exactly mrsj I run about after (too many) horses before and after work, plus the vast majority of the maintenance because they're at home, before including the actual riding part. Or indeed any other form of exercise or generally moving about rather than sitting still. The people that seem to find this a ridiculously energetic lifestyle seem to be unable to comprehend that's why I take in more energy without storing it as fat.

Download ''my fitness pal" it's a free app, u put in ur current weight and ur goal weight and it calculates how many calories per day to eat, u can also document all ur meals snacks and exercise into daily charts, u can scan the barcode of products to get the calorie count and nutrition content, it's a great way to not over eat and to become aware of the calories in the food u eat,

I have dropped a dress size in past few months from doing exercise, and everyone has commented on my "weight" but my weight hasn't changed on the scales, just my body shape from exercise,

Try not to get too caught up on what the scales say, be cautious of food choices and portion sizes, eat less move more, don't be hard on urself for what food u are eating atm, look out for reduced meats and freeze them,

Just a few little tips that I have started doing, but honestly the best one is the app, it really helps me stay on track

The only time I successfully lose weight is when I track my calories and exercise level and eat a calorie deficit for the day. Importantly, I don’t limit what I eat, just total calories. I also can’t just have a calorie target because then if my activity level is higher on a given day, I end up with bad headaches.

The goal is a small calorie deficit each day for slow and steady weight loss.

If you want a free program with spending less $ on food IF may be for you. Lots of people eat for only a four hour window a day. I aim for 8 hours a day.

I’ve never lost weight by dieting. Unless I exercise, I lose no weight.

Thank you for all of your replies. I've had a really good think about a lot of this, and I think I am going to just stop thinking about weight loss, and do a combination of exercising for happiness/mental health and trying to eat as well as possible within financial constraints. If I get into MFP I get stressed cooking because it's a faff putting in the recipes and a lot of guess work so not accurate anyway.

Hopefully I will feel better and healthier and whether I lose weight or not I'll be doing my best to get into good habits for a life time.

Good luck op
My slow cooker tip really really saves time and you can shove all sorts in
And it is great as leftover are tomorrow’s lunch or next weeks tea ( or both ) !

When they say 'you can't out exercise a bad diet' they mean health wise, not weight wise.

Two groups filling diabetes clinic cs are weight lifters and runners, because of their high carb diets.

That's why many people, including doctors don't like the focus on weight alone. It isn't body size that ups the chances of disease, it's the food choices.

If you don't have the luxury of choice, then exercise will help in the short term.

Dusting the slow cooker off as we speak. Work out in the morning. Had pizza for dinner though and some Halloween sweets and pop

I think maybe my diet is not all that bad just seems like everybody is eating egg white and kale scramble and I'm over here with my fry up. I try to limit my sugars and carbs, except special occasions, cook healthy family meals and eat a variety of fruit and veg.

I think maybe I need to have a look at my portion sizing again. And maybe get my vitamin levels checked?

I don’t eat meat but I do know that if u cut the fat off your fry up meat and either syn your oil or use fry lite
Slimming world absolutely allows fry ups - so enjoy !

Assuming your goal is to lose weight, then yes I think so, I use MFP and just make sure eat less than what I burn or increase my activity, when I'm trying to lose, or about the same when maintaining. I lost weight while eating Big Macs! I feel better when eating healthier though of course. I know people start talking about biochemistry etc etc, but for me burning more calories than I eat, whatever I eat, has always worked.

Snap. As long as I have a calorie deficit I lose weight. Simple.

Of course you can.
It's all calories in vs calories out. As long as you're in a deficit then you'll lose weight.

Not a healthy approach right enough but you could eat any rubbish & as long as you're in a deficit you'll still lose. Healthy food like veg has fewer calories so means you can have much more.

Plan sounds good OP! I did the same after first baby - focus on health not weight loss - and lost two stone and kept it off until current pregnancy with no 2. I'm planning on trying growing some micro salads on a windowsill in a tray - I've bought a pack of marrowfat peas which will sprout so I can grow pea shoots. Cheap greens anyway. Good luck!

You can lose weight on 1200 calories consisting only of Mars bars! (or 1400 with 200 calories burnt through exercise!). It's not true that the macronutrient profile makes a difference. However if you want to reduce your chances of getting certain cancers and other illnesses then fruit and veg are important. If you are using a food bank- can you ask for tins of fruit and veg or is it just a standard food bank bag?

@Elle7rose

I'm not receiving food bank parcels, but I had to feed a family of 4 on £40 for 2.5weeks so food bank would have been an improvement and similar kinds of foods but I have choice, so I get value beans not value spaghetti hoops, things like that. Whereas with food bank people just get what they are given.

Indeed. There was the man in the US who lost weight on the Twinkie diet, eating nothing but cheap, nasty prepackaged cake. You'd be hungry and obviously it's very unhealthy, but as long as you burn fewer calories than you eat, you'll lose weight.

There's also the man who's eaten nothing but 3 Big Macs a day for decades and he's thin, because that's only about 1600 calories a day.

A slow cooker is a great tool to eating on a budget, because you can make all manner of soups, stews, curries etc with lots of cheap veg and pulses, using little fuel.

See if you can manage to get hold of some cheap, basic spices - own brand jars or Asian branded packets from most supermarkets are about 50 pence each so if you could get a few of these, it would make a huge difference to the meals you could make. Jack Monroe is excellent for cheap meals that don't use endless ingredients.

Depending on what you like to eat, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, tumeric, garam masala and curry powder are likely to be what would be most versatile. If you can also get frozen garlic and ginger, some supermarkets sell big packs of frozen cubes for about a pound each - cheaper than buying fresh.

When they say you can’t outrun a bad diet they’re usually talking about 4,000 calories of Dominoes pizza, beer and Mars bars, not 2,000 odd calories of baked potatoes with cheese and beans and the occasional Big Mac.

You can.

I had a shit diet for years. Really shit.

But I did heavy labour 12 hours a day.

Was thin as a rake.

Bit drastic though

You just need to eat smaller portions. Easier said than done, I know!

Omelette, for example, is a great dinner - it doesn’t need to be ruined with kale (bluergh). Eggs are about fifty calories each. Four eggs, a tbsp of oil, maybe a sliced potato to make a sort of Spanish thing, stick a few mushrooms in there. Follow that with fruit and it’s a good healthy dinner for about 400 - 500 calories.

Exercise will help your mood and make you stronger/fitter without necessarily helping you to lose weight.

I’m a shit cook. I lost weight by skipping breakfast and limiting portion sizes. I combined that with exercise and now I’m pretty fit (hopefully running a half marathon in a few weeks) and 30kg lighter.

I agree . your diet is basic but vegetables and carbs are NOT the end of the world

The idea you can only lose weight on a Hugh protein diet means all vegans would be obese !

Pulses are your (new best) friend too

Good luck 😉

Regarding portion size , I have been sleepwalking to large potions and my weight crept back up

The other day DP gave me a HUGE pasta and normally I just eat the whole
Thing

I cut in half and had the rest for
Lunch the next day

No wonder I’ve gained a stone

Two groups filling diabetes clinic cs are weight lifters and runners, because of their high carb diets.

Reference for that please, @Ponoka7.

Exercise is really important for developing a healthy lifestyle and habits, which are far more important for long term weight loss.

My regime at the moment is to have 'exercise and eat' days and fasting days. I vary my calorie intake day by day

Sat - 2400 + exercise cals
Sun - 1800 + exercise cals
Mon/Tue - 1000 (+ small amount for walking)
Weds - 1600 + exercise cals
Thu/Fri - same as Tue

On 1000 calorie days, I basically have two 400 cal meals then 200-400 cal of snacks, depending on how active I've been.

I find it a very sympathetic diet for lifestyle.