Can you lose weight from excersise alone

[Joss1992]

Gained a few lbs during lockdown. I haven't been exercising at all but when I'm back on the school run in a few weeks I will be walking 4 miles a day, 5x a week. Will this shift the lbs or will I need to diet too?

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I think it's 80% cutting down on food and 20% exercise or something like that.

Sorry about the previous post

For me it's 80% dieting and 20% exercise.... if I go over calories but exercise off nearly as many calories as I've eaten in the day I won't lose weight.

Depends if the exercise is enough to put you in a calorie deficit. If you're eating more than you burn it won't matter how often you exercise. You can't exercise out a bad diet. I'd recommend my fitness Pal to keep a log of your calorie intake and use a tdee calculator to work out how much of a defecit you need.

Probably not from that level of exercise unfortunately.

Only if the amount of energy you use is more than what you take in.... you can't out-exercise a bad diet.
Exercise is great and will help but you need to cut back on food.... you don't need to restrict as much as some people would have you believe.... it will obviously depend on what your current weight etc is... but you don't need to go as low as 1400 calies or lower to lose weight

calories... not callies

If you eat exactly the same and exercise more then yes, it is entirely possible. But most people increase their caloric intake and close the deficit when they exercise, or think exercise burns more than it does, so in general diet is a much more effective way of dieting as it's easier to get a calorie deficit

how many pounds have you gained?

exercise itself burns astonishingly few extra calories but it's difficult to eat whilst exercising.

4 miles is good going. ideally you would get out of breath and sweaty at least for part of the way.

You’d have to exercise to burn off what you eat, so depends how much you eat!

I think it depends on your metabolism, I can lose weight just by upping my exercise and keeping my diet the same. It's keeping motivated that is my problem!

Thanks everyone. My diet hasn't changed to be honest, so in guessing I've gained from the lack of exercise not doing the school run. I've only gained 5lbs

Yes, its 80% diet and 20% exercise.
Having said that, exercise builds lean muscle mass which means you will burn more calories even while at rest if you have more muscle, so its good to try to do this.
Walking is great, but as a previous poster said, try for a really brisk pace that gets your heart rate up and leaves you slightly out of breath.

Thank you, I generally do get out of breath as I have to walk up a big hill on the way back and I'm pushing my 1yr old boy in the buggy

I do lose weight when I exercise more but only because I am very strict about not increasing what I’ve eaten. I greatly underestimate how many calories I’ve burned too, so even if myfitnesspal says its 100, I eat like its 25!

If your diet hasn't changed so you've gained weight by not walking to the school, then if you still keep your food the same and do the same amount of walking as before, you should stop gaining weight but not necessarily lose any more. If you increased your activity levels above the original level (while still genuinely not eating differently) then you ought to very gradually whittle it off again.

It sounds as though you would stop gaining, but not lose, if you were to go back to your previous level of exercise whilst on the same amount of food.

For weight loss I would think most people would need to walk briskly for at least 2 or 3 hours a day

This is going to sound ridiculous but I truly believe that exercise shouldn’t be seen as a weight loss tool, but as an overall health benefit. So reduce your calories but see exercise as a way of enjoying your body (sorry, I know that sounds really shit and patronising but I can’t think of another way to say it)

Running massively changed my life, clearer mind, happier through the day, sleep better. Learning to see it as self care rather than a punishment really helped.

You can lose weight through exercise alone. I’m proof of that but I can burn off over a 1000 calories in a gym session with swimming 50 lengths afterwards and/or if I’m cycling to the gym and back and I do that 5/6 times a week. I don’t calorie count and still have desserts, snacks and wine.

I’ve lost 5 stone that way. Although I have to say I tend to eat healthier (most days) as I’m drawn to need ‘fuel’ foods rather than junk.

4 miles a day probably burns around 300-400 calories depending on your weight. So over 5 months, you’ve reduced your calorie burn by around 1500 calories a week which would equate to around an 8lb gain. You’ve probably done some alternative movement though which is why you’ve only gained 5lbs.

You could double the daily walk for 5 months and it will probably come off .

People are different.

But not usually more than a bit.

You can't outrun a bad diet

It’s possible but cutting out as much ‘bad food’ as you can will speed it up. You need to burn more than you eat to lose weight. I lost 2 stone from walking 3 hours a day with no change to my diet.

@Joss1992

Gained a few lbs during lockdown. I haven't been exercising at all but when I'm back on the school run in a few weeks I will be walking 4 miles a day, 5x a week. Will this shift the lbs or will I need to diet too?

I have always found that running drops the weight for me. You have to burn more calories than you consume. Walking is great exercise. Try it and see and if it's not enough try running as well.

@ErrolTheDragon

If your diet hasn't changed so you've gained weight by not walking to the school, then if you still keep your food the same and do the same amount of walking as before, you should stop gaining weight but not necessarily lose any more. If you increased your activity levels above the original level (while still genuinely not eating differently) then you ought to very gradually whittle it off again.

This.

I'm about half a stone heavier than I was at New Year. I need to get my exercise back up to where it normally is (muscle is good for your metabolic rate), but it will take some effort with my diet too.

Early lockdown, I kept the running up but was sedentary 22/ 23 hours a day, plus boredom/ comfort eating. The comfort eating eased off, but so did the running as I got bored, demotivated and stiff.

Exercise is good for maintaining, and helps keep a heathy body with a healthy metabolism but it's hard to exercise yourself into a deficit without addressing diet.