To think this is quite enlightening re fitness/weight loss

[Catrinacarina]

I keep very fit but find it harder to shift weight as I get older.

I used to be really social but recently I’ve been really focussed on getting even more fit as DH and I are going away for our 20 year anniversary and I want to be even fitter than I was at our wedding.

I have cut back massively on eating out, drinking, going to the pub with mates, Costa with the school mums, etc. I’ll usually go to the gym once DH is home instead and go for a run once I take the kids to school, but otherwise I’m pretty much at home, in the name of healthy living. I’ve been surprised that the progress has been slower than usual. I’m not actually trying to lose weight, just tone up, but I had expected some weight loss just because of all the working out.

Today I saw a video (admittedly from a much younger woman) saying that she was living similarly to me for a while while trying to shift some weight, and then had a really busy couple of weeks of socialising, and realised she’d lost far more weight from going out a lot and living a busy life (including restaurants and pubs), than from staying home and eating healthy and exercising, because she was simply moving her body a lot more.

I’ve been really into fitness for years but I found this a really interesting and enlightening thought that makes a lot of sense.

Obviously there’s degrees of it, and this doesn’t work if you’re going out to demolish a box of donuts every day or drink 10 pints, but ultimately it’s calories in and calories out, and there are lot of calories not being burnt
if you’re staying at home all day, however virtuous it might feel.

This isn’t supposed to be weight loss advice as everyone’s bodies and routines are different but for the “average” person I thought it was a good point and food for thought - no pun intended!

Hmmm. It is an interesting thought, and obviously it is possible to imagine some scenarios in which sociable mooching from one venue to another involves enough physical activity to count towards fitness and compensate for meals and drinks out.
But for me I am pretty sure that socialising would be calorie-positive and make only a minimal contribution to my overall level of movement.
You'd have to be pretty stationary at home for that level of sociable movement to make a significant difference

If you aren't trying to lose weight just get fitter then why are you avoiding socialising? Even Costa with the school mums can be calorie free if you have a black coffee or herbal tea. Seems like you're going a bit far in one direction and need to get the balance back!

ETA I doubt that person's weight loss has anything to do with being active while socialising. Weight loss doesn't happen from exercise anyway. It's more likely coincidence.

It is well known that eating a little more often helps to break through a plateau.

Also, not sure about you, but going out used to be going to a pub, then possibly late night dancing or at least trawling the late bars (lots of walking!). No dinner either, so I was very thin then! Now socialising is usually in the form of a swanky dinner and cabs, so definitely calorie positive!!

I think it’s just happened as a by-product of the fitness drive I’ve been on. Not really a conscious decision, more of an overall lifestyle change. I’m not really sure how it happened to be honest! I’ve not thought about it till you pointed it out!

I'm not sure of the link between trying to lose weight and cutting back on socialising. Calories are calories. If I go out and eat more than usual I just need to remember and eat less at home for example. And a good point from pp. Have a lower calorie option, job done.

I get what you're saying, it's amazing what we can burn just from walking around a lot and the mental energy from socialising and navigating the world. The adrenaline. But she must be choosing less calorific options too.

I can be as active as anything but if I'm eating whatever I want then I still gain weight, nevermind stay the same. Sadly 😂

I don't quite understand why you would stop socialising which is good for your MH and probably having a positive impact rather than make healthier choices while socialising. So go to Costa but get an (overpriced) herbal tea but see friends. Or suggest you all meet up at X venue with your own drinks and go for a walk. Isolating yourself is neither healthy or sustainable. Go to the pub but get a low calorie drink or suggest a walk first and the pub as the finishing point.

As I said in a previous post, it wasn’t really a conscious thing. More like I was going for a run at a specific time so didn’t join the coffees after drop off, and things like that.

Definitely not suggesting that it cancels out unhealthy eating. More just that I hadn’t considered how inactive I was now, vs before until I saw that video.

I was 8st all through my 20’s. Despite drinking a tremendous amount of booze and junk food…but also went to clubs a couple of times a week, dancing till the early hours, so yes, can well believe that!
Now an exciting evening is a good box set and in bed by 10pm! Explains a lot actually…😁

Someone who walks everywhere/has an active job will obviously burn more calories than someone who does an hour in the gym but has a desk job from home.

If you're running and going to the gym you're not inactive and I bet you don't sit in a chair the rest of the day. Surely you're doing housework, shopping, gardening, running around after your children and doing activities with them.

That must be more challenging physically and mentally than walking to a pub/restaurant/bingo and drinking, eating and chatting

There's research showing your metabolic rate adjusts your BMR to account for other factors. There was a study done with an extremely active hunter-gatherer society who would walk 20+ miles a day, and they burned marginally more calories in a day than a sedentary office worker. The theory is that your body just cuts down on some of its basal function (which can be quite good for it!) when you increase your activity and vice versa, your BMR increases when you are sedentary.

If anyone is interested, Ultra Processed People and Why We Eat Too Much talk quite a lot about this. It explains why exercise is such a small part of weight loss too.

Meh..vast vast majority of weight loss in your diet and not how much you excersise or move. To burn on doughnut you need sonething like an hour of cycling..in general you can't out excersise a bad diet..

Not really! Hubby does most of the housework (he works a 3 day week) and I have a flexible but busy desk job at home. I used to work around my social plans back when I just did a couple of gym classes a week , whereas now I base my working hours around my daily workouts, which is where the socialising is dropping off. And I’ve just gotten into a routine of not socialising in the name of the healthy lifestyle.

I realise this really seems like I’m
stating the bloody obvious, especially as someone who has always kept fit, but I genuinely didn’t really occur to me how physically inactive I’d become in this new routine.

I’m not overweight though and never have been, which is why it wasn’t something at the forefront of my mind, but I had been thinking it was odd that I was toning up but nowhere near as quickly as I expected. Only once I saw that video did I start to realise how sedentary I am in my new so called “healthier” lifestyle.

No alcohol whatsoever, that does it too and keeps it off ...

Sometimes the being physically inactive just creeps up on us. Sounds like now you've got your answer and can build more movement into your days.

Yes to this. And usually I would have forgotten to eat dinner, or just grabbed something quick like a sandwich. Then been too hungover to eat anything for most of the next day. I definitely think that would have put me in a calorie deficit, versus what I'm more likely to do now which is a three course meal or crisps and pints at the local pub quiz.

Yes. My PT is always talking about the importance of daily movement, including getting a certain amount of steps in on a daily basis.

This, along with calories in v calories out, it's what's made the most different to me, a woman who has tried every diet going!

My MIL and SIL are teetotal and they are not exactly svelte.

Exercise has much less of an impact on weight than many people seem to realise, it is predominantly diet. I would say that person likely eats less when socialising vs what they eat at home and that's having the impact rather than eating more.

this is exactly what i’ve realised. I hadn’t realised how much had dropped off of my
routine activity while I’ve been trying to live like a saint who was dedicated to nothing but the pursuit of fitness.

Even just the time I’d be spending finding a nice outfit for dinner with my friends, walking to the bus stop or going round the shops with my sister, is now time I’m usually just sitting at my desk or going to bed early to feel fresh for my morning run. And therefore time i’m really inactive.

Not saying this is the answer to weight loss of course. I eat very healthy and I know it’s a massive component. But it just found it really interesting that our every day movement and activity is also important and is probably one of the reasons I’m not getting as fit as I want to be.

Exercise burns depressingly few calories, thats why and you then get hungry so intuitively eat more

Plus if you're at home more you may be snacking more without realising

I think stress is part of it too. When I’m out enjoying myself with friend I’m generally happier and sleep better etc, which can all impact weight.