Is it possible for you to exercise enough to eat whatever you want and not gain weight?

[VagueButlmportant]

I don't think it is for me.

I have a very sedentary desk job for 40+ hours a week.

I run 3 x a week approx 5-6 miles each time. I barely do anything else active, although I'm trying to stand up from my desk every hour or so.

I think I generally eat fairly healthily. I don't drink any more. I probably have been a bit too guilty of eating out of boredom at work, but I've stopped that now.

I've been steadily gaining weight with this lifestyle for 5 years (since I went through early menopause age 36). I've gained 2 stone since then. I've recently managed to reverse the trend, but only by calorie counting and restricting what I eat. I hate dieting. It feels totally unsustainable and boring.

I'd love to know if other people have a point where they can eat what they want eg run every day / run 30 miles a week etc?

[Boobz]

The label on the Before/After shot is misleading - it's from 90 days of low carbing AND P90X.

[Boobz]

Sleep - you are totally right - I did P90X which is a lot of weights and my before and after photos are on my profile. But I combined it with low-carbing, and I genuinely think that's how I got the results I did. So diet again played a part.

I would be happy to do P90X again as the results were good, but tbh I find that I really enjoy the short/snappy element of Insanity (or Goliaz - i.e. HIIT) and I do the long distance running as I have just taken up marathon running, so am not sure I want to give that up.

But you are totally right - weights is the way to go for fast, strong results - I definitely had the best physical results from it (but feel fitter from HIIT and running, so I guess it's all a balance).

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

Dh runs 12-15 miles 3 or 4 x a week (quickly) and circuit trains once a week and while never fat he used to have a slight tummy before he watched what he ate better.

And he's never drunk alcohol or been into junk food, just used to eat quite a bit of bread and cheese which he's now stopped.

So he couldn't manage it on a really quite high amount of exercise.

[sleepwhenidie]

boobz just my unsolicited opinion but if I were you I'd ease up on the HIIT and particularly the endurance training a bit and add in some weight training. Then ignore the scales, observe what it does for your shape, strength and ability to eat more without worrying about it

[Boobz]

I think the short answer is no.

I do HIIT (check out Goliaz.com) 5 x a week, plus 30 - 40km a week and STILL have to watch what I eat to stay slim (5'3 and 55kg). If I have an off week with food (drink alcohol, eat too many carbs, eat out at restaurants a couple of times and have the bread etc.,) I will see it on the scales on Sunday, despite doing all the HIIT and running.

I just trained for and ran a marathon (my first) and ran it in 3:50, so was pretty fast, but even with 14 weeks training and all those km logged, I didn't really lose weight as I ate so much to fuel my body for the training runs (I was hungry all the time once I was hitting 25km+ for the long runs on the weekend).

I think you do basically have to be a professional athlete to be exercising so much that you can eat what you want and it all gets burned off.

[sleepwhenidie]

As has also been said previously (and not what the OP asked), 'healthy' weight doesn't mean healthy. Dolly I think some people can get away with a poor diet and for a long time, both weight and health wise, but for the majority, it catches up on one or both fronts sooner or later. There will always be exceptions to the rule but imho, tbh your diet and self-defined exercise obsession don't sound particularly healthy.

[DollyDilly]

I never ate fruit or veg as a child either. I've always been exercise obsessed. It's just not something I've ever really got in to. I prefer veg over fruit and will it that with roasts.

[pearlylum]

High levels of exercise demand good nutrition though. You must be aware of that.
Your fitness regime or indeed anyone desiring good health needs an adequate level of vitamins , minerals, fats, fatty acids and calories.

[DollyDilly]

I do around 40 miles a week on an average week. I was doing it right up til birth every time. I think with me its due to such high levels of exercise. I have never had any real illness.

[pearlylum]

dolly you have a big risk of malnutrition. Are you otherwise well and energetic?

[DollyDilly]

32, 5 foot 3, 3 kids. I'm very healthy big runner, very impressive blood pressure or so the nurse told me, good cholosterol.

[pearlylum]

Can I ask how old you are dolly? And how tall?

It is impossible to get the nutrition your body needs especially in the long term.

[DollyDilly]

Just never have done. I eat mainly processed food and I'm not really much of a cook so mainly stir in sauce meals. Chilli, fry ups, omelettes, chinese

[pearlylum]

dolly no fruit? Not ever? Why?

And only limited veg? What do you eat?

[DollyDilly]

It must vary our family are all very, very slim but I've probably not eaten any fruit since last summer. I do eat veg here and there but not regularly.

[pearlylum]

I think the real issue here is 'whatever' you want is so subjective! I think people who are serial dieters imagine that if they stopped trying to control what they consume then they would eat crazy amounts of crap that they don't usually allow themselves to have. Whereas the people who have never really dieted and eat nutrient dense, mostly unprocessed food regard themselves as 'eating whatever they want', don't restrict and have no urge to binge on crap. There's a lesson there!

You have hit the nail on the head there.

My DD is a case in point. Even as a toddler She could have a plate of cabbage and a plate of biscuits in front of her- she would choose the cabbage every single time.
Fruit salad or chocolate- no contest, fruit every time.. All of my family are like this to some extent- and we are all slim.
I haven't enforced any of this, although it does echo my own food preferences.

I do think emotional issues come into play too- comfort eating can be a route some take, if I am upset then I lose my appetite, I don't tun to food as a comfort.

[DollyDilly]

I've had 3 mcdonalds this week, chinese take away with quarter of crispy duck, spring rolls, chow mein, pies, chips, been out drinking last night. I'm still only 7 stone 7.

[sleepwhenidie]

What's not true Dolly? And what is your definition of 'lots of crap'?

[DollyDilly]

I don't diet, count calories or watch my weight. I eat a lot of crap so I really don't think that's true

[KeyserSophie]

That's what Josie Spinardi says in "thin" (terrible title, good book) in that when you are always dieting, you naturally crave the foods you can't have rather than thinking about what you really want, and once you stop dieting, after a period in which you probably will eat all the crap, you'll reset and naturally want to eat foods based on how they make you feel rather than because they're "bad".

That said, I know people who have terrible quality diets (think mars bar for breakfast) but good portion control who would also say they "eat what they want".

[sleepwhenidie]

I think the real issue here is 'whatever' you want is so subjective! I think people who are serial dieters imagine that if they stopped trying to control what they consume then they would eat crazy amounts of crap that they don't usually allow themselves to have. Whereas the people who have never really dieted and eat nutrient dense, mostly unprocessed food regard themselves as 'eating whatever they want', don't restrict and have no urge to binge on crap. There's a lesson there!

[irregularegular]

I have noticed that these days I do put on a little weight after holidays, Xmas etc when I eat more. That didn't used to happen. But it gradually goes away with normal eating.

[irregularegular]

I almost never exercise beyond walking (briskly) to the station and other everyday stuff, family walks etc. I have a sedentary job. I'm 45, 5 ft 4 and weight 8.5 st (up from more like 8 st when I was younger, but has been pretty stable for a while. I eat what I want in a normal, non-restricting, but not particularly excessive sort of way. I've no idea about calories. I think it's definitely not low as my work has really nice lunches so I often have two 'full' meals a day, plus a morning biscuit or two.

I don't know if I'm physically unusual? Or it just that my normal, eat-what-I-want diet is naturally fairly modest despite seeming like plenty to me?

[DollyDilly]

I could easily eat fry ups or takeaways daily and not put on weight. I used to have fry ups daily with work but never put on any weight.

I actually don't get how people can put on a lot of weight. I know it's impossible for me.

[Adarajames]

I used to be able to, in fact I ended up having to eat bars of chocolate etc as couldn't manage as many calories as I needed on usual healthy meals.

But I did train an average of 6 hrs a day most days, (dance degree / part of various contemporary groups / irish dancing few hrs a week / county level martial arts / weights / strength training) bmi stupidly low, but totally screwed now as have ME / fibromyalgia, with sugar addiction from years of lots of it being eaten in large amounts so really struggling to not eat so much and lose weight (need to lose another 1.5 stone)