DH has out-exercised a bad diet. How is this possible?

[Jessemer]

I have been pondering how all the exercise and diet advice says that you can't out-exercise a bad diet, and yet... DH has.

Soon after lockdown, he started doing Joe Wicks HIIT and Kettlebell workouts on YouTube. He's gone from about 86 to 77kg and looks great, arms getting muscley, belly fat has lowered, and his thighs look stronger too.

What's interesting to me though is that he hasn't changed his eating habits at all. Our three meals are generally healthy throughout the day but we both have a very sweet tooth which becomes our downfall in the evening. Chocolate, cakes, packets of biscuits, sticky toffee puddings, apple pie and custard, all sorts of treats and huge portions too.

I'm just wondering how he has managed to out-exercise a bad diet?!

Because he's in a calorie deficit overall.

If he's losing body fat and toning up with muscle then those muscles require energy that fat doesn't.

Coz the books have a simple message & reaility isn't so simple.

Maybe his calorie excess was relatively small, just 300-600/day. That's enough to put on a lot of weight and with a sedentary lifestyle end up quite flabby.

You don’t need much of a calorie excess to gain weight over time

If he's having a lot of sugary foods then he may still be building up health problems but they're not obvious as he looks fit.

It is absolutely possible to out-exercise a bad diet. Most people just don't do enough exercise for this to be the case.

After being a size 12-14 for most of my adult life, I'm now a size 8 and eat pretty much what I like - I just run a lot. I don't drink and I don't eat takeaways/fast food, but I do eat large portions and a lot of chocolate and biscuits.

Most people who do a very high volume of running, cycling etc eat shedloads. We can outrun a "bad" diet...but the same can't usually be said of people who do c25k, a few gym classes, or whatever. Which is why many people believe the mantra to be true, when in reality they're just not doing the levels of exercise it requires over the long term.

It surely must also be genetic/natural shape. My DH is lean and muscular naturally. He doesn't diet, in fact the opposite (very sweet tooth). He does moderate exercise but nothing major and with lockdown has been pretty sedentary other than a couple of half hour exercise videos per week. He's still lean and muscular. I don't really get it, so figure it has to be genetics?

Meanwhile I'm low carbing, running regularly and still gaining weight

Same as me.
I eat A LOT. Huge portions and lots of snacking.
But I exercise A LOT.
So am a perfect weight and toned.

It is possible.

I don't have a bad diet but I do eat pretty much what I want. I'm certainly not dietting. I limit alcohol to a minimum and run 50k plus a week. Personally if I hear the phrase 'out exercise a bad diet' I wonder why on earth they are going to all the effort of the exercise yet too lazy to fix the bad diet for other health reasons that just weight.

If the key to weight loss really is calorie deficit then it shouldn't matter how many calories you take in as long as you expend more should it?

So if you eat 6000 calories a day but expend 6500 you'll lose weight, it would just be really difficult to use that much energy but theory is the same.

You have to do a lot of exercise! 2/3 times a week isn’t enough - 6 days a week is more likely (making sure the intensity etc is varied).

Meanwhile I'm low carbing, running regularly and still gaining weight

Then you need to eat less or run more.

I think "natural shape" has little to do with it, and even less when you get older. In my case, my family are mainly fat. I used to be fat. I'm now not fat because I run a lot.

You have to do a lot of exercise! 2/3 times a week isn’t enough - 6 days a week is more likely

Absolutely. And your idea of a rest day is probably a long walk or bike ride.

@fellrunner85 and @RunningFromInsanity

You both mention that you exercise a lot - enough to essentially mean you can eat what you want without weight gain.

Would you mind breaking down what exercise you do on a weekly basis? Just to satisfy my curiosity

Testosterone

How specific do you want me to be, @GlassOfFizzPlease? I can talk about running til the cows come home

But put v briefly, 40-50 miles a week of proper targeted running (some long runs, some hills, some speedwork).
One or two days off, which will involve a bike ride or a long walk with the kids instead.
Weights and Joe Wicks style bodyweight stuff as well, but not as much as I should!

If he’s eating less calories than he’s burning off then he will lose weight.

Exercise is my form of weight control and it works.

I eat healthily (mostly!) but have big portions and snack if I’m hungry. I pretty much eat what I want.

I work out every day though - sometimes twice a day - and have done for some time. I combine cardio (running) with weights and Pilates/yoga. If I was inactive and eating what I do then I would be overweight because I would be eating more than I was burning off. As it is, I get away with it!

Yes, you say you exercise A LOT. How much exactly is that m?

He is male, his body has high levels of testosterone. He needs far more calories than you, his body pre programmed to building muscle

As a (i presume) female you have oestrogen. your body is predisposed to store fat.

Interesting thing about the different impact of exercise on different genes.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/health-17177251

I don’t watch what I eat. I exercises a lot and am a solid size 8.

I exercise everyday, sometimes twice

Today
Yoga
Kettles
Long walk

Hiit

Tabata
Bootcamp

Piyo
Kettles

Bootcamp

Piyo

I walk lots too. And I’m “busy” in general. Can’t sit still.

Of course it's possible.

The key is knowing that food is energy dense, and that your body is energy efficient.

Which means you need quite high levels of exercise to compensate for a modest over consumption of food. But it's more than possible.

I think "natural shape" has little to do with it, and even less when you get older. In my case, my family are mainly fat. I used to be fat. I'm now not fat because I run a lot.

You say natural shape has nothing to do with it, then say the exact opposite ie your family shape and the lengths you've gone to in order to counter that. It's not inconceivable that there are families that are naturally slimmer, and the lengths they have to go to in order to stay slim would be less.

Yes it’s possible. But it happens a lot on here that people start weight watchers or some fad diet of low calorie pizzas / sweets etc and just add 1 slow walk a day and wonder why they aren’t in better shape. Then everyone piles on to say muscle weighs more than fat which is why the scales aren’t changing and anyway, BMI is a load of crap just look at Arnie

Basically the general public cannot be trusted

I lost 12 kg 2 years ago through exercise. I did do 12 gym classes a week! Plus running and cycling.

I know I’ll never outrun diet. Run to fat easily, low natural musculature, lazy. So it’ll never be an option for me. But I think you can do it if you exercise a lot and build muscle easily. Though even then I suspect his diet is ok - assuming largely home cooked and not constant eating?