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?!

Did he work from home and only eat the same as you before? IF not, I suspect he was snacking his way through work and sipping or guzzling calorific soft drinks of coffees all day. His calorie deficit is way more than you realize.

also: how old is he? If he is still only in his thirties, or even early 40s, this is less surprising than if he were older. If he doesn't maintain this, and gets as bad as he was, he likely will find he can't repeat this trick with an older body.

OP yes as lots of people saying here, you definitely can but I do think you need the right basic predisposition to a leaner body

I cant outrun a bad diet as I get hungry (or maybe feel justified) eating more and so I am fitter but same wt.

[quote Everybloodybottleunderthesun]@Atalune I’d love to do that much exercise- used to pretty much - now small DS

Anyone have any tips on how to realistically ramp up exercise with a baby /toddler in tow? Whilst working full time and lots on in general It keeps slipping to the bottom of my priority list and not feeling good for it. And not running, I despise running and can’t do it to save my life.[/quote]
Stick DS in the pushchair and walk..... As much as possible.
I walk a lot, the only times I drive are if I have heavy shopping to carry, if it's raining heavily (light rain is fine as long as you have a raincoat, sensible shoes and a rain cover for the pushchair), if it's more than a couple of hours to walk or if it's completely impossible to factor in the time it takes. This is how I lost my baby weight, I wasn't doing any other exercise at the time but I walked everywhere.

Those who exercise a lot, do you not find you get very tired and/or hungry

God yes. That's why distance runners talk about "runger"! In marathon training, particularly, I get ravenous after long runs and can happily go to bed at 9pm for a long, deep sleep.
But if you imagine I'm burning 2,000 calories or so in those long runs, I can be absolutely ravenous- eat a handful of biscuits afterwards, as well as my main meals - and still be in calorie deficit overall.

OK thank you but I'm not doing long runs yet anyway!

I do get hungry. But I eat loads at breakfast-
2 eggs and avocado some toast and a protein yogurt. Then I am full till about 2 then I have something small and then I would have a normal dinner. But we eat healthy as we are all sporty and heavy processed food juts makes us sluggish.

I exercise early in the morning- so maybe stick the tele on and do a YouTube vid? The later in the eve 3/4 times and husband or partner does the bedtimes.

For me the endorphins and the mental health benefits motivate me to make exercise a priority. If I don’t I feel sad.

However it wasn’t until my youngest was 2 that I could really do that as I was breastfeeding and was literally tethered to the baby. Once I swapped the bedtime feed for a bottle I was out of that house! Husband used to ring and say I’m half an hour away so I would be in my gym kit and ready to ping out the door as soon as I heard the gravel crunch x

Those who exercise a lot, do you not find you get very tired and/or hungry

I suspect when I was young I used to need like 4000-4500 kcal/day. Being hungry then was a much more uncomfortable and urgent experience. But not since I was 35 or so. I'm pretty good nowadays at waiting until a convenient time to eat. Sometimes nowadays I find I'm feeling very tired & then realise... "oh, I haven't eaten in a while. Try eating something to feel better."

Teen DS was moaning today about being tired; I pointed out he's only tired bc he's been doing blank all most days. Doing little means that doing anything becomes exhausting.

I don't get tired, I do get hungry. I try and ignore it for as long as possible in the morning and try not to eat until 11am/miday. Won't eat after 6pm....but I do go to bed a bit hungry some days. I'm starving now, have been for ages.

I had porridge at 11am. Followed by a waffle
I had lunch about midday - prawns and melon
Haven't eaten since.
I'll have chicken for dinner in about an hour, with edame beans and either halloimi fries or new potatoes. Then a yoghurt

That'll be it for the day.

I've done an hour fast bike ride and a 90 min brisk walk today. Which according to my fitbit has burnt just over 800 calories combined.

Light exercise makes me hungry, hard exercise suppresses my appetite.

Light exercise makes me hungry, hard exercise suppresses my appetite

That's interesting; I'm the total opposite. Something like a 5k or 10k run, or a HIIT session, suppresses my appetite. But after a long, hard run I just can't seem to eat enough!

I’ve always lost weight during marathon training - running 5 days a week, total distance between 20-30 miles a week - with a fairly rubbish diet. It is possible to do enough exercise to still lose weight.

@fellrunner85

Light exercise makes me hungry, hard exercise suppresses my appetite

That's interesting; I'm the total opposite. Something like a 5k or 10k run, or a HIIT session, suppresses my appetite. But after a long, hard run I just can't seem to eat enough!

Interesting! I think my hunger rises proportionately to the distance and intensity of the exercise. I run first thing in the morning, fasted. Perhaps that has an impact. I’m also on Keto which I think actually improves my running - and possibly does something to hunger signals.

Like others have said, you get tired but it’s a lovely sort of tired. I run daily and mix in speed runs, hills and recovery runs - I never physically ache or am in pain. Run 40km a week.