Will I still benefit from exercise with rubbish diet

[iwantsunshine1]

I'm going into my fourth week exercising. I was hoping exercise would help me with my diet but I have a massive sweet tooth and constantly binge on crap. I know I need to eat better and it's a work in progress but will I still reap the benefits of exercise if I'm upping my protein? I do strength training 3-4 times a week and cardio about the same

What benefits sre you seeking? You won't lose weight if that's your aim

There’s a saying that ‘you can’t out train a bad diet’, so although you probably won’t lose weight, you will still be doing your body some good. Strength training will improve muscle tone and cardio is good for your heart.

You can’t outrun your fork.

It’s always better to exercise than not but a bad diet will derail progress towards.

What do you find satisfies your sweet tooth? Maybe people can suggest alternatives.

I try to buy child sized portions of chocolate (Freddo, Finger of Fudge etc). Protein shakes can also help.

Yes, you’ll still reap lots of benefits for your fitness, strength, longevity, mental health etc 😊

Of course. There's lots of benefits to exercise. Physical and mental.

Exercise is always good for you. Some is better than none
However I wouldn't recommend protein powder on top of a poor diet. That would be pointless.

You don't just drink protein, go to gym and protein drink makes muscle. That's not how the body works.

im not a professional, but even if your diet is poor, exercise still has massive benefits. as has already been said, you more thank likely won't lose any weight with just exercise alone, but it might give you to motivation to eat slightly better after a while

My PT says you can’t exercise out a bad diet - however he also adds that the more you exercise, the more your body craves good food, so your diet will naturally improve as you get fitter.

It’s a weird crowd on here sometimes, as people are always saying ‘exercise doesn’t help you lose weight’. It absolutely does, but it depends on the exercise.

I see this quite a lot at the gym, people who are on the elliptical for an hour on level 3 or lower and think they’re going to make any difference. Level 3 on an elliptical for an hour burns about 150 calories. Level 25 for an hour burns 900.

I built my way up to level 25 over about three months and then consistently did it 5-6 days a week for a year. My diet was trash, I drank a lot, I smoked a lot, but I lost a lot of weight and toned up through daily weights.

With that focus, had I changed my diet I’m sure I would’ve got a six pack or whatever, but ultimately I was exercising so I could eat and drink whatever I wanted more than anything else, plus it had other benefits around MH etc.

All I’m saying is, when you say ‘exercise’ what do you mean. If you’re just doing low effort bikes or something twice a week then you’ll need to massively restrict your diet to lose weight.

Like others have said, you can't outrun a bad diet, so if you're looking to lose weight, you're not going to be successful.

If you're exercising for mental/physical health, then there are always benefits. Improved mood, cardio-vascular health etc.

I'm currently v. v overweight, but I exercise for my mental health. Any exercise is better than none - just be consistent with it. You can tackle your diet later

Of course. Exercising is inherently better for you than being sedentary. It probably won't make you lose weight though, unless you address your diet.

Yes you will get benefits. But you can’t out train a bad diet. However, weight lifting is excellent.

Are you eating enough good quality protein for satiety? Accompanied by a huge amount of green/yellow/red/vegetables - eg broccoli, spinach peppers tomatoes courgettes. If you feel full, maybe you won’t want lots of sweets?

I have a very sweet tooth but I find Fage Greek yoghurt plus vanilla protein powder and some fruit all mixed together totally satisfies my sweet tooth.

Yes. Even if you're struggling with your diet, getting a good amount of exercise will help you in lots of ways besides losing weight.

You need to assess your relationship with food, and I think the best place to start is to understand when you're hungry and when you're bored or stressed. If you fancy a bite to eat, but you're worried about scuppering your progress, drink some water. If your cravings go away, then you're bored. If you're still feeling hungry, you're probably hungry, so eat something filling. Chicken is high in protein and very filling.

Don't focus on your weight loss goal, don't even focus on a number on the scales, focus on small attainable goals. You'll find the weight will start falling off.