How much difference will exercise make to weight loss?

[SeatbeltExtender]

I know we can't out run a bad diet.
I know exercise is good for us

But will gentle exercise ( I'm very fat and unfit) make a difference on the scales?

My cousin managed to loose 5 stone by overhauling her diet. She didn't step foot in a gym. I do think it's more down to food choices than anything else. But exercising definitely won't hinder the process.

I absolutely loathe exercise but I do it because knowing it’s good for me in ways other than weight.

I tell you how it does help my weight though. I think to myself that if I’ve put myself through the torture of exercise, I’m jiggered if I’m going to ruin it by eating crap.

(if anyone wants to pipe up that I just haven’t found the right exercise yet, they can expect short shrift!)

It certainly won’t do you any harm op. Good luck on your weight loss journey.

I genuinely don’t understand how so many people claim it doesn’t make a difference. It definitely does for me!

Me too @MelbrowMaia

It hardly burns any calories, you can’t rely on exercise to create a deficit. It’s really good for so many other things but it’s not good for weight loss on its own. You couldn’t just eat what you wanted to and exercise all the calories off unless you are genetically that way inclined with a naturally athletic body type or actually an athlete (and even they track their calories)

I see women come on here all the time confused about weight gain as they killing it at the gym with cardio all week but don’t pay any attention to what they are eating, assuming it will just level out. It doesn’t.

I don’t know what my body type is, but when I exercise, I lose weight, gain muscle and my body changes shape. Personally, I eat very well anyway and I exercise six days a week so maybe that’s the difference - perhaps if I was doing barely any exercise and eating rubbish that wouldn’t work. But if I stopped doing the exercise and ate the same, I really wouldn’t look the same!

I read frequently on MN that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. I've also read various articles linked to in support of that view.

My personal experience is that ramping up my activity levels (numerous gym classes a week consistently plus lots of walking) helped me lose about half a stone albeit slowly without any changes to my diet. For the last 8 months or so I have been trying to be more careful about what I eat but am not on a diet as such . I'm a stone and a half lighten than I was 18 months ago.
Only my personal experience but I fully believe that exercise burns calories and aids weight loss.

I joined the gym and do 6 or 7 30 min classes per week.
Initially yes it helped me lose almost 3 stone.
More recently I also have to eat in a calorie deficit also to lose more. I could easily do with losing at least another stone so now I'm eating well and exercising to try and start losing again

However despite the lack of weight loss in past 3 months my shape has changed which makes me look less then I am. I've lost inches rather then scales weight.

Exercise does burn some calories, I’m not a science denier 😂

No I am not talking about people who have to lose half a stone and usually a lot of weight to lose obviously it’s really good to exercise and it will help you. What I said was if you wanted to lose weight and just did exercise it wouldn’t be that easy, you can’t create a large calorie deficit every day to lose many stone. It takes a lot of effort to burn off 500 calories. And if you are eating 1000 more than you need to… this won’t help.

Toning up and changing body shape is not the same thing as losing weight that’s not what the OP asked.

@OMGitsnotgood you just said you watched what you eat - that’s a type of diet 😂

Everyone can apply a thread to themselves but read the OP’s posts. She is not in the same situation as someone with not much to lose who is already fit and is toning up.

Ive lost over 5 stone it’s nothing like just going to the gym and working out a bit more to see your body change without any diet change, obesity is more complex than that you need to reduce the calories and know what you are eating in the first place