[bex]

I do both. I feel guilty if I dont exercise and although I have changed my diet I find exercising makes a huge difference.

[yoyoma]

Here's my guess... I think it is easier to lose weight in the short run by a focus on diet. But I think it is easier in the long run to focus more on exercise and make just short-term corrections using diet. If you just diet to lose weight, it gets harder and harder to make those short-term corrections as you get older. During a calorie-restriction diet, you lose some lean mass so you need to rebuild it to maintain good health and get back the metabolism you need for diet to be effective. We also know that restricting calories raises cortisol which tends to put on unhealthy (visceral) fat in the middle. So, if you want to avoid those pouchy bellies (and the associated health risks), it's better to focus on exercise than diet.

All that said, I'm primarily a diet-driven loser. Sigh. But I am making more time for exercise.

[Airforcechick07]

I have to disagree...I think you can do either with results.... but for the best healthiest nicest results you should do both.....

[alexthegirl]

Originally Posted by chickapea

I drink so much water, that's definitely not the problem. I have minimum 64oz a day, usually twice that. And during a workout, I always have at least a full 16 ounces of water.

The hunger actually doesn't set in immediately - it's more like 3-4 hours later I feel like I haven't eaten in days. And then it feels like no matter what I eat, I'm still hungry. I've tried throwing all different kinds of food at it - high protein, high fiber, high fat, high carb. It's like a food monster that lives in me until 2-3 days later, when it goes back to sleep. But if I try to exercise regularly, then it never goes back to sleep.

On the other hand, I can do a five hour long hike once a week, and be hungry immediately afterwards, but it feels more like a normal hunger, and a double-double protein style makes it shut up but good.

ETA: Am I weird? I thought everyone got hungry like me! I wonder if I DO have a food monster living in me...

This is TOTALLY what happens to me too! It doesn't matter what/how much I eat its like I have an a hunger that will never go away! I wonder if skinny people feel like that all the time. I try to go to bed as soon a possible after working out so I can at least try and avoid the worst of the hunger.