I didn't get that vibe from the article. If anything, what I got from it is a different view from the standard one that is so often preached about the importance of doing "formal" (read: gym-type) exercise in losing weight. It's refreshing to read something new like this
Yes, it's a different view, but it's still a limited one. Saying "exercise doesn't help," is just as wrong as saying "exercise is the key." It still is assuming that there is a universal truth for everyone. It didn't say "exercise may not help everyone," like all the rest, it painted everyone with the same brush (only a different brush).
Yes, it's refreshing to see a different argument, but what would be even better would be the acknowledgement that everyone has different needs. What one person may find extremely helpful, may be another person's obstacle.
I think it really comes down to how your body works. For me, I cannot lose weight without getting in some form of exercise. Whether it be walking or going to the gym, I *need* to get exercise in to lose weight. And not just losing weight, but toning and firming and building muscle. I want to be strong and healthy. I guess I must be lucky because I love going to workout- of course, there are somedays I have to drag myself to the gym, but once I get going for a few minutes and get my heart rate up, I feel great. Pushing myself that little extra bit, doing a great HIIT workout on the elliptical, and strength training makes me feel healthy and robust. Even if exercise doesn't help me lose weight, it does help me build muscles and strengthen my body. Plus, nothing beats an endorphin rush!
Basically, everybody works differently. What works for me above may not work for some people. Gym-type workouts might not be for everyone, but they might enjoy something I don't enjoy (I have tried to make myself like swimming). Exercise can encompass a wide range of physical activity, so I don't think it's quite fair for the article to pooh-pooh exercise as a valuable tool to losing weight and becoming healthier. We don't all need to do Biggest Loser workouts, but getting some movement in has amazing benefits!
I think the title should be why cardio won't make you thin. Walking into a gym makes that very clear, just compare the people who only do cardio with the people who use weights. The people doing endless cardio and nothing else are usually the people who are not that thin! Regular strength training alone will definitely make a person thin, almost regardless of that person's diet.
It's certainly not the healthiest way to be thin, but it is a doable way to be thin.
i need to stop being such a cardio queen and focus more on weights!!!!!
I'm not sure, I don't think working out makes me eat junk. I eat junk regardless, I am more conscious of the fact that i am doing it when I have exercised. Oh look there goes all your hard work down the drain, Happy trails to you you ate a darn cookie.
It does make me lazy which is why I am glad my workouts are in the evening. I walk during the day to work, from work, to the store, to the post office etc. Then I workout usually at 5:15 to 6:30 for just over an hour... walk home. Be a Zombie for about half an hour to 30 minutes and then go on with my life as usual. I'll take that trade off 30 minutes of zoned-out time in exchange for improved strength, improved cardiovascular fitness, stress release and mental health benefits? Yeah I take that trade totally. I feel like those are tools that help me make smarter food choices so even if the excercise doesn't help me lose weight by burning "lots" of calories it helps me if nothing else make choices that keep the weight off.
I agree with some of the posters... everyone is different.
All I know, is I NEED to work out to see inches and weight drop. Every time I have gained weight, it's been because of in activity. School, job, another job, and friends all pile up to a tired sod who comes home and cries when they think of working out. I have been in positions where I have eaten pretty darn healthy and very portion controlled and GAINED weight. I've also just tried the diet thing and NOTHING happens.
I need to put in exercise, the more I seem to move, the more I seem to lose. I don't just lose on the scale either, I see inches drop the more I work out.
I know some people may see different results doing different things. I just know that I need to work out. That's me.
Now, some might find the article discouraging, but I had the opposite reaction. For years, I would start a diet AND exercise program (because the two always went hand in hand) and be gung ho about it for a while. Then, eventually, all the energy required to keep up with it all would discourage me. The exercise would become drudgery, a chore, no matter what I did---treadmill, elliptical, bootcamp classes, spinning, etc. Then, I would just give up on it all---including the eating habits.
I think because exercise has been marketed right along with diets, it was ingrained in my mind that one was irrevocably linked to the other. I never imagined until the last couple of years [when these studies started appearing about exercise's negligible effects on weight loss] that I could lose weight without busting my butt doing formal exercise. It is such a relief to me to know that I can.
I lost a significant amount of weight years ago by changing my dietary habits, exercising every day & lifting weights several times a week. I gradually gained that weight back and spent YEARS believing the only way I could lose weight was to go all gung ho as well. The thought of doing it all absolutely exhausted me and I spent many years unhappily overweight.
Early last year I started watching just my diet & calorie counting closely. It was all I felt I had energy and time to do. To my surprise I found that I was losing significant weight with little to no exercise. I lost 55 pounds in six months without adding exercise to my life.
During that same time one of my friends who was around the same weight was avidly exercising. She was working out almost every day, sometimes twice a day and taking yoga, zumba and exercise classes. She was frustrated that the number on the scale wasn't budging.
Am I anti-exercise? Heck no! Studies show that it is very important for health and fitness. From my reading of studies there is evidence that overweight "fit" people are much healthier than people who are skinny and unfit. I still feel that it is something that I should do and will benefit me greatly, but I now know that my future weight loss doesn't have to be tied to an all consuming regiment of strict diet, cardio, and lifting weights. Like the OP I find this very freeing and encouraging.
I think I would feel extremely guilty if I just lost weight without exercising. My goal isn't to be skinny...it's to be more fit, weigh less, and be more toned. If all I wanted to do was just lose a bunch of weight, then yes, it can be done without exercise...but I don't necessarily think my goals can be achieved without exercise.
I also think it really depends on the individual...lots of people here have posted that exercising makes them ravenous and they tend to be more prone to binging. I can see how that's a big problem. But I believe there are lots of people who don't have that problem. Exercising doesn't have that affect on me and doesn't really affect what I eat afterwards. I eat the same regardless. It really depends on the person.
I love exercise, though I currently do more cardio than strength training, mostly because I'm afraid of bulking up, though I've learned through one of the stickies on this board that I won't do that! I'll definitely be fitting in more now.
As for actually doing cardio, I can't see any downsides to exercising. It alone won't make you lose weight, but it's good for your heart and for toning your body!
1. Exercise is an appetite suppressant. I'm not any hungrier with exercising and if anything, it suppresses my hunger and I NEVER eat back exercise calories and I don't feel I've earned a snack, whatever because I have exercised.
2. I am much more active the rest of the day if I have exercised. It gets the blood moving and the adrenalin up and then I feel great and want to do more!
And for me, every single time I have gotten more physically active - even from things like walking more, I drop weight and drop it fast.
Last month was the first month that I didn't lose a lot of weight in one month and even though my caloric intake was low, I didn't exercise 6 times a week, but more like 4 times a week AND I was less active at home overall too.
For me exercise is key to losing weight and for feeling better, but that makes sense for me - less hungry, more active overall. How could it not help me lose?
I'm right there with ya. Exercise makes it easier for me to avoid the tasty treats. Know why? I think, "Okay, seriously? Do you want to spend 30 MINUTES on the elliptical machine tonight working off that candy bar?" The treats become less appealing when I associate them with how much work it takes to work them off.
Also, I'm not as hungry when I exercise, despite the fact that the opposite should be true.
But the article does make sense for MOST people. Just not me. I also like exercising while losing weight because, even if the weight isn't coming off lightening speed, I can see a bigger difference in my body shape. Toning up through exercise makes me feel like I've lost more than I actually have (and other people seem to notice right off the bat too)!
I'm right there with ya. Exercise makes it easier for me to avoid the tasty treats. Know why? I think, "Okay, seriously? Do you want to spend 30 MINUTES on the elliptical machine tonight working off that candy bar?" The treats become less appealing when I associate them with how much work it takes to work them off.
This is so true for me.
I have never noticed be hungrier from exercise, but maybe exercise does make me hugrier, but I am making healthier choices, which naturally fill you up more.
I love exercise, though I currently do more cardio than strength training, mostly because I'm afraid of bulking up, though I've learned through one of the stickies on this board that I won't do that! I'll definitely be fitting in more now.
I wouldn't worry about bulking up. From what I've read, it takes a lot of weight training for a woman to actually get "bulky." Strength training is beneficial because you build more muscle, and muscle takes up less room than fat, so oftentimes, you lose inches even if you're not losing that much weight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skellycoin
As for actually doing cardio, I can't see any downsides to exercising. It alone won't make you lose weight, but it's good for your heart and for toning your body!
The "downside" of doing gym-type, formal cardio for me is mental: the the dread that comes along with it and, subsequently, the ultimate giving up of all my good habits because I couldn't "succeed" at consistently doing it. The link that the diet and exercise industry has emphasized for years (i.e., that formal exercise is an absolute requirement to lose weight) has been harmful to me and, from the looks of the replies, others as well. I'm really happy to know that gym-type cardio is an option, not a requirement, for weight loss. It's freeing, and this time around, I actually feel as if I can lose the weight and, most important, keep it off!
I recently took up running with the C25K program. I've gone from totally out of shape to being able to jog 2 miles. I've been doing this while trying to lose weight.
I've always known weight loss is mostly diet, and don't eat more on days I exercise.
On weeks where I'm strict with my diet and lose, I tend to struggle more with running. The calorie deficit zaps my energy. Contrastingly I tend to run alot better on weeks where I eat more and basically maintain.
The exercise makes me hungrier too. I'll come home after a run, shower and then an hour or so later feel ravenous.
But for me I want to lose weight AND get fit. I wouldn't say the running has helped my weight loss all that much, but it helps me emotionally. Usually if the scale isn't moving I can look at how much my fitness level has improved and have something to be positive about.
Also I have PCOS and sweaty heart pumping cardio really improves my hormonal profile. blood sugar, insulin resistance etc. This in turn makes weight loss slightly easier.
Indeed, exercise is healthy but not needed for weight loss. Depending on the amount to be lost I would still urge all women especially to do at least weight lifting to prevent muscle loss, which increases the chance of yo yo gaining, and also for bone health. There is no way around it, you won't be at optimal health without exercise.
But as far as weight loss is concerned, not, not necessary. And for health maintenance not much is required.
Another point, for me at least, is that exercise is so, so, mental. I think this article demonstrates that point well. People who do not lose while dieting and exercising sabotage themselves by thinking they can treat themselves because of the exercise and just generally lazing about because they exercised and don't have to move for the rest of the night.
For me, exercise keeps me from stopping at McDonald's, from eating that ice cream cone when I get home from work, etc. Because I think, "Really? You're going to blow a good day of calorie counting and exercise by binging? Seriously?! Do you know how exhausting exercise is!?" lol So, it has the opposite effect on me that it has on the study subjects. It also gives me energy so I move more during the day.
It depends so much on the individual, so I don't think it's accurate to say, "Exercise won't make you thin." It does for some people.
