I do it for fitness. I just started weight training about a month ago....even though I dislike the act itself (maybe I am warming upto it a bit :lol:), I am starting to love the feel of my emerging muscles. I can feel my arms; they feel more solid. I can feel the strength of my leg muscles. I can't wait to have all this fatness melt away (with diet) and be left with toned and healthy looking physique.

I'm sure someone mentioned this already but, speaking strictly in regards to weight loss & nothing else, working out builds muscle which increases your metabolism & your body's efficiency. Fat just sits there, muscle burns calories.

Originally Posted by Radiojane:
Honestly, do you know what it came down to in the beginning with me? I wanted to eat more!

This is the reason I exercise as well.

To the OP, my husband NEVER, NEVER, NEVER does any formal exercise. In fact, he thinks it's incredibly silly for people to actually pay to work out (at a gym). He has NEVER had a weight problem. He does activity in the form of yard work (with mainly manual tools ----e.g., clips the hedges manually). He says that when he does more activity (e.g., yard work), he is hungrier and eats more, which is why he thinks it's odd for people to want to formally exercise while dieting (i.e., he believes it makes people hungrier and, thus, more prone to overeating). What he says makes a lot of common sense to me, and I do think it's mainly a numbers game.

However, as I've gotten older, I actually like exercise---unbelievably (I used to despise it). A big part of that is that I have access to two gyms w/ great fitness classes, and I love group fitness. I exercise in some form 1 1/2 - 2 hours a day, and I've been doing that for quite some time (going on 2 years now), and I'm still not bored or even thinking about quitting. The bonus to that is that I get to eat approx. 400-500 more calories a day and I am definitely more toned.

I never ever used to exercise for the sake of it. Then came the dealbreaker when I started to monitor my weight daily.

Similar to the previous poster's husband's experience, I noticed that my weightloss and general fitness peaked at the weekend when I was doing chores and copious amounts of yardwork. But I then levelled out in the week when I got back to my desk job. So I have just joined a gym and, on day 1 , the workout feels like yard work!

So the bottom line is that working out during the week will help me to maintain the weekend workout I naturally get with kid, chores, yardwork etc but during the week. I'm expecting big things.

If I ever get to do yardwork every day, then the gym membership will expire!

Amongst maintainers, it seems having a consistent and rigourous exercise regime is the one constant. For myself, exercise may not be a huge component of weight loss, it's a huge one for weight maintenance.

Exercise also provides a different of set of metrics that people can use to determine whether they are on the right path, besides the number on the scale or jeans size. It's quite motivating when you run a distance within a certain time, when you lift a certain amount of weight, etc. It really keeps you more inclined to stay with your eating plan.

I want to exercise to be fit in my old age. That's it :)

My 90+ grandaunt is mentally and physically fit, catches public transport, walks everywhere. My FIL on the other hand, is in his late 60s and cannot walk far.

I know who I would love to be like when/if I get to live to 70, 80 or 90!

Originally Posted by magical:
I want to exercise to be fit in my old age. That's it :)

My 90+ grandaunt is mentally and physically fit, catches public transport, walks everywhere. My FIL on the other hand, is in his late 60s and cannot walk far.

I know who I would love to be like when/if I get to live to 70, 80 or 90!

This is a very good point! What we do to our bodies now will determine your bodies in the future :)

Originally Posted by memememe76:
Amongst maintainers, it seems having a consistent and rigourous exercise regime is the one constant. For myself, exercise may not be a huge component of weight loss, it's a huge one for weight maintenance. .

While I find this to be mainly true amongst maintainers, this doesn't apply to me.

I struggle with chronic illness, so sometimes I can workout 3-4 times per week and sometimes not at all for weeks at a time. I use food (calorie counting) to "make up" for not working out and having very little predictability about it.

When I do workout, though, I tend to go pretty hard. Burning about 600-900 calories in an hour, which is a lot for someone my size.

But my philosophy from the beginning has been to control my weight in the KITCHEN. Working out is great, but extra. This took a tremendous amount of pressue off me to workout X number of days each week for X amount of time. I never felt like I was failing for not making it to the gym.

Great thread. Lots of important considerations about working out. Perhaps this was mentioned, but muscle is more "expensive" metabolically than fat. So another bonus to exercise is an increased metabolism, which may help to expedite your weight loss.
You ladies have me wondering...what are the reasons to (or not to) eat back your calories burned in exercise? Some days I don't eat them back, others I do. I have to say though, I always think MFP overshoots cals burned for various activities.

I exercise for fitness and health reasons. I like to feel strong, and make my everyday physical (and mental) tasks easier by regular exercise.

Apart from maintaining (or even increasing) my muscle mass, and moderating hormone levels (extremely important for me due to my particular situation) exercise is a mental time-out for me where I can take a break from my worries, whilst helping me sleep better and therefore have more energy.

In my mind, I can't afford NOT to exercise.

I'm sorry if someone already posted this. I read through some of the responses but not all. One advantage specifically for long term maintenance after weightloss is that when eating at a calorie deficit without exercise you will lose muscle mass. And with loss of muscle mass you will have a lower daily caloric usage. So to exercise, especially weightlifting, is to help ensure that you don't plateau as easily and that transition to maintenance will allow you to eat more calories without gaining weight. In the long run any muscle you build also means your body burns a few more calories a day even at rest. So if you keep eating the same amount of calories net, over time those net calories result in more weightloss than if you either gained no muscle, or what's likely lost muscle as you were losing weight.

But I totally agree that it's 80% in the kitchen. :).

Thank you so much, everybody! I am learning a tonne from you all!!! :val1: