Ok, I understand the health benefits of exercising...
How does it help you reshape your body if you have a layer of fat over the muscles though?

exercise burns calories, thats a good thing
you need to burn more calories than you take in

Aww I love that last part about the music, that's how I feel when I drive alone blasting my music.

And the part about the same smaller version of yourself, I have to agree. Exercise is really changing my shape, I see in my sis who lost 30 lbs with just diet, extreme diet she looks the same just a smaller version of herself. I also always found it kinda nuts that when we would go to a theme park together I at 150 lbs could totally handle all the walking and her at 110 would be breathing hard. The excersizes I was doing then helped me.

Exercise is good for your HEALTH. While it's made me a solid, toned thin person, I was an avid exerciser when I was fat. I was able to walk long distances, do more than my non-exercising thin friends, etc.

As others said though it reshapes your body. I'm a totally different shape at goal than I was when I was heavier. My arms also look great and they were a major annoyance of mine!

Also I outweigh a friend of mine by 15lbs (we're the same height) and we wear the same size clothes so thank you weight training!

Exactly! I don't even care about it now. I'm so much happier and can do so much more.

Although what they say about TIME is true...my skin looks so much better at one year out than when I first hit goal

Domesticbliss - I am quite fat and the way my weight is distributed I have very chunky legs. But because I have been running a lot and lifting a lot for lower body strength my legs look way better. Maybe better than they ever have. I always had legs that went straight down and now I have ankles! Just because it's underneath a layer of fat, muscle still shapes it.

For me being very short in stature cutting calories only doesn't give me much of a weight loss since I don't have much calories to play with to reduce. Exercise is mainly what has helped me lose weight over the last 4 months. ARC machine for 60 minutes blasts the calories and I can push myself really hard as again it's comfortable for my short legs. Bodyflow for strength, balance and flexibility. Moderate weightlifting to maintain muscle mass and make slight gains in muscle. When I'm closer to goal will most likely will reduce cardio on ARC to 30, keep up with Bodyflow but then focus more on weightlifting (higher weights and more of a schedule).

I have to admit that I absolutely hate going to the gym and exercising. But, I do it. 5 days a week with a mix of cardio and weights. It's not for weight loss. I actually have managed to gain weight while exercising. It's because it helps with my walking which with my bad arthritis is important. It's a good way to socialize. It makes me feel stronger. And, some day I want to be able to exercise by going hiking and biking and swimming and that isn't going to happen if I haven't been building up some muscle.

I agree with this based on personal experience...I am fat, but I can still see more definition in my upper body and legs. Also, sometimes when the scale does not reflect it, the tape measure can show me that, yes, my body is changing. The visible benefits may differ from person to person though since we all carry our weight differently. The first time I lost weight, I loved when I lost enough for the toning to become more visible to others and I got compliments on the shaping (so there might be a little bit of a delay in the gratification that you get for this hard work if you are looking for visible benefits!)

Oh so true. This is especially true for my saggy baggy arms and loose skin tummy. Without exercise it's blubbery. With exercise (cardio and strength), I can see the muscles and it totally changes the look of my body naked and clothed.

I move quicker. I stand taller. I bounce back better all because of exercise and my body transforms... as yes, otherwise it's just a smaller version of the same old fat self.

And for me, this was about getting healthy. Being skinny fat is NOT healthy - just skinny. Eventually being thin wouldn't be enough - I would run into other health problems from being too inactive as I'm witnessing with my MIL.

this really helped! I have some serious thunder thighs, and am about to start a rigorous squat/lunge/bridge routine for my lower body, but was so worried about whether or not it would help the shape of my legs... looks like it will according to your post

It will help! But also remember everyone gains and loses fat differently and everyone gains muscle differently. Also some of us do experience 'spot reduction' - it's a real thing, just not a controllable or predictable thing. Reshaping the body thru exercise takes time....give yourself that time. You will feel other benefits of exercise (standing taller, feeling better) before you can see them (usually).

Also I do Bikram yoga once a week. It's great for shaping the body (though not sure once a week cuts it for that) - but more than that when I'm in certain postures I can see my 'future body' and the real difference my exercise is making. I can see the definition in my upper body. I can see my firm abs and the muscles in my legs.

Or another way to view it: You diet to look good in clothes. You exercise to look good naked.

I have now been exercising for 18 months and started loosing weight a year ago. I have lost 40 lbs so far, but can get comfortably into pants that were tight when I was 20 lbs less than I am now. My tops are now actually a size smaller than what I wore then. So, getting toned really helped me getting a shape back. I am hourglass now, before I was simply a barrel. It is hard work, but once that layer of fat is gone, which will happen by the end of this year, I am done. My body will be ready for the beach. I have not seen the beach in almost a decade. It is simply time.

The posture thing really got me when I saw it. I found pictures of myself from when I was around my heaviest, and comparing them with more recent pictures it's just really easy to see how much better my posture is! I stand up straighter, I'm not hunched, etc. I'm sure some of that is the result of just being about half the size I was before, but a lot of it probably has to do with being physically fit.

And I also agree with you regarding health in older age. I see how my grandmother is—she goes to the gym regularly—and it really inspires me to stay on track. Others who are younger than her and haven't been keeping up with exercise are in much worse shape!

I think you have to differentiate between muscle training and cardio here when you refer to working out or exercise.

Cardio (running, swimming, brisk walking etc) all raise your heart rate and burn calories. In addition to the calories you burn WHILE exercising your metabolism will also be heightened a few hours after.

Weight training isn't as effective for a caloric burn as most cardio is (at least not in the way most people weigh train) but having muscle helps you to actually, burn more calories when youre working out and even when youre at rest.

So things like ab exercises may not make a lot of sense if you are overweight currently, but I think weight training still has its place even if you're not at your goal weight quite yet