I get it, but if homie was 150 lbs overweight then he was probably eating wayyyy more than maintenance and would’ve continued to gain if he didn’t change his eating habits.
I don’t think you realize how few calories are burned by exercise relative to the amount packed into our food, especially if you eat without thinking about it. I was dancing for a while, 8 hours straight of sometimes very intensive cardio, and only burning like 1000 extra calories (according to my fitbit) on those days just to feel like shit the next day from all that work, which would definitely have driven me to eat even more if I wasn’t paying attention to my diet or able to control my impulses (which tbh I think one or the other can be assumed for someone 100+ lbs overweight).
Even the most intensive bike ride or couple hours at the gym can be eaten away in as few as 7-10 oreos or a large fountain drink. Sure, if you just need to trim a pound or two to get to your ideal weight, exercise alone can do that along with many other great benefits if you can commit to it daily, but you simply cannot expect to see results if you are habitually overeating highly caloric/low nutritional value foods and do not change those habits.
My maintenance intake as a woman was somewhere on the low end between 1700 and 2000 calories. With the meals that I was used to having, this was easily exceeded just by eating more than one meal per day. So I switched to an OMAD diet and hit a plateau around 170lbs while I was dancing. I was happy with that weight so I loosened up, eventually stopped dancing, and now I use the time saved to eat healthier (or at least less processed) food instead of less food in general and maintain at that weight.
As for exercise; I tried biking and while I enjoyed it, it just wasn’t something I was going to keep up with consistently. The hassle alone of getting a bike down from my 3rd floor apartment (and across a major intersection) was enough to end that, plus I can’t do it in all seasons, and the stationary bike just isn’t engaging enough. Again, any progress I make from that is gone with just one bad eating choice, which is going to happen if you change your activity level without any consideration for nutrition. This isn’t a magical frictionless world of simple numbers, the psychology and physiology involved here is not negligible.
I do think the dancing boosted my metabolism a bit, or maybe something changed in my lifestyle like returning to office instead of WFH. I’m more consistently maintaining if not slightly losing at just over 2000 calories now. I really wouldn’t be able to maintain if I didn’t read nutrition labels and limit my snacking though.
The problem about being active, is that the moment you stop you’ll put the weight right back on. Most people don’t take up going to the gym for decades, it’ll last a few months, maybe a few years. Long term weight management needs to be about food intake.
You’re correct in that you need to stay active, but I don’t think that’s as unachievable as you make out.
Going to the gym sucks. Exercise for the sake of exercise will get boring unless you’re one of the few who actually enjoys being at the gym.
Most people can find some kind of exercise they actually enjoy. For me it’s cycling. I started when I was 30 and I’ll admit there’s been a few patches where I haven’t been on the bike but it’s built up to something I truly enjoy 12 years later. This month I’m on track for more than an hour on the bike every day with no gaps.
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You can’t outrun your fork. If OOP had 150lbs to lose, it’s unlikely he could’ve continued eating the same amount and burnt that weight off.
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I get it, but if homie was 150 lbs overweight then he was probably eating wayyyy more than maintenance and would’ve continued to gain if he didn’t change his eating habits.
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I don’t think you realize how few calories are burned by exercise relative to the amount packed into our food, especially if you eat without thinking about it. I was dancing for a while, 8 hours straight of sometimes very intensive cardio, and only burning like 1000 extra calories (according to my fitbit) on those days just to feel like shit the next day from all that work, which would definitely have driven me to eat even more if I wasn’t paying attention to my diet or able to control my impulses (which tbh I think one or the other can be assumed for someone 100+ lbs overweight).
Even the most intensive bike ride or couple hours at the gym can be eaten away in as few as 7-10 oreos or a large fountain drink. Sure, if you just need to trim a pound or two to get to your ideal weight, exercise alone can do that along with many other great benefits if you can commit to it daily, but you simply cannot expect to see results if you are habitually overeating highly caloric/low nutritional value foods and do not change those habits.
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My maintenance intake as a woman was somewhere on the low end between 1700 and 2000 calories. With the meals that I was used to having, this was easily exceeded just by eating more than one meal per day. So I switched to an OMAD diet and hit a plateau around 170lbs while I was dancing. I was happy with that weight so I loosened up, eventually stopped dancing, and now I use the time saved to eat healthier (or at least less processed) food instead of less food in general and maintain at that weight.
As for exercise; I tried biking and while I enjoyed it, it just wasn’t something I was going to keep up with consistently. The hassle alone of getting a bike down from my 3rd floor apartment (and across a major intersection) was enough to end that, plus I can’t do it in all seasons, and the stationary bike just isn’t engaging enough. Again, any progress I make from that is gone with just one bad eating choice, which is going to happen if you change your activity level without any consideration for nutrition. This isn’t a magical frictionless world of simple numbers, the psychology and physiology involved here is not negligible.
I do think the dancing boosted my metabolism a bit, or maybe something changed in my lifestyle like returning to office instead of WFH. I’m more consistently maintaining if not slightly losing at just over 2000 calories now. I really wouldn’t be able to maintain if I didn’t read nutrition labels and limit my snacking though.
edited for clarity
The problem about being active, is that the moment you stop you’ll put the weight right back on. Most people don’t take up going to the gym for decades, it’ll last a few months, maybe a few years. Long term weight management needs to be about food intake.
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I don’t experience this at all. I don’t enjoy working out at all even after years of doing it consistently. I still have to force myself every time.
Same, I work out like I’m taking medicine. It might be my least favorite activity, but I know it’s good for me so I’ve been trying to push through
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You’re correct in that you need to stay active, but I don’t think that’s as unachievable as you make out.
Going to the gym sucks. Exercise for the sake of exercise will get boring unless you’re one of the few who actually enjoys being at the gym.
Most people can find some kind of exercise they actually enjoy. For me it’s cycling. I started when I was 30 and I’ll admit there’s been a few patches where I haven’t been on the bike but it’s built up to something I truly enjoy 12 years later. This month I’m on track for more than an hour on the bike every day with no gaps.