Author Topic: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone  (Read 7933 times)

Chris Pascale

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Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« on: September 04, 2020, 09:56:25 PM »
I started the year off at 206 lbs or so, and my goal for the year is to get and stay under 200 with no change to my diet.

Using the logic that it would be impossible not to lose weight if I jogged 5 miles about every day, that's what I did. It's mostly changed my shape, as proven by the multiple times my daughter asked me if I remember when my stomach stuck out like this

I first recorded a morning weight of 199.9 in May. Then again in August, and then this morning.

While the actual loss is nominal, I think it's going to stick as I set a new trajectory for 2021's fitness list.

bbqbonelesswing

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2020, 07:19:20 AM »
Congrats on making it below 200!

Why would you not make changes to your diet?

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2020, 03:45:47 PM »
Congrats on making it below 200!

Why would you not make changes to your diet?

I've tried dieting, including fad diets, but just really like the way I eat. I eat a lot of vegetables and meat, but also a lot of sugar.

One change I did make a couple years back was eliminating sugar from my coffee (40 packs a week), and went from 213 to 207lbs. An interesting thing there was that I now really hate the taste of coffee with sugar in it.

PaulMaxime

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2020, 06:25:29 PM »
You have to have a caloric deficit to lose weight no matter what diet you choose though I firmly believe that low carb makes it easier. But that doesn't matter really it ends up being about that deficit.

The problem with trying to exercise it off is that exercise will increase your appetite. Which will make you eat more. You really can not out exercise a bad diet.

Consider estimating your calorie burn and tracking how much you eat. Just being aware might be enough.

MilesTeg

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2020, 11:40:48 PM »
Just remember, looking healthy and being healthy are two separate things.  You can be fit and look good and still have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and an A1C (a measure of insulin resistance) that's increasing.

Diet affects more than your weight, and even with a good diet and exercise you can suffer from poor health.

« Last Edit: September 05, 2020, 11:45:44 PM by MilesTeg »

2Cent

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2020, 03:19:15 AM »
One adjustment you could make is not what, but when you eat. At night your metabolism is slower, so you gain more weight from what you eat in the evening. If you move some part of the dinner to lunch it may help you.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2020, 12:12:20 PM »
Thanks so much for the replies. I agree with all of you.

I've been to several doctors this year and have had lots of lab work done [long story that led to all of that], and the news was good. There was a scare at the endocrinologist when my prolactin levels were extraordinarily high, but a follow up found that I was normal (prolactin-wise, at least :-) ), and next year I'll go back for a follow-up.

I once did the Whole 30 (30 days of eating only fruits, veggies and meat) and lost 14 lbs that I then gained back 90 days later. If that diet works for you, you'll be very skinny, and will have a lot of energy. I got really bored with it after 10 days, and throughout the month was eating all the time, and a lot. I probably spent 2x my normal grocery budget just trying to keep a good variety.

This year, from January to March I did a modified version of it by having no candy or sugary foods for 16 days (completely arbitrary number) and then ate like an idiot the 17th day, and maybe lost a lb. because I was consuming something like 9,000 calories a day in an attempt to not eat M&M's.

I dropped that in exchange for intermittent fasting during April, and saw an immediately 2 lb loss, finding that I could easily go until noon without eating if I stopped at 8PM the night before.

Now I just eat what I want, when I want. Today I had an egg, turkey bacon, grapes and toast at about 11:30AM, then a package of peanut M&M's at 1:00, and will slowly drink an iced coffee until dinner. If I was dieting, I wouldn't have had the toast with breakfast, but would have eaten a 3rd meal (maybe 800 calories) to stop myself from having maybe 200 calories of M&M's.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2020, 12:15:22 PM by Chris Pascale »

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2020, 12:17:16 PM »
One adjustment you could make is not what, but when you eat. At night your metabolism is slower, so you gain more weight from what you eat in the evening. If you move some part of the dinner to lunch it may help you.

In writing this piece I found that lack of sleep will make you fatter because you don't produce insulin as well.

https://oldpodcast.com/teleworking-sleep/

I now consider sleep a crucial part of my life whereas before I typically did not take it very seriously during the week.

Metalcat

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2020, 04:54:45 PM »
I lost over 70lbs without any kind of extreme diet.

What I did was eat in a way that would support a lean weight. My thinking was that it's impossible to sustain excess weight without substantial calories, so eating a *sustainable* diet for a smaller size will eventually result in being much closer to that smaller size.

And it worked, it just took a long time.

The problem with exercise based weight loss is what happens if you get injured or ill? If you don't learn how to eat for the smaller weight you want, then it can be a challenge to pivot when you can't consistently exercise.

You say "diets" don't work for you. Well, highly restrictive diets don't work for me either, but permanently improving my eating habits sure did.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2020, 08:38:30 PM »
I lost over 70lbs without any kind of extreme diet.

What I did was eat in a way that would support a lean weight. My thinking was that it's impossible to sustain excess weight without substantial calories, so eating a *sustainable* diet for a smaller size will eventually result in being much closer to that smaller size.

And it worked, it just took a long time.

The problem with exercise based weight loss is what happens if you get injured or ill? If you don't learn how to eat for the smaller weight you want, then it can be a challenge to pivot when you can't consistently exercise.

You say "diets" don't work for you. Well, highly restrictive diets don't work for me either, but permanently improving my eating habits sure did.

That's really great, and I agree about the exercise. After all, the "what if" is really a WHEN, not IF scenario. I'm just very lucky to still have the ability to put 5-7 miles on my legs nearly every day.

A diet would definitely work for me, as proven by taking sugar out of my coffee (40 packets a week) in 2018, but for the moment I find that it's just a lot easier to exercise more.

Metalcat

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2020, 04:44:14 AM »
I lost over 70lbs without any kind of extreme diet.

What I did was eat in a way that would support a lean weight. My thinking was that it's impossible to sustain excess weight without substantial calories, so eating a *sustainable* diet for a smaller size will eventually result in being much closer to that smaller size.

And it worked, it just took a long time.

The problem with exercise based weight loss is what happens if you get injured or ill? If you don't learn how to eat for the smaller weight you want, then it can be a challenge to pivot when you can't consistently exercise.

You say "diets" don't work for you. Well, highly restrictive diets don't work for me either, but permanently improving my eating habits sure did.

That's really great, and I agree about the exercise. After all, the "what if" is really a WHEN, not IF scenario. I'm just very lucky to still have the ability to put 5-7 miles on my legs nearly every day.

A diet would definitely work for me, as proven by taking sugar out of my coffee (40 packets a week) in 2018, but for the moment I find that it's just a lot easier to exercise more.

Exactly, you made an incremental, permanent lifestyle change.

You can just keep doing that. Look at little rating habits that you can change and see what is easy for you.

For years, I made it a habit of keeping fresh chopped veggies in water in the fridge. If I was snacky, I could have whatever I wanted, but I had to first eat a small bowl of raw veggies.

Most times, the crunchy veggies were enough to satisfy me, but sometimes I would still want ice cream or cheese and crackers. However, I would be so full of roughage that I wouldn't want to eat a ton of snacky food. Plus, extra veggies, which is always good.

Figure out what works for you. Those little changes amount to a lot over time. I never had more than a deficit of a 100-300 calories in a given day. That's like nothing. Yet, over time, it was enough to get me to a very lean weight and stay there.

Totally overhauling your eating isn't really necessary, just alter small, doable things until they're permanent and then look for the next one to tinker with.

I don't really believe in a "hunker down and lose a bunch and then try to figure out how to maintain" kind of approach. That leads to yo-yo results. Start with maintenance in mind so that you never have to think about it ever again.

I just don't think about my eating. I haven't in years. It takes me no discipline to maintain my weight loss.

dandypandys

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2020, 05:35:54 AM »
I like that idea of the veggy bowl. I do something similar as I buy bags of baby carrots and snap peas, and often eat those when I could easily eat chips instead, which I do later, but like you maybe not as much because I had some veg first.

jeninco

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2020, 03:26:19 PM »
Hopping on to the vegetable bandwagon, if you look up the recommended servings of fruit and veg and try to consume that every day, I can almost guarantee that will also result in weight loss -- and probably better overall health. Don't aim to avoid other stuff (except maybe the coffee sugar), but try to get the RDA for fruits and veggies each day if only because you will be displacing other stuff. You'll want to look up serving sizes, because (if I recall correctly) and entire apple is one serving, as is 1/4 cup or so of cooked greens. (which you could cook with garlic and hot pepper flakes, and spread on toast with melted cheese on top, for instance. Or stuff into an omelette.)

(For the record, I generally keep a large container of chopped salad in the fridge and mostly eat that for lunch, along with some fruit and/or veg for breakfast. If I had to try to do it on nothing but baby carrots I'd get pretty crabby!)

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2020, 06:03:24 PM »
I assume that someone has told you at some point that weight loss is only ever 20% exercise and 80% diet. As they say, you cannot out-run a bad diet.

However, any change is good, and if it's working for you right now, that's fantastic. When it stops working, you need to make some tiny shifts in your eating. You already know diets don't work. You say you eat a lot of sugar. Whatever your main source of sugar is, start looking to replace it with something equally satisfying. For example, if you drink a lot of soda, buy diet soda. If you eat a lot of chocolate, get your chocolate hit with dark chocolate instead of milk, or homemade chocolate cake instead of bought. It's not about depriving yourself. It's about getting your fix in a slightly different, slightly less calorific way. Slowly, slowly your tastes will change, but until they do, you will need to get your sweet tooth satisfied.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2020, 05:57:27 AM »
I assume that someone has told you at some point that weight loss is only ever 20% exercise and 80% diet. As they say, you cannot out-run a bad diet.

However, any change is good, and if it's working for you right now, that's fantastic. When it stops working, you need to make some tiny shifts in your eating. You already know diets don't work. You say you eat a lot of sugar. Whatever your main source of sugar is, start looking to replace it with something equally satisfying. For example, if you drink a lot of soda, buy diet soda. If you eat a lot of chocolate, get your chocolate hit with dark chocolate instead of milk, or homemade chocolate cake instead of bought. It's not about depriving yourself. It's about getting your fix in a slightly different, slightly less calorific way. Slowly, slowly your tastes will change, but until they do, you will need to get your sweet tooth satisfied.

I like the junk food examples. At some point, my knees/back/hips/neck won't be so good to me after an hour of jogging.

My vegetable intake has gone up a lot over the years. If I'm going on a long car ride, I'll get a bag of romaine lettuce, but not only romaine lettuce.

One thing that makes me not replace milk chocolate with dark is the caffeine, which I now limit to one cup of coffee on workdays, plus decaf cups sometimes.

Just Joe

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2020, 07:41:39 AM »
Baby steps are what is working for me. Coffee black did not taste good at all until I started cutting sugar. Then sweet things were too sweet and slightly sweet things were just right as my body adjusted to less sugar. Now coffee black is more reasonable tasting and it takes very little sugar to taste sweet.

While people here might be very dedicated to their changes, other people might not be able to go cold turkey on dietary changes. Like me. So baby steps.

And it is working.

nirodha

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2020, 08:26:33 AM »
I too like sugar, but don't want it to kill me. Gary Taubes ruined some of my fun. A few things I learned:

1. Eat the sugar before your exercise. It will improve performance and prevent the insulin spike that makes sugar "bad". Immediately after is not quite as good, but also helps.

2. Lift and gain a little muscle. It acts as a repository to absorb extra sugar, also helping to mitigate the impact.

3. Flush the hidden sugar out of your diet (check bread, granola, yogurt, condiments, etc.). That reduces your daily dosage, making more space for the good stuff (chocolate and iced coffee).

4. A 10 minute walk after eating can blunt the insulin spike that tends to follow sugar consumption.


joe189man

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2020, 08:56:07 AM »
I assume that someone has told you at some point that weight loss is only ever 20% exercise and 80% diet. As they say, you cannot out-run a bad diet.

i can't stress the above more, exercise is good for you, cardiovascular-ly and weight training will increase lean muscle mass (allowing you to increase your basal metabolic rate, or general calorie burn), but a diet appropriate for you is the biggest piece, along with sleep, meditation, etc.

Exercise can help lose weight but often can result in a recomposition of the body as your i think daughter pointed out, fat loss is traded for gains in lean muscle mass.

also the type of running can have a huge affect on your outcomes, are you doing steady state/pace runs for distance or variable pace? Speed work? Hills? High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT can have greater impacts to your vo2 max and increases in lean muscle  mass, but also require more warm-up /stretching and good form.

the mirror, and how clothes fit are the best barometers for me to see how i am doing. are my pants tight, what did i eat the last few weeks that i normally don't? are shirts getting loose? time for more weight training.

good luck in your journey, glad you are getting blood work to check things out as you go. you can also explore intermittent fasting or cheat days/meals to focus when you have the "bad" stuff to limit its harmful effects (work out harder after cheat meals), .

interesting how you said your grocery bill jumped with the Whole 30, i have a theory that if we did testing on the mustachian population that we would find that the less folks spend on groceries the less healthy they are and the larger the waistlines and lower the lean muscle mass. obviously not everyone, but in a large sample size, that would be my hypothesis

Just Joe

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #18 on: October 19, 2020, 10:20:00 AM »
I too like sugar, but don't want it to kill me. Gary Taubes ruined some of my fun. A few things I learned:

1. Eat the sugar before your exercise. It will improve performance and prevent the insulin spike that makes sugar "bad". Immediately after is not quite as good, but also helps.

2. Lift and gain a little muscle. It acts as a repository to absorb extra sugar, also helping to mitigate the impact.

3. Flush the hidden sugar out of your diet (check bread, granola, yogurt, condiments, etc.). That reduces your daily dosage, making more space for the good stuff (chocolate and iced coffee).

4. A 10 minute walk after eating can blunt the insulin spike that tends to follow sugar consumption.

Yeah that insulin spike is a bigger deal the older I get. Good info in this thread.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2020, 10:33:59 AM by Just Joe »

kpd905

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2020, 09:03:31 AM »
I was consuming something like 9,000 calories a day in an attempt to not eat M&M's.

I'd like to see a typical day's worth of food listed here, I can't imagine eating 9,000 calories.

Samuel

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #20 on: October 20, 2020, 10:13:09 AM »
One thing that makes me not replace milk chocolate with dark is the caffeine, which I now limit to one cup of coffee on workdays, plus decaf cups sometimes.

Dark chocolate does have more caffeine than milk chocolate but you also tend to eat a lot less of it. It's much more satiating for some reason.

I don't particularly like milk chocolate (lactose intolerance trained that out of me) but I can absolutely destroy large quantities of sugary candies (jelly beans, Mike and Ike's, etc) so I don't let them in my house. The only sweets I buy are bars of good 85% dark chocolate (anything above 72% is usually milk free) and I rarely need more than a square inch's worth to completely satisfy a craving for a sweet treat.

I'm also fairly sensitive to caffeine (2 cups of green tea a day, max) but I've never noticed the caffeine in dark chocolate.

socaso

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #21 on: October 21, 2020, 09:40:53 AM »
I wouldn't say that I'm on a diet by any stretch of the imagination but I often meal plan by using cookbooks that are diet friendly. We really like to eat a wide variety of foods and lots of cookbooks really go for it with the extra sugar, butter, oils and other not so healthy ingredients. Also a lot of regular cookbooks have pretty vague directions about what a serving size is "serves 4" or whatever. I like to know exactly what the serving should be and about what calories to expect. My favorite books don't have a bunch of low fat or no fat ingredients or other weird processed things, just real food in reasonable portions. I have several cookbooks from Cooking Light and Ellie Krieger. I also really like The Dude Diet. Her recipes are great! We love her baked chicken wings and the southwestern sweet potato salad. 

I'm going to steal the veggie bowl idea! Love that. Two things I do to help with hunger and boredom are lemon or lime wedges for my glass of water and always having a jug of iced herbal tea in the fridge. I try lots of different flavors to mix it up. We also use a Soda Stream so we have sparkling water in lots of flavors.

Moustachienne

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #22 on: October 21, 2020, 11:24:22 AM »
Congratulations on the exercise lifestyle change!  On the diet question I'm with Malcat.  4 years ago I had a pre-diabetes warning and re-evaluated my physical activity and eating habits, neither of which were terrible but my weight and blood sugar levels were creeping up.

I decided I was completely uninterested in doing anything unsustainable, unpleasant or painful on either front but would ease towards living the life I wanted to live.  Once I was at that point, whatever I weighed would be my "ideal" weight and I bet that my sugar levels would be good too.  And yep, I was right.  By sneaking up on myself and NEVER suffering, I lost about 1-2 pounds a month at most for a 20 lb weight loss and at the one year checkup, my sugar levels were normal.  I have maintained good levels for over 4 years without any angst.  I did gain a COVID 6lbs in the spring (Oreo stress eating will do that) but reversed the upward trend by getting back to my good habits.  Which are...

I walk a minimum of 30 minutes most days, adding in a bit of yoga, stretching, and lane swimming each week.  I eat 3 delicious and filling meals per day based pretty much on how my Mom cooked (and the Eat Well Canada Food Guide), that is mostly whole foods, occasional sweets, and very rare between meal snacking.  Pretty much the No S Diet, which I discovered later.  I watch portion sizes but don't count calories, fat or anything else.  I don't count steps when I walk either, aiming just to be moving 30 minutes or more. I refuse to micro quantify my life! Although it's really hard not to count lengths when swimming. :)

Keep on with what you are doing and as Malcat and others have said, consider making small dietary changes along the way.  The No S Diet mantra is No Snacks, Sweets, or Seconds except Sometimes on Days beginning with S. http://www.nosdiet.com/  I'd add NO SUFFERING.  Good luck!



clairebonk

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #23 on: October 22, 2020, 09:41:46 AM »
At some point, my knees/back/hips/neck won't be so good to me after an hour of jogging.

I've ran my whole life and been able to maintain the same weight. Running is amazing. If my body gives out, I'm in trouble because running is also what I use to stay mentally sane.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #24 on: November 10, 2020, 06:24:29 PM »
I was consuming something like 9,000 calories a day in an attempt to not eat M&M's.

I'd like to see a typical day's worth of food listed here, I can't imagine eating 9,000 calories.

Doing a little Googling, i see that my estimate of 100 calories per ounce of beef and 80 for salmon was wrong. I based that from the book Eat to Live.

I might have started the day off with a pound of beef or salmon, hard boiled egg whites and spinach.

Leaving for work, I'd bring 2 fruits and 2 veggies with me.

Lunch would be an entire chicken, and I kept walnuts, brazil nuts, and peanuts at my desk.

If dinner was ready when i got home I'd eat it; if not, I'd throw some meat into the frying pan with a little oil, salt and pepper.

Before going to bed I might eat about half of what I'd eat for breakfast.

The main thing I really remember is that my day revolved around always eating. It was a very boring existence because if I did talk to my wife and kids when I got home it was while I flipping over a piece of lamb while taking the rind off an orange and dropping ice into a glass of peppermint tea.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2020, 06:29:40 PM by Chris Pascale »

jeninco

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #25 on: November 17, 2020, 01:59:37 PM »
Yuck -- I can see why that style of eating didn't/doesn't appeal! Also, something seems to be missing (OK, several entire categories seem to be missing -- I'm not a giant fan of carbs, but eating none didn't seem to work for you...)

Hopping on the bandwagon of making smaller, do-able changes, why don't you and your family look for a couple of healthy-ish recipes that seem like they'd be appealing, and try making one or two of them per week? Especially now, I'm a real fan of either main-dish salads or one-pot meals, and I feed teenagers, so things need to be filling.

jim555

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #26 on: November 17, 2020, 03:59:09 PM »
The only way is calorie counting.  I lost 34 pounds by eating a 1500 calories diet of chicken and vegetables.  Exercise just isn't enough, in fact it makes you hungry.

beekayworld

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #27 on: November 17, 2020, 04:16:29 PM »

The main thing I really remember is that my day revolved around always eating. It was a very boring existence because if I did talk to my wife and kids when I got home it was while I flipping over a piece of lamb while taking the rind off an orange and dropping ice into a glass of peppermint tea.

This was how I was on Atkins/low carb.  I realized a few years ago that the problem was that I was also doing low fat (thinking that cutting out both carbs and fat would help me lose even more weight). So that left me consuming way too much protein and I got lower back aches from kidneys complaining.

A few years ago I discovered intermittent fasting. This is fasting for 17 hours. The scientist who worked on this was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2016!  (Autophagy).

Even eating the same number of calories results in weight loss. I now eat from noon to 7 p.m. and fast the 17 hours from after dinner until noon the next day.

The second big change that made weight loss easy was going ketogenic. This is HIGH FAT, moderate protein and ultra low carb.  Fat and fiber give a feeling of fullness.  So having a big salad of leafy greens (arrugula, romaine, kale, iceberg, whatever) slathered in olive oil/walnut oil/avocado oil and adding olives, walnuts, or avocados is so filling! A bit of cold chicken dipped in mayonaise or a hamburger patty with cheddar cheese wrapped in a lettuce leaf or two are all ketogenic and satisfying.

I now up in intake of green leafy vegetables and fats if I get hungry.  A little protein and dairy on the side rounds out my diet and has eliminated carb cravings.

The diet you described is high protein and not enough fat. The hard boiled eggs you described could be chopped up with mayo and a dash of mustard. The Brazil nuts and walnuts are fine, but the peanuts aren't classified as nuts on keto as they are legumes.  "2 fruits and 2 veggies" is half right. The veggies are likely ok, but fruits are high in carbs.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #28 on: December 02, 2020, 05:28:34 PM »

The main thing I really remember is that my day revolved around always eating. It was a very boring existence because if I did talk to my wife and kids when I got home it was while I flipping over a piece of lamb while taking the rind off an orange and dropping ice into a glass of peppermint tea.

This was how I was on Atkins/low carb.  I realized a few years ago that the problem was that I was also doing low fat (thinking that cutting out both carbs and fat would help me lose even more weight). So that left me consuming way too much protein and I got lower back aches from kidneys complaining.

A few years ago I discovered intermittent fasting. This is fasting for 17 hours. The scientist who worked on this was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2016!  (Autophagy).

Even eating the same number of calories results in weight loss. I now eat from noon to 7 p.m. and fast the 17 hours from after dinner until noon the next day.

The second big change that made weight loss easy was going ketogenic. This is HIGH FAT, moderate protein and ultra low carb.  Fat and fiber give a feeling of fullness.  So having a big salad of leafy greens (arrugula, romaine, kale, iceberg, whatever) slathered in olive oil/walnut oil/avocado oil and adding olives, walnuts, or avocados is so filling! A bit of cold chicken dipped in mayonaise or a hamburger patty with cheddar cheese wrapped in a lettuce leaf or two are all ketogenic and satisfying.

I now up in intake of green leafy vegetables and fats if I get hungry.  A little protein and dairy on the side rounds out my diet and has eliminated carb cravings.

The diet you described is high protein and not enough fat. The hard boiled eggs you described could be chopped up with mayo and a dash of mustard. The Brazil nuts and walnuts are fine, but the peanuts aren't classified as nuts on keto as they are legumes.  "2 fruits and 2 veggies" is half right. The veggies are likely ok, but fruits are high in carbs.

The series "Unwell" on Netflix has a good episode on Fasting. You might like some of the stuff they're doing between 5 day fasts, intermittent, etc.

The Guru

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #29 on: December 10, 2020, 07:56:55 AM »
I assume that someone has told you at some point that weight loss is only ever 20% exercise and 80% diet. As they say, you cannot out-run a bad diet.

However, any change is good, and if it's working for you right now, that's fantastic. When it stops working, you need to make some tiny shifts in your eating. You already know diets don't work. You say you eat a lot of sugar. Whatever your main source of sugar is, start looking to replace it with something equally satisfying. For example, if you drink a lot of soda, buy diet soda. If you eat a lot of chocolate, get your chocolate hit with dark chocolate instead of milk, or homemade chocolate cake instead of bought. It's not about depriving yourself. It's about getting your fix in a slightly different, slightly less calorific way. Slowly, slowly your tastes will change, but until they do, you will need to get your sweet tooth satisfied.

I like the junk food examples. At some point, my knees/back/hips/neck won't be so good to me after an hour of jogging.

My vegetable intake has gone up a lot over the years. If I'm going on a long car ride, I'll get a bag of romaine lettuce, but not only romaine lettuce.

One thing that makes me not replace milk chocolate with dark is the caffeine, which I now limit to one cup of coffee on workdays, plus decaf cups sometimes.

I'm glad you brought this up. I run too, though only once a week. My aversion to running more was confirmed a few years ago when I got involved w/ a group of folks who meet once a week to do 3 miles or so. there are some accomplished runners in the group; marathoners and even ultramarathoners. By the end of the season I'm always having trouble finding anyone to run with, as the rest are all nursing leg/ foot/ joint problems.

So you may want to start mixing it up. Do SOMETHING daily if you like (personally Ilike a rest day between activities)- just not the same something. Maybe run one day; do some form of resistance training ( whether w/ weights or just body weight) the next; bicycling the next, etc.

And by the way, physical activity doesn't have to be exercising for the sake of exercising. As I've gotten older you can bet that bike commuting or shoveling the driveway counts as that days workout!

Anyway, good luck and kudos on the weight loss.

Cassie

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #30 on: December 10, 2020, 02:43:41 PM »
4 months ago I quit drinking and started to lose weight. A few months ago I started to pay attention and now have lost 23 pounds. I would like to lose 7 more. I am going to let my body find it’s set point.

achvfi

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #31 on: December 10, 2020, 03:09:51 PM »
I echo with many others here. Sustainable weight loss is 95% food and 5% workout. I would not recommend too much running, go for long walks consistently.

Eat healthier
Cut carbs and stop eating added sugar - even "healthier" sugar and carbs are no good for weight loss.
No snacking between meals - Each time you snack/eat you are signaling your body to release hormones to store away fat instead of burning fat.

achvfi

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2020, 03:13:20 PM »
+ 1 for intermittent fasting.

PDXTabs

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #33 on: December 10, 2020, 04:05:15 PM »
You have to have a caloric deficit to lose weight no matter what diet you choose though I firmly believe that low carb makes it easier. But that doesn't matter really it ends up being about that deficit.

The problem with trying to exercise it off is that exercise will increase your appetite. Which will make you eat more. You really can not out exercise a bad diet.

To follow up on this: when your insulin is elevated you are gaining weight, period. Every time you take a bite of sweets and you didn't have room in your muscles or liver to store the sucrose as glycogen your insulin level goes up and your weight loss grinds to a halt. So cutting out carbs/booze/sugar can lead to really surprising gains really quick. If I routinely eat icecream I literally gain 30lbs.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2020, 04:06:49 PM by PDXTabs »

2Cent

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #34 on: December 11, 2020, 07:55:29 PM »
Does anyone else have the Oculus Quest? It is really my main workout now next to long walks and I'm having fun doing it.

To get back to the main topic, I think it actually is possible to lose weight by doing exercise alone. Just look at labour workers who do hard work all day. They can eat a mountain of white rice with oil 3 times a day and still be slim and fit. How feasible this is for someone with an office job is another story of course.

Metalcat

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #35 on: December 12, 2020, 08:27:23 AM »
Does anyone else have the Oculus Quest? It is really my main workout now next to long walks and I'm having fun doing it.

To get back to the main topic, I think it actually is possible to lose weight by doing exercise alone. Just look at labour workers who do hard work all day. They can eat a mountain of white rice with oil 3 times a day and still be slim and fit. How feasible this is for someone with an office job is another story of course.

Of course it's possible to lose weight with activity alone, that's not what people mean when they say you can't out-exercise a bad diet.

What that statement means is that it's virtually impossible to *add* enough exercise to your life to compensate for a significant caloric excess.

A lean laborer isn't trying to exercise off the excess calories they're eating, they're trying to eat enough calories to meet their daily needs. That's a totally different life experience.

Back in a previous life when I was body building, I struggled to get enough calories into me. Then when I gained a bunch of weight during my doctorate, there was no way I could add enough cardio to offset the pizza and beer I was living on.

Someone who is eating to keep up with their bodies needs is someone who knows how to eat to maintain their body weight. That's a skill, some people have it naturally, some people need to learn it.

If someone is eating in a way that is causing them to gain, they need to learn that skill, otherwise it's very easy to out eat any lifestyle.

The even bigger risk, is what if they stop being able to do their level of calorie-mitigating activity? I've seen A LOT of athletes balloon rapidly to obesity when they get injured.

For a lot of them it's a combo of no longer burning thousands of calories a day, but it's also because they lose their ability to regulate their own intake because they're depressed.

Basically, if someone is not eating in a way that maintains their weight, then there's a reason. That reason needs to be understood and managed if they want long term success.

For me, I've never had difficulty managing my weight. I just eat what my body needs. I eat only what makes me feel good and only how much I need. EXCEPT when I was stressed out of my mind in school and working such long hours that I had to skip meals. Stressed, exhausted, and starving after 12-16 hours with no food, and I overate empty calories, just a little bit every night. Just an extra 100-300 calories, which is so easy, but over years it made me obese.

I was working my ass off and on my feet all the time, but unlike when I was body building, I wasn't paying attention to my body. Fueling myself properly wasn't my priority, so I didn't.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2020, 09:50:16 PM by Malcat »

yachi

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #36 on: December 14, 2020, 01:23:17 PM »
Does anyone else have the Oculus Quest? It is really my main workout now next to long walks and I'm having fun doing it.

To get back to the main topic, I think it actually is possible to lose weight by doing exercise alone. Just look at labour workers who do hard work all day. They can eat a mountain of white rice with oil 3 times a day and still be slim and fit. How feasible this is for someone with an office job is another story of course.

I will submit to you this chart of excess exercise required to burn off calories for different foods: https://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/diets/how-long.php

I don't know about you, but I could WAY more easily add these two foods to my daily regimen, than the exercise necessary to burn the calories they provide.
Blueberry muffin Calories: 265 Exercise: Walk for 48 minutes OR Run for 25 minutes
Chips - 1 bag   Calories: 320  Exercise: Walk for 49 minutes

Granted, I don't indulge in a daily blueberry muffin breakfast.  I do sometimes add chips to my lunch.

partgypsy

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #37 on: December 14, 2020, 07:02:47 PM »
I will offer a contrary opinion at least for me exercise makes a bigger difference than diet on my overall health and well being. That's because the times I exercised alot, my appetite changed. I craved protein more, and sweets didn't appeal to me as much. When If I don't exercise I just want palatable (carbs,sweets) things to snack and eat on.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Anyways while I'm not overweight I'm out of shape at this time (too many reasons). Me being active is the biggest thing. I do have to say while I eat too many sweets and not enough veggies, I don't drink soda or put sugar in my beverages, rarely eat fast food/junk food items. Also the last few months I decided not to have more than 1 drink a day, and those are empty calories I don't miss.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2020, 07:13:16 PM by partgypsy »

Metalcat

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #38 on: December 14, 2020, 07:14:04 PM »
I will offer a contrary opinion at least for me exercise makes a bigger difference than diet on my overall health and well being. That's because the times I exercised alot, my appetite changed. I craved protein more, and sweets didn't appeal to me as much. When If I don't exercise I just want palatable (carbs,sweets) things to snack and eat on.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Anyways while I'm not overweight I'm out of shaow for a number of reasons. For me the biggest thing more physical activity (I'm a desk jockey). I do have to say while I eat too many sweets and not enough veggies, I don't drink soda or put sugar in my beverages, rarely eat fast food/junk food items.

When we say that, we're talking about weight loss.

Absolutely no one would argue against the importance of exercise for health and well being. At least, no one who knows anything about health and wellbeing.

Also, yes, exercise triggers hormone cascades that do encourage better eating habits. That's a normal effect.

Some people though are quite compulsive about their unhealthy eating and those hormone signals will not significantly alter behaviour. In those cases, the diet must be addressed directly because no amount of exercise will compensate.

mm1970

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #39 on: December 30, 2020, 10:23:40 AM »
Hopping on to the vegetable bandwagon, if you look up the recommended servings of fruit and veg and try to consume that every day, I can almost guarantee that will also result in weight loss -- and probably better overall health. Don't aim to avoid other stuff (except maybe the coffee sugar), but try to get the RDA for fruits and veggies each day if only because you will be displacing other stuff. You'll want to look up serving sizes, because (if I recall correctly) and entire apple is one serving, as is 1/4 cup or so of cooked greens. (which you could cook with garlic and hot pepper flakes, and spread on toast with melted cheese on top, for instance. Or stuff into an omelette.)

(For the record, I generally keep a large container of chopped salad in the fridge and mostly eat that for lunch, along with some fruit and/or veg for breakfast. If I had to try to do it on nothing but baby carrots I'd get pretty crabby!)
This is one of the things that really works for me.  Years ago, I lost the second baby weight with 21-day fix.  I still have those containers.

As long as I dig them out periodically, I can maintain my weight.  I only dig out the 1-cup containers.  I aim for a cup of fruit 2x a day (for my snacks), and at least 1 cup of vegetables 3x a day (more than a cup if it's leafy salads).

You'd be surprised what can fit into a cup.  I mean, cram that sucker full and it's a pretty big mound.

Otherwise, if I'm not measuring, I'll aim to have 75% of my plate be vegetables at lunch, and 50% at dinner.

sonofsven

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #40 on: January 02, 2021, 09:18:55 AM »
Exercise is great, won't argue with that, but as others have pointed out exercise alone doesn't always allow you to lose weight.
In my experience the best way to track your weight is with a scale.
Stand on it every day.
Adjust food intake (type/amount) as needed.
This works if you exercise or if you sit on your ass.

American GenX

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #41 on: January 02, 2021, 09:44:46 AM »

I lost 42 pounds with exercise (mostly biking 12 to 67 miles per ride) and cutting back on how much I eat.  No gimmicks or fad diets.

vand

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #42 on: January 06, 2021, 02:03:12 AM »
If you are complete sedentary then introducing some level of regular exercise will get you fitter and maybe able to shed a few pounds, but in general exercise alone is a poor way to lose weight because you are doing nothing about your body's propensity for converting food energy to stored fat via its insulin response, and you are stoking your appetite, so it is very easy to overeat

There are even plenty of documented cases where people undertaking marathon training experience weight gain.. google "I gained weight training for a marathon".. because they thought they could outexercise their diet

https://nypost.com/2016/10/03/marathon-training-made-me-fat/
« Last Edit: January 06, 2021, 02:04:49 AM by vand »

Rhinodad

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #43 on: January 06, 2021, 08:00:04 AM »
It seems like there's a leap to a conclusion on alot of these responses that just may not be true. If the OP was eating at maintenance levels before starting exercise, and was decently healthy, then doesn't change his caloric intake, and starts exercising, he will absolutely lose weight without changing his diet. Now, this isn't sustainable, but it will absolutely work for a while. If my maintenance level is 2800kcal per day right now, yet I add in exercise where I burn 250 calories per day without changing my intake, I will lose on average .5# of weight per week roughly, in a non-linear fashion for a while, until my maintenance level drops due in a decrease in body mass.

achvfi

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #44 on: January 06, 2021, 09:15:24 AM »
I didn't leap to my conclusions. It probably took me about 10 years to to reach them. Every body is different and you will have to figure out what works best for you.

Another dimension to keep in mind is metabolism or lack there of. Its possible with high sugar/carb intake to develop metabolic issues, such as insulin resistance progressing into diabetes over long periods of time. Metabolic issues can make losing weight an up hill battle.

I am on my weight loss journey since August. After different trials what worked for me is low carb food, intermittent fasting and consistent long walks. So far I lost 25 pounds. Even now I am loosing a pound or two every week.

Another rant of mine is about incompetent doctors. It seems to me in US family doctors do poor job of recognizing these Metabolism issues before they get too far. As an engineer its mind boggling to me how they can miss prescribing lab work and recognizing the signs. Most of the doctors go about their job by the book and are out dated in their beliefs. So you have to keep looking out for yourself.

jinga nation

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Re: Losing Weight Very Slowly with Exercise Alone
« Reply #45 on: January 06, 2021, 03:24:12 PM »
When I was 24 and just completed grad school, I weighed closed to 180 lbs. I had ballooned from 150 in those 2 years. Graduate research and teaching took it's toll.

Started a full time job, and since I was getting stuck in traffic and hated the commute, I would go running after work daily. After a couple of months, and having barely lost weight, I was venting to a coworker who was a gym devotee. He asked about my diet; I was barely consuming junk food or soda, eating lots of rice, veg, protein, balanced meals. He told me to start lifting weights on alternate days to my runs. So I joined a nearby gym.

At my wedding a year after starting that full-time job, I weighed 154 lbs and had a lot more muscle (and also some fat). At one point I was down to 145 lbs but my wife said I was unhealthy skinny. So she pasta-fed me back to 160 lbs.

In the 15 years of marriage, I've noticed that if I stop lifting weights for 2 weeks or more, the weight piles on. But if I do some warm up cardio of 20-25 mins, followed by ~45 mins of weights (I prefer barbells and body weight exercises), 3x/week, I tend to start shedding and go back down to ~158-160 lbs.
Last year I started cycling longer distances on Sundays and now fluctuate in the 155-158 lb range. I'm 42 now, male, 5' 10". Still don't eat junk or soda. But good beer is my frenemy. I still have ways to go to get back my belly 6-pack.

OP, you can do it. Don't fall for fads; weight loss begins with what you eat; exercise is a bonus and improves your metabolism and alertness.

A good source of encouragement (for me) is getting a free Strava account. A lot of my co-workers are on it; we encourage each other, doesn't matter if it is a 6am 2 mile walk or a 24-hour zwift bike ride for a charity fundraiser (done by my extreme endurance boss).