Exercise really is not the best way to lose weight (pounds, cardio)

[wellshii]

Calories in vs calories out. Simple. Balance between both.
Like a cars fuel mileage,step on it,needs more fuel,vice versa .

[otterhere]

In which countries are people the thinnest? The countries where people walk or bike everywhere. Where are they the fattest? Good old America, Land of the car. 'Nuff said about exercise!


As for yoga, I think its current popularity is ridiculously overblown; becoming almost cultish. IMO, it's the latest, trendy, cool thing to do... There are plenty of other ways to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually without a mat, yoga studio, exorbitant fees, and expensive workout wear.

[Sassygirl18]

I would argue that the countries where people are the thinnest are countries where people eat to live, not live to eat (like in America).

[Luckyd609]

Originally Posted by Sassygirl18

I would argue that the countries where people are the thinnest are countries where people eat to live, not live to eat (like in America).

France, Spain and Italy are all countries that food plays a very important part in their lives.

[otterhere]

Of course, there it's more about quality and not quantity; no supersizing or Golden Corral feeding at the troughs!

[Luckyd609]

Originally Posted by otterhere

Of course, there it's more about quality and not quantity; no supersizing or Golden Corral feeding at the troughs!

The average American has terrible taste buds. They have beaten them up by a steady diet of deep fryer fat and sodium. Not to mention sugar and preservatives.

[southernnaturelover]

I have a Bowflex Max Trainer, and after doing the Max 14 minute workout it shows I've burned 144 calories. It's a shame it can all be undone by drinking one glass of wine.

[stevenJay1]

I agree exercise is very important to maintain a healthy weight but its not the #1 factor to losing weight. I would rather be healthy than to just lose weight just have to find balance with how much you eat, what you eat, and how often you exercise.

[JerZ]

It's pretty obvious and has been touched on here already:

If you were eating approximately maintenance calories for your weight, then started exercising but didn't eat more calories than before, you lost weight because now your expenditure - with the addition of the exercise - became greater than your intake.

However, people who have been on a gaining trend over a period of months or years, who then added exercise but continued to eat on that upward trend level of calories, might, depending upon the amount of exercise AND the amount of (over)eating, either just stabilize at maintenance, or might lose a little bit, or might even continue to gain, but more slowly than before.

It's not uncommon for people who begin working out to start eating more due to increased hunger from the new energy output, or due to some vague belief that because they're working out more, they should be able to eat more and still lose weight. But people who don't track calories may have some pretty skewed ideas of what "a little more" food is. For some, that's a salad out at a restaurant, with several tablespoons of dressing, chicken, and croutons, and might be 800 calories...or even more than that.

Can you, if you're not a metabolic outlier, cram food in all day, then treadmill it all off to fashion model weight at 45 minutes of working out a day? Or even an hour...or two? Probably not. This is really so simple.

[gypsychic]

I think a lot of people REALLY underestimate how little one needs to eat to lose or maintain a normal healthy weight. In recent times many have gotten used to eating huge portions, two to three times what people used to eat in decades past. No amount of exercise can work off those calories unless you are a lumberjack. I managed to lose 50 lbs over the last several years; I lost it slowly, and kept it off. I pretty much quit almost all sugar, limit my processed snack foods greatly, usually just have a salad or piece of fruit and fish for lunch, etc. AND I exercise like crazy EVERY DAY. I am now in my 60s and this is what it takes. It really requires constant attention, but it is worth it!