Which is Best For Fat Loss: Diet or Exercise?

The thing is, most people would rather restrict calories a little and work out a little and lose weight instead of just cutting lots of calories. I'm also skeptical that these people had the same body composition, regardless of whether they worked out or not. You can't tell me that most fitness models look the way they do because they diet...exercise plays a pretty big role in defining your muscles.

I'm also not really sure I believe his "highly trained people are more efficient and burn fewer calories at rest" BS. I'm a highly trained athlete and I burn quite a few calories at rest because I have a lot of muscle mass and not a lot of fat. Maybe he should have done another study on people that increased their exercise by 25% and didn't cut any calories. I'm interested in seeing what those people would look like.

I'd also like to see the results for people who kept their diet the same and increased exercise a lot. That is what I have been doing and it is working very well for me.

I've found it's usually best to lose weight through diet alone and just use the benefits of exercise as a bonus.

For Melsky, I hope your plan continues to work for you. But usually, your body becomes more efficient at exercising over time and you begin to burn fewer calories for the same amount of work. So you can increase your exercise, but there's a point at which it's just too much.

So if you only have a few pounds to lose, exercise alone should work. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it may not. I'd be interested to hear your final results.

Personally, I think it's best to lose weight through diet alone--just don't make it too extreme.

If you don't exercise you lose muscle and not fat. Why didn't they test the benefits of a 25% cut in calories PLUS 12.5% increase in exercise.

Much as I love exercise the sad fact is that very overweight people lose more of their weight from cutting calories than from exercising. It takes a lot more time to burn off a donut than it does to eat it...

35 people isn't exactly a huge study!

I've gone from size 20 to size 16 in the last year without counting calories and eating pretty much whatever I want but not overeating or pigging out. I stop when I get full.

Mostly I walk for over an hour a day 4 to 6 times a week. I started going to the gym last August, where I take a pilates class once a week and do cardio and use the weight machines from 1 to 3 times a week. I vary the cardio and weights I use every time so my body doesn't get used to a routine. But I don't think that I will stop losing weight because my body gets used to exercise. Muscle burns more fat than fat does.

For the first few months I was at the gym I didn't lose any actual pounds at all, but I did start to look a lot better in terms of my arms, legs and abs getting much more toned looking. My posture improved, and it became much easier to keep my stomach in. People started really noticing and completmenting me. My husband was especially happy and he started going to a gym too. He's gone from 44 waist to 40 since last fall, and he's close to 38.

I'm not losing weight quickly , but that is not my goal. I enjoying myself and steadily losing fat, gaining muscle and getting stronger every day. That's my goal.

Besides looking better, I have no problem squatting down to look at the books on the bottom shelf of the library or climbing the stairs to the top of a 5 story building without breathing hard. It's a pleasure to be active.

Yeah, it takes much longer to burn off a donut than it does to eat one. This would be an issue if I was spending an hour a day eating donuts and five minutes exercising. However, that's not the way it is. I eat anything I want but because I am allowed to eat whatever I want I don't freak out and go on binges. I make sure to get enough vegetables and fiber but I make sure to balance them out with some key lime pie.

It's been my personal experience that increasing my muscle mass and exercising more has increased my metabolism. I believe that it's very possible that people who go on low calorie diets without exercise are lowering their metabolism. It sure isn't a risk I would be willing to take.

Yeah, I have read lots of stuff about how you can't possibly lose weight without feeling hungry or counting calories or keeping a food journal or whatever. I think people are really different in how they gain and lose weight. If cutting calories and all that works for you, great. But I have found what works for me and it's long term slow weight loss caused by exercise.

I agree with Melsky and Spectra. Yes, your body does become more efficiently so walking for 30m at the same pace will burn fewer calories, but building muscle burns more calories even while at rest. It seems the hypothesis here is just cardio exercise.

I have gone from a size 22 to a size 16 beginning December 1st and now it's January 29, 2007. Pounds lost = 22

50 lbs to go. I reduced calories and the types of food I eat (no fast food, no sweets which was easy) and recently reduced the fruit intake which now broke a plateau and I am losing again. (I think I was eating too much fruit)

I walk 1 mile a day, 1/2 of that mile is up a steep hill. I work out on a stationary ski machine a few minutes each hour for 5 hrs.

The difference this time compared to many years ago dieting with no exercise is that when I reached my goal of 110 lbs back then, I was not "tone". I was soft. And now, with all the exercise, I can see definition in muscles, I feel more tone at this higher weight, then 50 lbs lighter. i will continue the exercise as I can tell how much more fit I am.

The abstract doesn't specify what type of exercise the participants were doing. I would suspect that the conclusions would be true for aerobic exercise but not necessarily for lifting weights. It would be interesting to know more about how they were exercising. A lot of people in the fitness industry claim that steady-state aerobics in which you're barely breaking a sweat does little to help you lose weight. That steady state aerobics actually does what this study claims and makes your body more efficient and burn less calories during exercise. Eventually you can end up holding on to more fat to fuel long bouts of aerobics.

It seems like the latest trends in exercise for fat loss center around heavy weight lifting and HIIT (high intensity interval training) to keep your body guessing and responding to new stimulus rather than adapting to one type of exercise and become very efficient at that one thing.

They self-selected either treadmill, stationary cycle, or stairmaster to exercise for this study.

I think a combination of diet and exercise is the best. I used to think just dieting was fine and when I look back at the pictures from that time, I wasn't as small as I should have been, and I looked kind of flabby. Now I exercise and watch what I eat and I have considerably less body fat.

I'm with Spectra on this post as to calorie burn in highly trained athletes versus not. I also don't buy the concept of efficiency and low calerie burn with repetetive exercise. Show me someone who does a high intensity activity long enough to be really good and efficient at it and you'll see a fit individual!

Jim, thank you for your continued excellent work on diet-blog.com

This story is certainly making it's rounds around the internet today, isn't it? I've just posted my complete review of this topic at:

http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2007/01/new_study_says_exercise_doesnt.php

Best regards,

Tom venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
http://www.burnthefat.com

"There is a concept that if you exercise, you are going to lose less of your muscle," he said. But his team found no evidence this is true."

Umm, there is a concept like that? It is not if you exercise; rather, ‘how long you exercise’, ‘the type of exercises you do’ and ‘is your diet adequate to support muscle building?’

I question the validity of this study... it contradicts earlier studies, and it's not exactly large and thorough.

I think it's getting so much attention because the New Year's Gym Resolution'ers are wearing out and looking for some excuses.

Decreasing calories I believe is not the best method but eating at the right times and exercising is the besy way to lose weight.

i have a different problem i eat more but now that i am aware of my food habits... i maintaining a dite but i smoke so if i reduce eating food what will happen to my stomach is there a possiblity of getting an ulcer...

Debbie said:
I've found it's usually best to lose weight through diet alone and just use the benefits of exercise as a bonus.[...]

i am 25yrs,80kg, 5.6' i came to know i shouldn't be more than 65kgs someone suggest me how to lose weight

Max,
I love bodybuilding because lifting weights is so much fun. My heart rate stays up really high, above 85% of maximum for the entire hour (sometimes 100%), and I continue to burn up everything I eat for at least a full day after lifting weights. I love the cycle of lifting and eating more, then cutting back a little on carbs, then ramping up carbs again for the next workout. I only workout twice a week. Lifting weights gives you such great flexibility, your body will feel great and you will love your looks. I just warm up on the elliptical with a couple of really fast bursts to get my heart rate up, then I do three sets of reps, one 12, one 10, and one 8 reps. I do about 10 exercise machines. I cool down on a bike, but my heart rate is still over 80% by then. Get to the gym today! The YMCA is great, or anywhere!

By reading the comments it seems unanimous -- the results of this study are ridiculous. We KNOW that to lose weight and keep it off requires a healthy diet and exercise.

Andrew

my name is toni and i wear a size that is to big 4 all of you and i weight to much and i hate the way i look!!!!

I NEED HEPL LOOSEING THIS FAT!

Frankly I think the findings are hard to accept.

I have been exercising for a number of years, I have tried many different forms for example aerobics, swimming, weight training. I am slim built but I love food. My basic knowledge of my body is that while my metabolic rate seems to be high, if I am not active with my eating habits I have the ability to pack on several pounds in a short time.

Most of my trainers have advised, and I have been very successful using these techniques and getting them to work within six weeks.

Increase your metabolism via exercise or any other physical activities.

Lower your carbohydrate intake…. It is obvious that if your output (exercise) exceeds your input (food) then you will be losing weight.

Rest…get your eight hours of sleep

Eat…especially breakfast…this will jump-start your metabolic activity.

And never…never…. starve your body this only slows down your metabolic rate. When hungry snack on something healthy.

Fact is your muscle is the fat burning engine of your body so lowering your calorie intake may without exercise actually cause a loss of muscle mass, which in the long term might result in weight gain if the low calorie diet is not maintained.

“Toni”

I lost a lot of weight swimming, and I enjoy it.

hi
for me dieting is better than exercise.i worked very hard for one month and was not dieting but was eating sensibly and healthy the result was that i was unable to lose weight.then i start dieting and with very moderate exercise like walking for 40 minutes daily i lost a lot of weight.always dieting along with very little help from exercise works for me always.

There are many ways to lose weight, it's just a matter of what you decide is best for you. If you want increase your metabolism, lose weight, get healthy, get fit or whatever your goal is, you need to understand the body and it's functions. Not just the body in general but yours. The best way of deciding whats right and wrong when it comes to information is simple, follow your heart, follow your instinct, decide for yourself and trail and error. Whatever your goal is when it comes to health, weight loss etc. is that it's your decision and only your decision on how you go about it. Knowledge, decisiveness, choice, will, following through and positive can do attitude are what you need to make your health goals come true. Plain and simple it's your choice, your effort...

For quite some time I've wanted to be 120 lbs (I'm 5'3). A few months ago, I was 134 lbs and because I wasn't that fat, it was more difficult for me to shift the pounds.

I found that restricting my calories and exercising at the same time didn't work. After a workout in aerobics or the gym, I'd have a massive appetite where I'd crave fattening, carb-high food like a burger and fries, nothing else would satisfy me and I'd feel guilty thinking that the fatty food undid all my efforts in the gym.

Then I realised that if I stopped exercising, I could always maintain a similar appetite and end up consuming less calories. Thats what I've been doing for 3 months now and I've lost 7 lbs. I don't even count calories now, I just have an easy-going eating habit where I listen to my body's needs, I never overeat and I drink more water (because half the time I'm unsatisfied, its because I haven't drunk any water). I now eat less, but rarely feel hungry (unless its late at night, I never eat late at night).

I'm sure I'll be eating like this for the rest of my life, I never think of food every 20 minutes like I used to, I eat a massive breakfast, a big lunch and a moderate dinner.

Well, anyhow, I think diet is as important, if not more, than exercise. I personally think its better to fix your eating habits first - like, eat healtily and moderately for a few months, and then when you've lost most of your weight and have a few more pounds to lose, then exercise in order to tone up.

I can see that my body's looking slimmer already, at 127 lbs, but it looks wobbly, so I need to exercise as soon as I've lost the next 7 lbs.

Interesting. Cutting calories allows everyone to lose weight if they stick to it, but not everyone can exercise to burn alot of calories. So first step must always be to try to reeducate diet to healthy eating plan with good nutrition and fewer calories . Then try adding exercise if possible.

My first impression was that it could be as they said just because they focussed on calories.

After I thought about it and while I read what an expert on the subject, Tom Venuto, said about the trials on his blog, I was sure that it ultimately would be better to exercise than only to focus on eating less calories.

I believe that the correct mindset is of absolute importance. In order to loose weight, and maintain a healthy body, you need to exercise your muscles.

It is a proven fact that muscle mass burn calories while at rest. So do weights, increase your muscle mass and relax your feeding habits...

End of story.

You will (eventually) lose some muscle mass if you continue to lose weight whether you exercise or not. While you are carrying an abundance of extra fat, however, I believe you can hang on to that muscle and other lean tissue fairly well. At the level of jolly fatness exercise is not a big deal. Do get at least an OK amount of protein though (but its not super critical here yet to get too much while you are fat).

If you get near the end and decide to continue beyond the point where you do start losing muscle mass (bodybuilders will have to do this for instance) then it becomes critical. You have to exercise but not overtrain and you have to get plenty of protein. That is not the time to be vegetarian.

So IMO the main reason you might want to exercise if you are massively overweight is that it provides some appetite control. But if it's not your bag just don't bother.

I, too, question the validity of this study. While it's extremely important to lose excess weight, the value of exercise can't be overstated. Exercise strengthens our heart and lungs and helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Perhaps some people are just too obese to exercise vigorously when beginning a diet, but common sense and previous larger-scale studies show that vigorous exercise is mandatory for good health. I also agree with the poster who said muscle burns more calories than fat. It sure does! Like everything in life, there has to be balance.

The only way these results could be true is if the study had a short duration. Not to mention, when you say calorie intake you need to specify which type of element you are cutting down on? Fat? Protein? Carbohydrates? Simply reducing caloric intake in general sounds like a very broad experiment with too many variables to draw any sort of reasonable conclusion. Were all of the people in the experiment completely inactive before it started or did some actually STOP exercising?

To anyone out their i am interested in ordering this weight lose book but i have spent so much money on so many things that dont work.I would like to know if someone can email me a copy of a diet plan that works im not asking for the whole book i just want to be sure it works because it does not make since everyone is keep on spending making this company rich and we are not losing can someone please email me at tezo300zx@hotmail.com the start up plan to see if its worth the money. Thank you

Assistance please.

Hi I'm Tony, I have recently (over the past month and a half) been following a reduced calorie diet and cardio plus strength training, for the first 4 weeks I have lost about 16 pounds, but last week and the week before I have done at least 30 minutes (but usually 45 minutes) on the elliptical machine keeping my heartrate above 85% Every single day and I do weight training 2-3 times per week, additionally I eat only about 1200-1500 calories daily, but I all of the sudden for the last two weeks lost close to nothing (.4 pounds) or nothing at all, I am 25, 5'7, and 192 pounds can anyone help me understand why this is happening? Thank you.

i am 25yrs,80kg, 5.6' i came to know i shouldn't be more than 65kgs someone suggest me how to lose weight

my name is toni and i wear a size that is to big 4 all of you and i weight to much and i hate the way i look!!!!

Great information. If youn stick to this you WILL lose weight and get fat loss fast. There are many variations of this as you can read above but just dont starve yourself or you will wind up gaining weight.. this is because your body will go into starvation mode..

Persons just do NOT REALIZE FAT LOSS IS ABOUT CORRECT CALORIE OR ENERGY INTAKE to create a CALORIE DEFICIT

Persons need to realize FAT LOSS IS 90 % or more FINDING CORRECT CALORIC INTAKE, NOT exercise.

Persons don't know just how much exercise os OVBERRATED for FAT LOSS.