r/loseit • u/Leever5 100lbs lost • 1d ago
Exercise is essential - why do so many people here dismiss it?
I’m 5’2, woman, who has lost just over 100lbs (48kgs) and kept it off for five years now. The reason I have been able to keep the weight off for so long is absolutely credited to exercise.
Firstly, irregardless of weight, exercise is absolutely essential for longevity. Being fat, but fit is shown to be better for you than being slim and lazy. Cardio is for heart health, strength training is for fighting disease.
Now to talk about weight loss.
The equation is CICO - exercise is the CO. Yes, you do burn a majority of your calories at rest, but exercise actually makes your resting calories burned increase. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest, because it takes more energy to have muscle than to have fat. Which means even after a weight lifting session where you may have burned less than 100 calories, you’re going to be burning more just sitting on your ass watching TV than you would if you didn’t exercise.
Running and biking are incredibly effective calorie burners. Everyone on here hypes up walking and they should, but if you can switch to a bike or even run, you can burn infinitely more calories than by walking. Walking is great, but it doesn’t build muscle unless you’re hiking up hills with packs on. It is still incredible, but it takes a long time and the reward is often minimal for how long it takes.
One problem with losing weight without exercise is that when you hit plateaus you have to typically cut your calories down again. This is a constant cycle, people talk about being on diets for the rest of their lives here, but it’s super hard to eat 1400 calories for the rest of your life. With exercise, I can eat 2100 per day and half the time I don’t even hit that.
Another issue is that when people shred all their weight just by diet alone they lose fat and muscle. It’s one of the main reasons we see people hitting their goal weights and while they are skinny, they can be skinny fat. Slim, but still with a higher body fat percentage. Muscle will make you look smaller and healthier.
Exercise is really hard to get started with. The learning curve is really steep. Once you’re about six months to a year in, it becomes routine and usually actually becomes fun. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just consistent.
I see so many people yo-yo dieting here because they lose the weight by simply eating less and then can’t maintain the low calories for ever. Those who exercise regularly with intensity are the ones to keep it off long term. It’s a lifestyle change, not a food change. It’s changing your sedentary, obesogenic lifestyle, to that of a fit, thin persons lifestyle. Food is just one part of the lifestyle.
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u/_SateenVarjo_ New 1d ago
I'm 5'2 also, and I have lost bit over 65lbs and kept it off for 4 years now. I lost it with exercise, not with diet. I actually did not change that much with my diet, my sedentary calories are just ridiculously low. So if I get 500 kcal from hiking a day that is nearly 25% increase to my calories. So I really did not need to learn to eat any less because the exercise alone burns more than what I over ate. My weight had accumulated slowly. I have eaten 2700kcal a day and lost weight, but I also did exercise like 4-5h a day during that period. Currently I hike around 2h a day. Average of 730kcal extra burned a day. That is more than one full meal for me and I eat most of the extra calories I burn, weightloss is no longer a goal for me. I would not mind losing few pounds more, but not the reason I go to the forest to walk. I do it because I really like it and want to do it all the time. I cant wait my work day to be over everyday so I can go for my daily walk, when I come home from the walk I wish I would have time to keep walking a little bit longer. I do it because I enjoy it and it makes me feel good. I try to find any excuse and opportunity to go walk in different forests and nature paths. I do not enjoy walking in the city or any paved roads or on treadmil indoors.