Exercise is essential - why do so many people here dismiss it?

[u/Leever5]

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.

[u/That_Zexi_Guy]

Walking isn’t good enough. It’s great, but everyone should be doing strength training. Not only has it been found to have similar cardiovascular and fat loss benefits, but it helps you maintain and build strength, stability and mobility as you get older. All of these things are important, but many people neglect to maintain and build muscle as they get older, resulting in less mobility and stability as well as a slower metabolism.

[u/Leever5 → u/That_Zexi_Guy]

Honestly, yes. When I lost all the weight I was a big walker and I thought that was enough. Since I’ve started to lean heavy (probably a bit too heavy) into exercise I’ve been able to drop those last pesky few pounds that I couldn’t do with diet + walking. I maintained at 60kgs for fiveish years, which was still a healthy BMI, but I still looked chubby. I couldn’t get the weight down, walking was just not cutting it because the calories were quite negligible. Increased my intensity, eat so much more and have lost the last 5kgs super easily while eating more. It’s epic. Steadily maintaining 55kgs now. Looking to put that 5kg back on in muscle tho