Comments on: Is the key to weight loss exercise or eating less? http://www.deflabbify.com/is-the-key-to-weight-loss-exercise-or-eating-less/ Imaginary word. Real weight loss. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:58:50 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Max http://www.deflabbify.com/is-the-key-to-weight-loss-exercise-or-eating-less/comment-page-1/#comment-439 Max Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:58:50 +0000 http://www.deflabbify.com/?p=48#comment-439 I read the article, and I believe its conclusions entirely. I know very, very few people who lost weight only by doing more exercise, a number of people who lost it by dieting and a surprisingly high number of people who did not lose weight after changing lifestyles and doing more exercise. In my mind, the key factor here is that exercise does not burn a lot of calories. Let's say a 200 pound person does 30 minutes of exercise does 30 minutes of moderate exercise on a stationary bike. He would burn 318 calories. Had he been sitting and doing some light office work, he would have burned 68 calories. He managed to burn 250 calories more than otherwise. The problem is, a Snickers bar has 271 calories. So there are two ways to reduce your calorie count by 250 calories a day: a 30-minute cycling routine and not eating the Snickers bar (I know there are more, but I am simplifying). Which is easier to do? Which is more realistic in the long run? Cutting back on food is probably more effective than doing more exercise. There is one thing I will criticize in the article, though: "Replacing 10 pounds of fat with muscle only results in an extra 40 calories per day burned." The fine print here is very important: this is only true if one does not move the muscles. Muscle burns a lot more calories than fat when the muscle is at work. And this, I think, is the key to the weight loss in people that exercise: in my experience, people that lose wight tend to be those who increased muscle mass. In your experience, does this sound about right? I read the article, and I believe its conclusions entirely. I know very, very few people who lost weight only by doing more exercise, a number of people who lost it by dieting and a surprisingly high number of people who did not lose weight after changing lifestyles and doing more exercise.

In my mind, the key factor here is that exercise does not burn a lot of calories. Let’s say a 200 pound person does 30 minutes of exercise does 30 minutes of moderate exercise on a stationary bike. He would burn 318 calories. Had he been sitting and doing some light office work, he would have burned 68 calories. He managed to burn 250 calories more than otherwise.

The problem is, a Snickers bar has 271 calories.

So there are two ways to reduce your calorie count by 250 calories a day: a 30-minute cycling routine and not eating the Snickers bar (I know there are more, but I am simplifying). Which is easier to do? Which is more realistic in the long run? Cutting back on food is probably more effective than doing more exercise.

There is one thing I will criticize in the article, though: “Replacing 10 pounds of fat with muscle only results in an extra 40 calories per day burned.”

The fine print here is very important: this is only true if one does not move the muscles. Muscle burns a lot more calories than fat when the muscle is at work. And this, I think, is the key to the weight loss in people that exercise: in my experience, people that lose wight tend to be those who increased muscle mass.

In your experience, does this sound about right?

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