Moderate exercise does not help in weight loss

[Cairber]

Looks like that "half hour of exercise per day" thing doesn't work after all. And who seriously has the time for a full hour of exercise every single day? Single people maybe, but people raising kids and paying bills?

That is exactly what I thought when reading this.

But it might explain why I can't seem to lose any weight running 25-30 min and doing 10 min medicine ball exercises everyday. But I can't seem to find any more time to do it.

And I just can't see 1200 calories working for me; I eat 1900 now and I'm hungry all the time...

[Adrian Laguna]

Yeah, it can be goddamned variable, alright. I can lose weight with no physical activity whatsoever on a 2,200 calorie a day intake; some people are simply not remotely so lucky. When I do exercise a slight uptick is quite noticeable as the body demands more muscle--it also makes me eat more. Slide back down into inactivity and I'll actually lose weight, but that's because I'm such a light eater on only two meals a day.

That sounds familiar. I spent most of my life eating as much as I wanted and not moving any more than I had to, and yet for most of it my ribs have poked a bit through my skin. Though, I have no idea how many calories "as much as I want" constitutes. Whatever it is, it varies wildly. Some days I'll get by on just snacks, and others I'll scarf down two or three plates in one meal. I'm actually a bit notorious for it (in a bad way), I am incapable of accurately gauging how hungry I am, I just eat until I feel full, so I tend to plan for me being very hungry, which leads to a lot of uneaten food.

[Molyneux]

So far, the single most effective weight-loss thing I've done was join a basic gym class at college. A bit less than an hour of exercise, two days a week; I lost about ten pounds over the course of a semester.

Since then, I've stopped exercising as much (self-motivating is harder than I thought), but I have started keeping a food journal - trying to note down everything I eat before I eat it, and the calorie counts, to keep myself below 2,000 calories per day.

I'll second the folks who pointed out that it's pretty rough to try to jog when you're not in decent shape already - that's why I'm going to go walk a couple of miles in a few minutes.

[Havok]

...a massive burger and helping of fries after a bowl of soup and then gets a slice of cheesecake ala mode at some sit-down gourmet burger place, and of course washes it down with two or three refills of a coke, and they've probably just consumed 4,000 -- 4,500 calories in that single meal.

Damn, that sounds good.

Do you like the thought of being a hambeast or something? You edited that part out for a reason.

I'm sure that I already am a "Hambeast", but the only reason I edited it out was because I was focusing on the food because it sounds yummy.

[Covenant]

Actually, jogging and running are so effective at burning calories that you don't need to work that hard to get a big benefit. As I posted before, a 6 mph run burns a lot of calories in a half hour--and a 6 mph run is a ten minute mile, the same speed as us big-and-heavy Linemen ran in Higshcool even when loaded down with helmets, padding, cleats and so forth. Interspersing bursts of even that relatively low speed jogging with some walking to catch your breath will let you do yourself some good exercise while also not being too hard.

Basically, there's no reason to ever get discouraged. Any movement is good--even if you can't go fast! The heavier you are, the more good it does you, since you're also moving more weight around, which makes it more exercise.

[Ted C]

Looks like that "half hour of exercise per day" thing doesn't work after all. And who seriously has the time for a full hour of exercise every single day? Single people maybe, but people raising kids and paying bills?

Is there any information on the success of the "Bowflex" style program of 20 minutes of intense exercise, three times a week?

[Broomstick]

Actually, jogging and running are so effective at burning calories that you don't need to work that hard to get a big benefit.

Hey, the only time I'm running is when someone is shooting at me.

On the other hand, I'm more than willing to do things like ride a bike or engage in physically strenuous work for a living. My weight has remained steady since high school, which was well over two decades ago.

Also, after I hit 30, then 40, I consciously reduced my caloric intake because as you get older you really don't burn calories at the same rate.

Part of problem is that people used to get more exercise in daily life just from normal activities - employment used to involve more physical labor, stairs were more common than escalators and elevators, people drove less and walked more, or if we're talking horse-riding days well, horse riding burns more calories than sitting in a car. Housekeeping without electric appliances involved more physical labor as well. Gardens were more common, and took labor.

All those labor-saving devices we enjoy in the modern world mean we use our muscles less. If we want to stay healthy we must compensate. Me, I find it works best when I corporate exercise into my daily life but that is not equally feasible for everyone.

[Rye]

I think the only reasons I'm not fat are 1) genes 2) largely vegetarian diet (rest of my family is veggie, I'm not but most of my diet is). I have found that routine exercise, (in my case, walking the dogs for about 40 minutes to an hour), is good for the spirits and generally builds stamina and internal, non-vanity health, but it doesn't really shift weight.

I've tried eating less before, but I get so damn tired, depressed and cranky I gave it up.

[Darth Wong]

Looks like that "half hour of exercise per day" thing doesn't work after all. And who seriously has the time for a full hour of exercise every single day? Single people maybe, but people raising kids and paying bills?

Is there any information on the success of the "Bowflex" style program of 20 minutes of intense exercise, three times a week?

That's called the "Bowflex" program now? People used to call it "weightlifting", and they did it like real men, with iron weights instead of rubber bands or half-assed leaf spring contraptions.

[Singular Intellect]

That's one of the reasons I love working in construction; it's physically intense work, I constantly walk around and I'm moving large sheets of drywall all the time. It's like a eight hour work out that I get paid for.

[Covenant]

Looks like that "half hour of exercise per day" thing doesn't work after all. And who seriously has the time for a full hour of exercise every single day? Single people maybe, but people raising kids and paying bills?

Is there any information on the success of the "Bowflex" style program of 20 minutes of intense exercise, three times a week?

That's called the "Bowflex" program now? People used to call it "weightlifting", and they did it like real men, with iron weights instead of rubber bands or half-assed leaf spring contraptions.

I've got me some 25 pound iron bricks over here, the one bit of vanity is that I hate the horrible grip pattern they put on the handles of the hand dumbbells, so I wrapped it up with some manly silver duct-tape. These aren't fancy fucking dumbbells either, they're just silver-colored weights, so the duct tape fits perfectly while also being way easier on your hands!

And as for the value of the workout, it's basically nil. High-intensity bodybuilding-level exercise is still less caloric intensive than rollerblading, skiing downhill, or carrying golfclubs. So while you might be hitting the gym as hard as you can trying to build muscles that may one day be visible once you lose that weight, Captain Jackass is getting more of a workout by just caddying for himself and walking the green. Depressing, eh?

If you want to lose weight you need to do some kind of cardiovascular workout, by and large. Weightlifting is just not a good way to burn calories. It's good for you for a lot of different reasons, and you should still try to include some kind of strength-training in your routine every once and a while unless you do regular lifting/hauling activities. But the standard guy response of lifting weights to try to lose fat? Impossible. And non-bodybuilding weightlifting, the average intensity most mere humans do (which means most of us) burns half of the high intensity stuff, which makes it hilariously bad. Half an hour of moderate intensity weightlifting is as much caloric burn as an hour of sex, and less fun.

[Havok]

Weightlifting does indeed suck for cardio, however, the more muscle mass you have the more calories you burn, even at rest.
EVERYONE can benefit from some moderate weight lifting.

[Hawkwings]

Speaking of calories, I remember the topic of weight loss coming up when I marched drum corps last summer. Basically, we were burning 5000+ calories a day, not eating nearly that much, and making up the difference with PB+J sandwiches. Needless to say, it worked wonders for the people that wanted to lose weight.

A couple problems I see with people getting their hour-a-day exercise is the prep and cooldown time, plus the motivation factor. It's tough to motivate yourself, especially for something you may not particularly want to do. And if you want to exercise moderately strenuously for an hour, you need at least fifteen minutes before and afterward to get ready. Which makes and hour and a half of time. Between work, kids, food, and whatever else, it's no wonder that all the exercise is dropped.

[Darth Wong]

And as for the value of the workout, it's basically nil. High-intensity bodybuilding-level exercise is still less caloric intensive than rollerblading, skiing downhill, or carrying golfclubs. So while you might be hitting the gym as hard as you can trying to build muscles that may one day be visible once you lose that weight, Captain Jackass is getting more of a workout by just caddying for himself and walking the green. Depressing, eh?

Bullshit. When you build muscle mass, you increase the rate at which your body burns calories 24 hours a day, not just when you're exercising.

If you want to lose weight you need to do some kind of cardiovascular workout, by and large. Weightlifting is just not a good way to burn calories. It's good for you for a lot of different reasons, and you should still try to include some kind of strength-training in your routine every once and a while unless you do regular lifting/hauling activities. But the standard guy response of lifting weights to try to lose fat? Impossible. And non-bodybuilding weightlifting, the average intensity most mere humans do (which means most of us) burns half of the high intensity stuff, which makes it hilariously bad. Half an hour of moderate intensity weightlifting is as much caloric burn as an hour of sex, and less fun.

You're missing the whole point. The chief benefit of weightlifting is to build strength and muscle mass, which make you burn calories faster all day long. It isn't the number of calories you burn during the workout itself. Of course, that doesn't work if you gobble up all of that "weight gainer" protein powder bullshit, but that stuff is primarily being marketed to people who want to roid up anyway.

As for "non-bodybuilding" weightlifting, what the fuck are you talking about? Bodybuilders have a highly distorted way of doing things, which is all based around appearance and isolation and which consumes huge amounts of time.

[Havok]

And as for the value of the workout, it's basically nil. High-intensity bodybuilding-level exercise is still less caloric intensive than rollerblading, skiing downhill, or carrying golfclubs. So while you might be hitting the gym as hard as you can trying to build muscles that may one day be visible once you lose that weight, Captain Jackass is getting more of a workout by just caddying for himself and walking the green. Depressing, eh?

Bullshit. When you build muscle mass, you increase the rate at which your body burns calories 24 hours a day, not just when you're exercising.

100% correct, but I think he meant the actual act of lifting weights as a cardiovascular activity, which is stupid to say anyway, since no one ever recommends weight lifting as cardio.

As for "non-bodybuilding" weightlifting, what the fuck are you talking about? Bodybuilders have a highly distorted way of doing things, which is all based around appearance and isolation and which consumes huge amounts of time.

That isn't entirely true. I do a body builder style weightlifting routine and it doesn't take more than about a half hour to get through. You only focus on two or three muscle groups in a day, however that means you have to spend more days at the gym, but your time there on a daily basis is actually much shorter than some one circuit training. A circuit trainer may only need to come in 4 days a week though.
Personally and obviously, I prefer the shorter visits over more days, as it helps me stick to my routine... once I get my fat ass in gear anyway.

[weemadando]

Weightlifting does indeed suck for cardio, however, the more muscle mass you have the more calories you burn, even at rest.
EVERYONE can benefit from some moderate weight lifting.

Actually if you do certain styles of weights (ie Kettlebells) then it can be a better over-all cardio workout than things like running.

[His Divine Shadow]

I didn't do 30 minutes of excersize when I worked out the hardest I did and I lost fat like a motherfuck. Just lifting weights a few times a week keeps me in trim it seems. I am quite a lazy person it seems but any excersize I do seems to have alot of effect on my body.