Confused about exercise and weight loss

[Tracey1404]

Confused about why exercise doesn't appear to affect weight loss on SS & SS+. Health benefits aside, I assumed that less calories in + more calories spent = weight loss. Many minimins users have said that exercise does not affect/increase weight loss, does ketosis affect aerobic weight loss?? All and any advice gratefully received.

 

[richman14]

Yup is a wierd one if you jsut do running i would have thought would benefit but weights power building ect i can see why would not make any difference as builds up

 

[mrsessex]

I've Been treadmilling for a long time now with no diff to weight loss BUT!!!!!! My legs look good

 

[emmapetty]

I would say hun, that exercise would be important on CD to help with the 'bouncing back of the skin'. For me exercise isn't about weightloss, it's about toning up.

Hugs x x x

 

[NicolaR]

I've been doing exercise bike 25km three times per week and an all over strength workout three times per week. Don't think it has much effect on my losses but I'm determined to slim down my thunder thighs

it's also nice when you notice that you can get up that flight of stairs without being worn out, when it used to kill you before you started the diet etc

 

[KD]

It's a complex one.

less calories in + more calories spent = weight loss

Not exactly.

less calories in + more calories spent = changes to the body's composition.

The theory is right. It takes 3,500 calories to burn a pound of fat. But eating 3500 calories less, doesn't mean you are going to lose a pound of fat. It all depends.

For one reason, this is based on your Basal metabolic rate being static, which it isn't. It moves up and down, so who knows how much you are burning throughout the day.

Many people who do a lot of cardio whilst on a VLCD, find they are too tired to move around much the rest of the day, and do less fidgeting etc. Basically, they can often 'play dead' after it..thus slowing the metabolic rate.

Also if you are burning so much, and not taking in very little, the metabolic rate can crash big time and you are more likely to go into the starvation mode that people dread.

There's also more chance of lean mass loss and water retention, neither which show on the scales.

Evidently of these problems don't happen if you do resistance exercise which appears to keep the metabolic rate more stable and reduces the chance of lean loss.

Of course, exercise is important, but when on a VLCD, if you aren't used to doing a lot, then don't do a lot A walk, a swim..blah, for the health benefits, not for the results on the scales.

Once you get moving up the plans, you will have more calories for your body to play with without going into shock

BUT, much depends on what sort of exercise, the intensity, the duration, what you are used to etc.

 

[Tracey1404]

Thanks to all, and thanks KD for the insight. Have always walked fairly regular and do my Davina DVD (although less since on CD). Comment about dropping into starvation mode particularly appreciated - can you imagine SS+, tons of exercise and no loss - arhhh!!

 

[Mrs Z]

it's also nice when you notice that you can get up that flight of stairs without being worn out, when it used to kill you before you started the diet etc

That's what I noticed most.

 

[SteveM]

Just to reinforce what others have said. In the past when I was exercising (not on VLCD, but after I had completed diet and back up levels) I was exercising regularly (quite a lot), getting thinner, but at the same time actually getting heavier. Reason was simply the fact that I was toning and building muscle whilst burning fat. My weight was therefore increasing, but my body fat was decreasing .... I was healthier and fitter, but heavier.

If you are going to measure all of your "success" purely by what the scales say then you will need to be very careful about the type and quantity of exercise.

On the advice of both my gym and my doctor, I have a Body Fat %age target (which I have converted into a weight guesstimate for the sakes of the ticker ... which reminds me it is totally wrong now as I have just got back from three weeks in Greece!!) that I measure myself against rather than a fixed weight.

 

[Laura Croft]

Tis true Steve. I've got quite a few friends that have overweight BMIs that have incredibly toned bodies. We can't build muscle on a VLCD though. There's not enough calories.

People also need to remember that muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. 1lb of muscle = 1 lb of fat. Muscle is just more dense so a bucket of muscle would weigh a heck of a lot more than a bucket of fat.

I always put on a bit of weight when I start exercising again. I can only guess it's fluid retention though I drink a lot of water.

 

[SteveM]

As you say Laura, you have the added fact that exercising does cause water retention. It is the bodys way of allowing the muscles to recover after exercising and flushing the lactic acid .....

Bottom line is that exercising to lose weight doesn't really work!

Diet to lose weight. Exercise to get fit and tone your thinner body! Two completely different animals.

Steve

 

[Laura Croft]

I think exercise is an important tool to help lose weight simply for all the benefits it brings, not to mention the use of the calories! Exercise and weight loss don't have to be separate goals - you just need to get the nutrition right.

 

[alipally]

I would also like to add that you cannot 'convert' your fat into muscle.... which is why it's impossible to build muscle on a VLCD

Fat is burnt as energy to power your body. Protein ( or more accurately the amino acids) that you eat is/are used to build muscle.

The amount of protein in Cambridge is there solely to prevent to body from using lean tissue as energy. There is nothing spare to start building muscle....

So as both Laura and Steve have said to lose weight, diet...

To get fit/ tone up/build muscle, use exercise.


Personally, I've stopped going to body pump in the last month... I simply do not have the energy for it. I've continued to do my 6 miles a day with the dog though, not because I feel the need to keep moving, more because the dog drives me nuts if I don't take her out twice a day and we always follow the same route!

 

[SteveM]

Spot on AliPally ..... that is one of the great myths ... "Stop exercising and all your muscle turns to fat". Its impossible, the two are completely different things - one cannot be the other.

The truth is that if you stop exercising your muscles shrink back as they are not working the same way, and therefore visually seem to "disappear". Also, what most people do (and I have been guilty of this), is they stop exercising and forget to reduce their calorie intake. If you are working out less, you need to put in less. If you don't, excess calorie intake is what cause weight gain - you get fatter.

So, muscles shrinking, excess calorie intake causing you to get fatter = myth of muscle turning to fat!!

Steve

 

[parisbeach]

I started the gym at the end of july, the trainer set me a progrma of 10 min bike, 15min treadmill ,a few resistance exercises and then 10 min cool down on bike, so if i understand right this could make my weight loss slower?

 

[Laura Croft]

PB - It's a possibility with the cardio. The weights however will help prevent muscle loss so keep those up Rest assured you won't bulk up as you aren't having enough cals.

 

[Laura Croft]

Bounce.

 

[Laura Croft]

For D.