Diet May Be More Important Than Exercise for Long-Term Weight Control (2021)

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-exercise-may-not-help-you-lose-weight-diet-healthy-2021-4

by paulpauper • 2 years ago

35 66 2 years ago

delichon2• 2 years ago

I hiked about 500 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail and lost 5 pounds. I went low carb for a month and lost 30 pounds. Diet is just a far more effective weight loss lever than exercise. IMHO that's because it's far more about hormones than calorie balance. It's very hard to out-walk insulin pushing fatty acids into your adipocytes.

nickff• 2 years ago

Most of that 30 pounds you lost on low carb was probably water weight which you'd gain right back if you start eating carbs again.

ADDENDUM: this is because a drop in carb consumption causes a decline in glycogen, and a corresponding decline in water

goalonetwo• 2 years ago

Not sure why you are being downvoted but this is absolutely true. A diet can only be looked back after a couple month of rests

mtalantikite• 2 years ago

This certainly could have a lot to do with it, not sure why you're being down-voted. I've seen fighters at my muay thai gym in heavier weight classes drop 20 pounds to make weight for a fight in a month. You'll usually cut salt and carbs and manipulate your water weight to make weigh-in. It's certainly not at all healthy, but not uncommon. I've even had days after training where I'm 4-5 pound lighter after class from all the sweating and I'm only in the low 150s range.

recursive2• 2 years ago

For years, I was a moderately competitive bike racer. I was pretty trim. Without changing my diet, I had kids, and had to give it up due to time constraints. (I'll pick it back up one day, I swear...) Now I have a pretty standard dad-bod. Probably +25lbs.

c0nsumer2• 2 years ago

I'd wager that if you started riding the same amount, at the same HR, you wouldn't lose that 25.

(I say this as someone who rides a lot, somewhat competitively, and has directly observed that weight loss comes in the kitchen, not from riding. And if you try to cut back on nutrition during the ride, you'll feel so awful you won't be able to ride.)

Fricken3• 2 years ago

I was in a cycling collision a decade ago, and suffered a broken leg. This led to a 2 year period, really the first period in my life longer than a few months where I was largely sedentary. +25 pounds of fat slowly but steadily accumulated around my midsection in that time.

Then I got serious about rehab and corrected the issues in my leg, started cycling again, and I was back to my desired weight in about 6 weeks, and without putting any particular effort into controlling my calories. Everyone else in my immediate family is obese and sedentary excepting my uncle who is also a cyclist.

Someone in r/cycling the other week tried to suggest that "abs are made in the kitchen" and they were laughed out of the thread. In most forums, however, exercise is a 4 letter word, and Dr. pontzer is very popular.

After following the subject for years, I've come to believe rising sedentarism is the primary culprit in the obesity epidemic.

soco• 2 years ago

Same here, I quickly picked 10kg after having kids and giving up intensive martial arts trainings. But, those would be way more if I didn't pay close attention at the calories intake (as exercise is very moderate nowadays, so to say) - I noticed what happens when I let it slip for like a week, bang 1 kg (2 pounds). So it's both.

carom• 2 years ago

Haven't we known this for a very long time? The addage is that abs are made in the kitchen.

WesleyLivesay• 2 years ago

Agreed. Although the saying I have always heard is that you can't outrun a bad diet.

toomuchtodo• 2 years ago

GLP-1 agonists demonstrate that intervention is more effective than will power.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-03-...

globular-toast2• 2 years ago

It's well known by bodybuilders and celebrity trainers etc. But basically everyone else you talk to doesn't believe it and thinks exercise is the way to lose weight. There are many conflicting interests: the exercise companies want to keep selling exercise, the food companies want to keep selling food and the consumer is addicted to food and wants an excuse to enable it. It's no wonder this knowledge is so buried.

tekla• 2 years ago

This has been true since the beginning of humanity.

blackeyeblitzar• 2 years ago

I think this is fairly well known and uninteresting. The unhealthy food the average American (or urban resident globally) consumes is much higher in calories than most think. If you calorie count it’s easy to spot over consumption. And it would require an hour of intense exercise daily for people to undo, which most people cannot commit to.

TechRemarker• 2 years ago

Was there some study in the past that said otherwise? As thought it was common knowledge that diet is of course more important long term for having a healthy weight. Since you can eat well, and do no exercise and have your weight under control. If you eat terrible but workout "alot" that will work in the short term but working out a lot consistently forever is quite impractical.

lapcat8• 2 years ago

I think this is somewhat misleading. Walking is one of the least strenuous forms of exercise. I could walk all day on a treadmill, no sweat (literally). When I was playing singles tennis almost every day, on the other hand, it was exhausting, I was in the best shape of my life, and I could eat as much as I wanted. Indeed I had to eat more, because my body demanded it. And elite athletes eat a ton of food, an obscene amount of food, but they also have the best bodies. Walking is fine for people who can't do anything else, such as the elderly, but otherwise it's simply not enough exercise.

In general, weight is not really a great measure. You can lose weight by losing muscle. I "measure" my own body by looking at it in a mirror.

tomlue• 2 years ago

I used to feel this way too. It turns out the mirror test is not a good measure. Hard metrics are much better. Weight alone isn't the best, but it is a good place to start.

lapcat8• 2 years ago

It turns out the mirror test is not a good measure.

How so?

Of course if you're exercising regularly and strenuously, there are some athletic metrics: how long you can run until exhaustion, how much weight you can lift, etc.

kwhitefoot• 2 years ago

because my body demanded it

Are you sure it wasn't because you were younger then? Despite not doing any exercise other than walking I could eat any amount of anything until I was over forty when the weight started creeping up.

lapcat8• 2 years ago

Are you sure it wasn't because you were younger then?

Yes, because my weight—or visible body fat, anyway—has fluctuated over my entire life, including then and now, depending on how much exercise I get.

Fricken3• 2 years ago

Under normal circumstances one's metabolism doesn't change much between age 20 and 60. Most adults are just less active than when they were younger.

zero-sharp2• 2 years ago

The fitness advice I've heard is that higher intensity cardio can increase your appetite, causing you to compensate for the calories burned. Low intensity cardio like walking doesn't have the same effect.

lapcat8• 2 years ago

higher intensity cardio can increase your appetite

True.

Low intensity cardio like walking doesn't have the same effect.

That's short-term thinking though. Long term, higher intensity cardio builds muscle and endurance. The more strenuously you exercise now, the more strenuously you'll be able to exercise in the future. If you're not pushing yourself, then you'll remain stuck at the lower level forever. The extra calories now are an investment in your future body.

michaelt• 2 years ago

And elite athletes eat a ton of food, an obscene amount of food, but they also have the best bodies.

The thing to bear in mind is, most discussions of diet are in the context of weight loss - and the kind of exercise regime that allows eating loads of food is generally only accessible to people who are already extremely fit.

If you're running a 4 hour marathon every weekend, you can pretty much eat whatever you like and not gain weight.

But if my 240 lbs buddy wants to lose weight? Dude would be doing well to jog 5km. He's not going to be running any marathons.

So the fact he could maintain his current diet if he burned an extra 2500 calories every weekend doesn't help him, because he can't.

lapcat8• 2 years ago

the kind of exercise regime that allows eating loads of food is generally only accessible to people who are already extremely fit.

Of course. And I'm not suggesting that people ignore or go crazy with their diet. I'm personally very strict with mine, though I'm not counting calories at all but rather trying to mimimize salt, saturated fat, and added sugar (which perhaps naturally restricts calories somewhat, since the highest calorie foods also tend to have high salt, saturated fat, and added sugar).

But if my 240 lbs buddy wants to lose weight? Dude would be doing well to jog 5km. He's not going to be running any marathons.

Of course. What I would say is that in fact it's a (metaphorical) marathon, not a sprint. The goal, I think, should be health, not simply weight loss, which is only one aspect of health. You shouldn't be afraid to exercise strenuously just because it might make you a little hungrier. In the long run, you want to control your diet and also get your body into shape, which requires investment in exercise.

My dispute is with the idea that "we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level." That's simpy not true in general. It may be true for a relatively sedentary activity level, but it's not true for people who are at higher levels of vigorous activity, and I don't mean just elite athletes. A normal person can build up to becoming quite physically active if they commit to it long term. Of course nobody can just run a marathon right away, but almost anybody could run a marathon eventually. The author was examining people who walk all day, but I don't think that's a good baseline for measurement of "maximum" physical activity, because walking is generally not very strenous.

brigadier1322• 2 years ago

All of these studies are severely limited. Show me one that had study participants running an hour a day 6 days a week. I lost 40 pounds doing that and I've kept it off because I kept running. It burns so many calories I actually need to make sure i eat more.

WheatMillington• 2 years ago

That an unreasonable level of exercise for 90% of people.

brigadier1322• 2 years ago

Once you lose the weight you only need to run 30 minutes a day for maintenance.

voisin• 2 years ago

Unreasonable by what standards? I suspect we evolved with a regime more rigorous than this. Perhaps our society has become unreasonable in how people are prevented from having the time to use their bodies to even a fraction of their full extent.

freedomben3• 2 years ago

I think running 6 hours a day is not very representative of (or practical for) the vast majority of people. You can find plenty of studies on cases like that. IIRC there was a good one about Michael Phelps and his ~10,000 calories per day. But those sorts of extreme studies aren't going to be helpful for determining broad applicability.

Edit: Please disregard, my reading comprehension skills failed me today. I read 6 hours a day but it was actually 6 hours a week

lapcat8• 2 years ago

I think running 6 hours a day is not very representative of (or practical for) the vast majority of people.

The OP said 6 hours a week (1 a day), not 6 a day.

maxglute• 2 years ago

I think we have enough real world case studies now with previously stubborn fatties whom (allegedly) tried everything but finally lost weight on ozempic due to appetite suppression.

6 hours of running is 4000-8000 calories / 1-2lb week depending on body size. That's your basic 1-2% of BW deficit for weight loss. Except it's a much harder behaviour change to adopt.

foxyv4• 2 years ago

It takes me 2 hours to burn 1000 calories. That is just a single foot long Subway sandwich and a cookie. You can undo hours of hard work in minutes.

Only thing I've ever found that works is fasting. Especially since my base metabolic rate has been about 1500 calories after hitting 35 years old.

resource_waste3• 2 years ago

Okay, but if I go run 6-8 miles, I can burn it in an hour. Cookies are very optional.

I wonder if people swapped their foods with non-sugar/non-oiled foods, and they ate like nature would direct them, if they'd actually become obese.

Can a sane person eat enough carrots to become overweight?

foxyv4• 2 years ago

Carrots actually have a LOT of sugar. It's part of what makes carrot cake so delicious. They almost taste like candy after a long fast. I've tried just eating enough roughage like carrots and lettuce to fill myself up but I just end up ravenously hungry from the sugar. Same with if I try to "Out run the kitchen"

The best way to lose weight is to reduce insulin levels. This involves changing what you eat and when you eat.

stets• 2 years ago

Well yeah, you can eat 1k+ calories in 30 minutes easy. But to "lose" the same amount of weight you'd need rigorous exercise over multiple hours.

rco8786• 2 years ago

At the risk of being reductive…has this not been a known fact for a really, really long time?

No amount of gym time can counteract a terrible diet. But you can easily lose weight by simply eating fewer calories than your body burns day to day.

freedomben3• 2 years ago

Yes but there are a lot of people out there (like me) who live to eat and don't want it to be true that diet is important. We humans are masters at subconsciously dismissing facts that don't fit our agenda, even when we're trying to be open minded and scientific. It also doesn't help that even simple "cheats" on a diet can render it ineffective, which we then tend to interpret as "diets don't work for me" rather than "you can't 'cheat' on your diet"

zemvpferreira• 2 years ago

This has long been codified in the online fitness community as 'you can't outrun a bad diet'.

Good to see the meme being validated.

globular-toast2• 2 years ago

Even if you do manage to stay lean with exercise, burning through more calories will shorten your life. Calorie restriction is the way to go.

ergonaught2• 2 years ago

This is largely in reference to research showing that the body seems to burn about the same amount of calories regardless of what you do. The point is not that someone is surprised that you can't outrun your mouth. This is related to some of the misunderstood/misreported "metabolic damage" from the "biggest loser" folks who were exercising ferociously but not burning "as many calories" as conventional wisdom would indicate, and such. Etc.

You know, if you can go beyond the headline.

resource_waste3• 2 years ago

The point is not that someone is surprised that you can't outrun your mouth.

Last year I was running for 60 minutes per day + weight lifting. I was likely spending 3500-4000 calories per day. On long runs it could be 5000 calories per day.

I lost a ton of weight, and I was feeding myself too. Once I lost the weight, I have basically kept it off.

I'm not sure what the point of these bad scientific studies are when you can look out your window and see clear contradictions everywhere.

ergonaught2• 2 years ago

Much of the point of these "bad scientific studies" is that humans overwhelmingly believe nonsense to be true.

csours• 2 years ago

Solid and liquids go in - carbon dioxide gas comes out.

As an analogue - When water evaporates, it expands 1600 times larger in volume to become steam.

That's a LOT of breathing.

tomohawk• 2 years ago

A year ago, if I had seen this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cqNDDG4aA&pp=ygUdcGxhbnRzI...

I would have thought it was totally crazy. In the space of a year:

* one friend went carnivore, and their apple devices stopped recognizing them since they had lost so much weight

* another friend went carnivore who was high normal bmi, and is now ideal bmi, off of blood pressure meds, no longer has fibromyalgia, no longer has arthritis pain, and has had so many other medical issues resolve and much better quality of life. a walking, talking ad for that video.

* I went carnivore and feel 10 years younger

It's not an easy diet to transition to, but is easy to maintain. If you're interested, here's advice on how to start:

https://youtu.be/r3wzDWW1MdI?si=5aC8gd_sbDRLmrNC

ChrisArchitect• 2 years ago

(2021) do better OP

CyberDildonics• 2 years ago

I don't think you need to patronize someone with "do better", especially when the year doesn't matter all that much here and people are encouraged to not touch the title.

Diet May Be More Important Than Exercise for Long-Term Weight Control (2021)

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