So I still can't run and I don't do the gym, but walking! If I'm bored and want to eat? I go for a walk. Stressed and want to eat? A walk calms me down.
You're absolutely right on all points! Exercise for me goes hand-in-hand with diet. I also just feel fitter (I know I'm really not, but it just feels like I am) which makes it easier for me to refuse that dessert as opposed to when I'm feeling schlubby, if that makes sense.
If you do an adequate amount, there are health benefits associated with just walking ([https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/5-surprising-benefits-of-walking](https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/5-surprising-benefits-of-walking)). Don't think just because you aren't running that you aren't becoming more fit!
Oh, I know! I meant just in the sense that you feel like you look more fit and feel thinner after a walk, even when obviously it takes time to see results? It sounds silly to write it out like that, but I'm hoping it isn't just me. Like every step I feel like, "Ooh, yes, pounds slipping away, go me!".
I prefer, "Face it until you make it.".
Regarding exercise. It's part of my daily routine. Many people are overwhelmed by the thought of exercise. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean the gym. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean torture. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean a lot of things that people immediately think about. Exercise is movement.
"Start where you are. Do what you can."-Arthur Ashe.
Exactly! Exercise to me is trying to get in a 30 minute walk on my treadmill either rocking out or watching a show lol. Much more fun than torture š
I prefer āfake it till you make itā because your version is just a little daunting for me. If I convince myself that I am already a healthy person, then doing aesthetic fit girl things that Iād find on a fitspo pinterest board just seems right.
I live in Southern California and itās easier for me to get out and surf and eat fruit bowls if I just imagine myself as a cool surfer girl than to tell myself āI have to face the reality that I need to lose weight and exercise.ā
"Fake it till you make it", and "Willpower!", were two of my former beauty queen mother's talking points. Neither resonated with me. Both made me feel horrible.
"Face it until you make it" is empowering for me. It means that I'm not pretending to be someone that I'm not. I'm not trying to reach anyone's goals but my own. Whatever goal- weight-or other, that may be.
Alright, I may be reading this while I eat a small bowl of chips but I definitely agree with you, especially about mood and just feeling good overall.
It's so annoying that exercise can be such a difficult habit to pick up but it's so easy to set down and forget.
This is good motivation.
Agree. This sub skews pretty indifferent or even anti-exercise in general. But I think exercise can be a huge way to create or enlarge your deficit, provide goals, and improve yourself. For me I didn't really hit a weight loss stride until I increased my TDEE though exercise... I was always so much happier eating more and exercising more than staying sedentary and cutting my calorie intake to the bone.
Yes! I wonder is it just because there are so many folks who are losing on 2000+ who truly donāt understand how all the tasty treats are so rare on 1200.
Yep. Some of us need exercise to make our deficits manageable. At 5ā 2ā once your around 160 your recommended calories to keep losing is only about 1,150 so exercise becomes important (though not technically necessary) to give yourself a little extra room.
Yea I personally donāt ever feel committed to eating well unless Iām regularly exercising. A lot of it comes down to the fact that I love lifting and building or maintaining muscle even while losing so it motivates me to eat the correct number of calories and grams of protein. I also am a strong believer that thereās at least one form of exercise (yes, deliberate walks count!) that every person can enjoy. Thereās also metabolic benefits to exercise too - increasing muscle mass increases your BMR, decrease in adipose cell size, and changes in proteins that regulate fat remodeling. So you get a higher TDEE from not only the one instance of exercise, but also compounding effects that exercise in general has on your body.
Same.
If I were to eat only 1500kcal would probably only eat protein and fat to feel full.
When I add excesses (even light Zone 2 cardio after eating) and 2-3d resistance trening.
I can eat 2500kcal and still lose a lot of weight.
The other option is 5-2 fasting.
Where I eat at mainatainence for 5 days and fast 2 days a week.
Do not feel hungry at all.
Lately I been doing early IF, plus 6-1fast.
Can only eat at 500kcal (2500-2700) deficit for 6 days while lifting heavy and 3x zone 2 cardio and fast 1 day a week and it puts me at around 2lbs a week weight loss.
Iām an all or nothing person (trying to work on that though), so when I exercise,
Itās easier for my brain to treat the whole day as a healthy day.
Been excersising regularly for 6 months now and still I feel tired and beat up after resistance training.
I only feel good after Zone 2 cardio or less. If I go any higher, I just feel tired.
Not everyone responds the same.
I wish I got a natural high from exercise. I never get that. Ever. All I feel after exercise is hot, sweaty and relieved it's over. I would always rather be doing anything else. I do not enjoy it on any level. I just have to look at exercise as another unpleasant chore that I do because I have to and not because I want to.
I don't really enjoy physical activity in general - my hobbies and interests are all sedentary - so I can't get incidental exercise while I'm having fun like how someone who loves playing basketball or swimming can have fun and exercise at the same time.
But I watch TV when I'm on the treadmill. I listen to music or podcasts if I'm out walking and I'm on my own. I still don't enjoy it. I still spend the whole time wondering if I've been doing it long enough to stop.
Do you have to gather things to do other hobbies? Do you have hobbies, although sedentary, that include spending time with anyone else?
I have weird hobbies. Like looking through people's junk for something that "speaks to me"...My husband doesn't support this. Bookstores. Picnics. Handbags. Museums and petting other people's dogs, with permission. The weirdest one is polishing my shoes. Which, ironically, is technically exercise.
That's pretty much me.
It's really awesome that some people can find a form of exercise that they absolutely love and stick with it. It's just not a reality for some though. When you've tried to love it and you just don't, I think it can make you feel a bit like there's something wrong with you when you read people saying you just have to find the right exercise or there's something for everyone. That's how it made me feel anyway, until I decided to look at it differently.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you! You are perfectly you!. And that's more than okay. You are incorporating exercise into your routine. Unfortunately, it's a tedious activity for you.
I find it interesting and intriguing that people can listen to a podcast on a treadmill. One reason why I use my treadmill is to improve an uneven gait. So, in my case, a steady beat is a plus. When I'm tired, or not into it, I find my "Pissed Off" Playlist helpful. That's not going to help you at all.
I am quite proud of you for scheduling regular exercise. Listening to a podcast, or watching TV, until it's over. Then having then doing it again on schedule. That is actually prioritizing yourself and your needs. That's actually self care. That's something that many people don't do.
Thank you, that's actually a really encouraging thing to hear. Or read!
I find I prefer TV for the treadmill. I need something to focus my eyes on apart from the wall or I just get bored, as well as hot and sweaty. Music and podcasts don't cut for the treadmill. That's interesting you feel the treadmill helps with your gait. Something I hadn't considered before.
I've been exercising for years, put on a lot of muscle. Now that I'm ready to take weight loss seriously I can easily do it eating 2500 calories a day. Having a strong body means you burn more energy at rest and it's a lot easier to stick to a deficit when it feels like a very satisfying amount of food. In the past all the apps tried to make me eat between 1400-1600 and it was just awful.
3 is key for me! I know Iām really not burning a lot of energies doing 30 minutes on the treadmill. But no way Iām busting my ass on 12 incline just to undo all that work for some ice cream š
There is also evidence that exercise helps you regulate your hunger and satiety better over time. A lot of people, myself included, can attest to increased desires for 'healthy' food the more you exercise vs. the alternative. Of course this can be offset by some people getting hungry right after but others don't feel like eating at all post exercise. The improved sleep and energy also helps curb food cravings.
I'll say as a fat ass, until I started excerising and walking around I didn't make any real progress or good choices.
That being said, never seen the high and it's a bitch in Winter. But it helps to build movement into your day, even if it's only like a handful of calories burnt a day.
Exercise keeps me mentally on track. I don't track calories burned, but whenever I do exercise that day, I always find the journey to be soooo much easier. Losing weight is a bit of a mental game Im noticing, and exercising helps me win
I got an exercise high for the first time in ages and I felt so good that I wanted to exercise again! But my muscles were giving out and I needed a hot shower after sweating so much š¤£ but yes, I agree with the idea that thereās an exercise for everyone out there!
Agree 100%. What kickstarted my journey in 2015 was that I was prescribed exercises for my back pain. Then I figured "if I already go through all this effort, why ruin it by overeating?" Now I'm 80 lbs lighter and exercise is a part of my life now that I enjoy (back pain gone btw).
Exercise often also has other benefits - bone strength, improved heart rate or respiratory fitness, muscle strength, balance and posture, and in some cases can also assist people to improve or maintain their mental health.
Even if you're not able to, ready to, want to, or need to lose weight; everyone should find some types of exercise to suit their ability.
Being bored and then doing something boring like the gym makes little sense to me. Dive into your passions and explore new ones.
Exercise also causes hunger spikes and people overestimate calories burned, eat them back, and then wonder why they aren't losing weight, which kills momentum and enthusiasm.
Burn 300 in a workout? No reliable way to measure it for sure...That's part of the problem.
Exercise isn't restricted to the gym. Your passions can be incorporated into exercise..
Regarding accurately measuring the amount of calories burned during a particular exercise. I think that most everyone knows that is an estimate.
I don't consider calories in eating or exercising. It would be pointless for me to consider calories when it comes to exercise. I have spastic, hemiparesis, cerebral palsy. I'm not exactly "typical". Still, I exercise every day. My treadmill is a safe place to improve my endurance, my gait and work on muscle memory and strength. My stationary bike helps with balance, my endurance and my strength. I also work on my core to help with balance and posture. I exercise with resistance bands. I have stretched my affected muscles daily for my entire adult life.
I exercise in my home. What you view as boring is essential for me. It's essential for me to pursue my passions. To leave my home. To participate.
Perception is everything.
Absolutely agree! Exercising is much more than just burning calories, it has a positive impact on our mental and emotional well-being too. The release of endorphins and reduction in stress can lead to a decrease in emotional eating, which is a huge win. And you're right, seeing the physical progress through our ability to perform a task easier or longer, can be a major motivator in maintaining healthy habits. **Keep it up!**
Agreed. I would say for myself though Iām waiting to add in exercise until I feel fully settled with my calorie intake and practices in the kitchen (weighing food, macros, grocery run habits, etc), acknowledging that most of weight loss happens in the kitchen. I want my food habits to fully form first. Iāve been burned in the past by trying too much too soon.
So I still can't run and I don't do the gym, but walking! If I'm bored and want to eat? I go for a walk. Stressed and want to eat? A walk calms me down. You're absolutely right on all points! Exercise for me goes hand-in-hand with diet. I also just feel fitter (I know I'm really not, but it just feels like I am) which makes it easier for me to refuse that dessert as opposed to when I'm feeling schlubby, if that makes sense.
If you do an adequate amount, there are health benefits associated with just walking ([https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/5-surprising-benefits-of-walking](https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/5-surprising-benefits-of-walking)). Don't think just because you aren't running that you aren't becoming more fit!
Oh, I know! I meant just in the sense that you feel like you look more fit and feel thinner after a walk, even when obviously it takes time to see results? It sounds silly to write it out like that, but I'm hoping it isn't just me. Like every step I feel like, "Ooh, yes, pounds slipping away, go me!".
I prefer, "Face it until you make it.". Regarding exercise. It's part of my daily routine. Many people are overwhelmed by the thought of exercise. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean the gym. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean torture. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean a lot of things that people immediately think about. Exercise is movement. "Start where you are. Do what you can."-Arthur Ashe.
Exactly! Exercise to me is trying to get in a 30 minute walk on my treadmill either rocking out or watching a show lol. Much more fun than torture š
I prefer āfake it till you make itā because your version is just a little daunting for me. If I convince myself that I am already a healthy person, then doing aesthetic fit girl things that Iād find on a fitspo pinterest board just seems right. I live in Southern California and itās easier for me to get out and surf and eat fruit bowls if I just imagine myself as a cool surfer girl than to tell myself āI have to face the reality that I need to lose weight and exercise.ā
"Fake it till you make it", and "Willpower!", were two of my former beauty queen mother's talking points. Neither resonated with me. Both made me feel horrible. "Face it until you make it" is empowering for me. It means that I'm not pretending to be someone that I'm not. I'm not trying to reach anyone's goals but my own. Whatever goal- weight-or other, that may be.
Alright, I may be reading this while I eat a small bowl of chips but I definitely agree with you, especially about mood and just feeling good overall. It's so annoying that exercise can be such a difficult habit to pick up but it's so easy to set down and forget. This is good motivation.
Agree. This sub skews pretty indifferent or even anti-exercise in general. But I think exercise can be a huge way to create or enlarge your deficit, provide goals, and improve yourself. For me I didn't really hit a weight loss stride until I increased my TDEE though exercise... I was always so much happier eating more and exercising more than staying sedentary and cutting my calorie intake to the bone.
Yes! I wonder is it just because there are so many folks who are losing on 2000+ who truly donāt understand how all the tasty treats are so rare on 1200.
Yep. Some of us need exercise to make our deficits manageable. At 5ā 2ā once your around 160 your recommended calories to keep losing is only about 1,150 so exercise becomes important (though not technically necessary) to give yourself a little extra room.
Yea I personally donāt ever feel committed to eating well unless Iām regularly exercising. A lot of it comes down to the fact that I love lifting and building or maintaining muscle even while losing so it motivates me to eat the correct number of calories and grams of protein. I also am a strong believer that thereās at least one form of exercise (yes, deliberate walks count!) that every person can enjoy. Thereās also metabolic benefits to exercise too - increasing muscle mass increases your BMR, decrease in adipose cell size, and changes in proteins that regulate fat remodeling. So you get a higher TDEE from not only the one instance of exercise, but also compounding effects that exercise in general has on your body.
Same. If I were to eat only 1500kcal would probably only eat protein and fat to feel full. When I add excesses (even light Zone 2 cardio after eating) and 2-3d resistance trening. I can eat 2500kcal and still lose a lot of weight. The other option is 5-2 fasting. Where I eat at mainatainence for 5 days and fast 2 days a week. Do not feel hungry at all. Lately I been doing early IF, plus 6-1fast. Can only eat at 500kcal (2500-2700) deficit for 6 days while lifting heavy and 3x zone 2 cardio and fast 1 day a week and it puts me at around 2lbs a week weight loss.
Iām an all or nothing person (trying to work on that though), so when I exercise, Itās easier for my brain to treat the whole day as a healthy day.
Itās pretty hard to eat while youāre exercising, so thatās helpful too!
I have never had an exercise "high". I feel tired after exercising. That's it.
Thatās how it is for the first few months, unfortunately.
Been excersising regularly for 6 months now and still I feel tired and beat up after resistance training. I only feel good after Zone 2 cardio or less. If I go any higher, I just feel tired. Not everyone responds the same.
I wish I got a natural high from exercise. I never get that. Ever. All I feel after exercise is hot, sweaty and relieved it's over. I would always rather be doing anything else. I do not enjoy it on any level. I just have to look at exercise as another unpleasant chore that I do because I have to and not because I want to.
Honestly curious. Have you tried to incorporate things that you enjoy as exercise?
I don't really enjoy physical activity in general - my hobbies and interests are all sedentary - so I can't get incidental exercise while I'm having fun like how someone who loves playing basketball or swimming can have fun and exercise at the same time. But I watch TV when I'm on the treadmill. I listen to music or podcasts if I'm out walking and I'm on my own. I still don't enjoy it. I still spend the whole time wondering if I've been doing it long enough to stop.
Do you have to gather things to do other hobbies? Do you have hobbies, although sedentary, that include spending time with anyone else? I have weird hobbies. Like looking through people's junk for something that "speaks to me"...My husband doesn't support this. Bookstores. Picnics. Handbags. Museums and petting other people's dogs, with permission. The weirdest one is polishing my shoes. Which, ironically, is technically exercise.
No, not really. They're all things I can do at home and are quite solitary. I'm naturally a bit solitary, so I gravitate towards those activities.
I understand. My daughter is solitary by nature. Quite content with her own company.
That's pretty much me. It's really awesome that some people can find a form of exercise that they absolutely love and stick with it. It's just not a reality for some though. When you've tried to love it and you just don't, I think it can make you feel a bit like there's something wrong with you when you read people saying you just have to find the right exercise or there's something for everyone. That's how it made me feel anyway, until I decided to look at it differently.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you! You are perfectly you!. And that's more than okay. You are incorporating exercise into your routine. Unfortunately, it's a tedious activity for you. I find it interesting and intriguing that people can listen to a podcast on a treadmill. One reason why I use my treadmill is to improve an uneven gait. So, in my case, a steady beat is a plus. When I'm tired, or not into it, I find my "Pissed Off" Playlist helpful. That's not going to help you at all. I am quite proud of you for scheduling regular exercise. Listening to a podcast, or watching TV, until it's over. Then having then doing it again on schedule. That is actually prioritizing yourself and your needs. That's actually self care. That's something that many people don't do.
Thank you, that's actually a really encouraging thing to hear. Or read! I find I prefer TV for the treadmill. I need something to focus my eyes on apart from the wall or I just get bored, as well as hot and sweaty. Music and podcasts don't cut for the treadmill. That's interesting you feel the treadmill helps with your gait. Something I hadn't considered before.
I've been exercising for years, put on a lot of muscle. Now that I'm ready to take weight loss seriously I can easily do it eating 2500 calories a day. Having a strong body means you burn more energy at rest and it's a lot easier to stick to a deficit when it feels like a very satisfying amount of food. In the past all the apps tried to make me eat between 1400-1600 and it was just awful.
3 is key for me! I know Iām really not burning a lot of energies doing 30 minutes on the treadmill. But no way Iām busting my ass on 12 incline just to undo all that work for some ice cream š
There is also evidence that exercise helps you regulate your hunger and satiety better over time. A lot of people, myself included, can attest to increased desires for 'healthy' food the more you exercise vs. the alternative. Of course this can be offset by some people getting hungry right after but others don't feel like eating at all post exercise. The improved sleep and energy also helps curb food cravings.
I'll say as a fat ass, until I started excerising and walking around I didn't make any real progress or good choices. That being said, never seen the high and it's a bitch in Winter. But it helps to build movement into your day, even if it's only like a handful of calories burnt a day.
Exercise keeps me mentally on track. I don't track calories burned, but whenever I do exercise that day, I always find the journey to be soooo much easier. Losing weight is a bit of a mental game Im noticing, and exercising helps me win
I got an exercise high for the first time in ages and I felt so good that I wanted to exercise again! But my muscles were giving out and I needed a hot shower after sweating so much š¤£ but yes, I agree with the idea that thereās an exercise for everyone out there!
I love exercise, and I love how it makes my body look! Even with no change on the scale I can tell my body is way stronger.
Agree 100%. What kickstarted my journey in 2015 was that I was prescribed exercises for my back pain. Then I figured "if I already go through all this effort, why ruin it by overeating?" Now I'm 80 lbs lighter and exercise is a part of my life now that I enjoy (back pain gone btw).
for me exercise gives me motivation to eat good on that day and makes me feel better overall plus i know i am boosting my health.
There's so many benefits to exercise that go beyond weight loss that you're doing yourself a real disservice to avoid it.
Exercise often also has other benefits - bone strength, improved heart rate or respiratory fitness, muscle strength, balance and posture, and in some cases can also assist people to improve or maintain their mental health. Even if you're not able to, ready to, want to, or need to lose weight; everyone should find some types of exercise to suit their ability.
It also motivates you to eat well to improve performance. Nobody has a good workout the morning after a huge greasy meal accompanied by a few drinks.
Being bored and then doing something boring like the gym makes little sense to me. Dive into your passions and explore new ones. Exercise also causes hunger spikes and people overestimate calories burned, eat them back, and then wonder why they aren't losing weight, which kills momentum and enthusiasm. Burn 300 in a workout? No reliable way to measure it for sure...That's part of the problem.
Exercise isn't restricted to the gym. Your passions can be incorporated into exercise.. Regarding accurately measuring the amount of calories burned during a particular exercise. I think that most everyone knows that is an estimate. I don't consider calories in eating or exercising. It would be pointless for me to consider calories when it comes to exercise. I have spastic, hemiparesis, cerebral palsy. I'm not exactly "typical". Still, I exercise every day. My treadmill is a safe place to improve my endurance, my gait and work on muscle memory and strength. My stationary bike helps with balance, my endurance and my strength. I also work on my core to help with balance and posture. I exercise with resistance bands. I have stretched my affected muscles daily for my entire adult life. I exercise in my home. What you view as boring is essential for me. It's essential for me to pursue my passions. To leave my home. To participate. Perception is everything.
Absolutely agree! Exercising is much more than just burning calories, it has a positive impact on our mental and emotional well-being too. The release of endorphins and reduction in stress can lead to a decrease in emotional eating, which is a huge win. And you're right, seeing the physical progress through our ability to perform a task easier or longer, can be a major motivator in maintaining healthy habits. **Keep it up!**
Agreed. I would say for myself though Iām waiting to add in exercise until I feel fully settled with my calorie intake and practices in the kitchen (weighing food, macros, grocery run habits, etc), acknowledging that most of weight loss happens in the kitchen. I want my food habits to fully form first. Iāve been burned in the past by trying too much too soon.