Here’s how it was once explained to me.
Which is easier:
- Running three miles.
- Not eating a donut.
Because they’re equivalent.
This is my weight loss progress on a handy-dandy graph I recorded in my spreadsheet. You can see it’s a very wiggly line that is most often ascribed to my bathroom scale being a cheap piece of crap, but it’s also because weight loss is a rollercoaster of randomness. The plateau in April is when I was eating too many snacks, and as soon as I spent a dedicated two weeks snackless it dropped rapidly and it was back on track.
To save you some mathematics, I am currently (weighed yesterday) at 83kg, which is 183lbs, and my BMI is 26.8. I don’t expect to drop much further than this, I’m okay with hovering around here for the next five years or more, bouncing around a bit but hopefully never going above 85kg.
It just occurred to me that I have lost almost exactly the weight of one curling stone.
Well, no, unless it’s a particularly heavy donut, the three miles is probably closer to two donuts. But nitpick aside, this is just a restatement of what I said in my first post:
It doesn’t really address my point that if you get a decent amount of exercise regularly, you can add a non-trivial number of calories to your daily intake and keep everything balanced.
Random thoughts:
- Scales: the surface underneath your scale can make a difference re consistency. Our bathroom floor has spots that have a little bit of ‘give’ to them, and where you set the scale down can make a difference of a couple of pounds in the number it shows.
We’ve got an unfinished basement with a concrete floor, and I weigh myself down there when I go down to scoop the litterbox in the early a.m. Not everyone has access to a concrete floor, obviously, but try to find a place to put your scale where the floor is firm.
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Excercise: yes, you’ve got to exercise a lot to lose noticeable weight that way. The point of exercise with respect to weight loss, for most of us, should be simply about keeping your metabolism running at a higher level. If you get a decent amount of exercise, AIUI, you’ll burn more calories while sitting on the couch than if you don’t get much exercise.
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I’m another pandemic weight loser - gone from 188 in early 2020 to currently 171, even after a 2-week vacation where I ate pretty much whatever I wanted.
In my experience, the most efficient aspect of exercising to lose weight is that it is fairly impossible to snack while jogging – as opposed to sitting in front of the computer, for example.
One thing about exercise calories is that they may not count towards daily calorie burn with simple addition. There’s some research that shows your body has a desired set point for calorie burn and may adapt to hit that target whether you’re active or sedentary.
Reading between the lines, I think this mostly applies to regular moderate activity rather than occasional high exertion. So if you live in the city and walk everywhere, eventually your body adapts and you burn about the same calories whether you’re sitting at home all day or walking all over the city. I think that if someone does something with high exertion–like running fast or climbing a high mountain–those calories will be more likely to be added on top of the daily calorie expenditure. But for usual, moderate activity, your body tweaks its metabolism to balance out the extra calories used for normal exertion.
There does seem to be a link between people who are regularly active and being at a healthy weight. Even if the activity itself doesn’t burn a ton of weight-loss calories, the activity may help change your body in other ways that make it easier to moderate food calories.
Everyone’s mileage varies, but I consider “losing weight” and “exercising” to both be subsets under “getting healthy.”
In the past, I have set myself up for failure by trying to make exercise my vehicle for losing weight.
Having said that, the benefits of exercise (more energy, better sleep, etc) do help me lose weight more quickly and more consistently. I never had long-term success with weight loss until I did both things concurrently.
I just read the abstract, but the cite in your first cite (footnote 14) doesn’t seem to say at all that fat cells reduce in size but still exist. It says adipose (fat) tissue reduces in size but still exists. Which seems obvious: it’s difficult or impossible to remove all body fat.
My own recent experience: I ended my current diet today, having lost 38 pounds, or ~20% of my body weight. I’m 59, and it was more difficult than my last experience 8 years ago, though then I lost 55 pounds that time and kept it off for 6 years.
Method:
- I exercised every day on an indoor bike, usually 60 minutes, in sets at the start. It helps that I work at home.
- I quit drinking entirely. I’d gotten quite bad about beer. Begone.
- I kept a spreadsheet of every calorie and minute exercising to motivate me. That spreadsheet glared at me every day I didn’t live up to it.
- I limited calories to <1500/day (I’m a 5’6" male, 59)
- I did this for three months.
Results: met goals but it got quite difficult at the end. In June and July I was losing 3 pounds a week, not effortlessly at all but with the considerable effort I put in. The plan worked amazingly.
In August the weight loss slowed considerably and I was losing 1-2 pounds a week. I’d changed my goal downward to get to 144 pounds so I could say I’d lost 40, but it became apparent it would take weeks to lose 4 pounds. I threw in the towel today at 38 pounds lost.
Score: me. Pounds: -38. Fat: Fuck you fat.
Plan: keep exercising, eating sensibly, limiting booze
Next few days: yup, I’m eating pizza. Hell, I haven’t eaten bread since May. Then going to a gym, joining is on my plan. Did I mentioned the 600 abs I do daily because fuck you old man belly?
Sorry that was probably more profane than warranted. It’s just so great to finish the 3-month workout/plan/diet today. Go me 
Friendly PSA: BMI should be used in combination with waist circumference measurements to know if you are at a healthy weight. Your waist should be under 40 inches if you’re male and under 35 inches if you’re female.
For me - running three miles. All I have to do is dredge up the willpower to run, tell myself I just have to run, I don’t have to do three miles - then every time I want to stop I convince myself to go a little further til I’ve hit three miles. But I only need the willpower for a short amount of time. I was having this very conversation with my nephew’s wife yesterday, BTW.
But NOT eating the donut requires constant steadfast 24/7 willpower. If that willpower slips just for a second, that donut is gone. I can’t maintain that kind of willpower, especially if I’m hungry or craving a donut.
(OK, I just used “donut” because that’s your analogy. I really don’t like them and I would be real good at not eating donuts. But substitute ice cream or a bag of chips and my willpower is toast)
im a sodaholic… one of the latest in a long line of sodaholics …
tho i didn’t drink that much soda until people started being a-holes around me about it …
And yeah i did lose a lot of weight and give it back and my former doc would throw a tizzy and put me back on the 1500 cal a day diet
but other than pleasing people that I dont give a rat’s ass of a tinker’s damn about pleasing anymore im not really motivated …
In the 2 years since he was diagnosed with diabetes my SO has lost 40+ pounds, and what has been shocking to me is how little he changed his diet. It helps that he always ate basically the same things every breakfast and lunch and rarely snacks. He went from whole milk/any cereal/canned fruit/fruit juice to 2% milk/granola/berries/diet fruit juice for breakfast and can of soup/crackers/bagel with butter/soda/cookie for lunch to no cream based soups/whole wheat crackers/whole wheat bagels/diet soda/diet ice cream bar for lunch. He also has a cheese/nut snack. For dinner we have whole wheat pasta, mashed cauliflower instead of potato, and try to keep down the starch. He has diet soda for dinner as well. That’s all the changes and the weight has melted away.
I recently had the epiphany that if I wanted to lose weight too (which I do), I should just eat what he does. I can’t do that all the time since I travel a lot and have to eat out, but do what I can. Between eating on the run and being female I don’t expect as rapid a loss, but things are going in the right direction.
What has surprised me is how full breakfast and lunch are.
When I travelled for work, a hotel-living co-worker taught me his secret of only eating half the meal he is served and saving the rest for dinner. He said, that yes it is boring but that he’d lost 35 pounds that way.
So I followed that advice, lost a few pounds, and promptly got laid off. I landed in a work-from-home job where my weight ballooned again because I wasn’t paying attention.
Good tip - I’ll have to try that
I left this thread since my point was NOT calories-in vs. calories-out. There are more than enough threads all about that. I simply brought it up since that is part of the self-loathing. I don’t feel that dieting is simply counting calories-in vs calories-out (disagree with me if you want, just not here) but yet for me yeah it is that simple (note: maybe it worked for me but I don’t believe that works for everyone. again, I did not start this thread to discuss that except as part of the whole post).
So why did I start this thread? Something came up this week to exemplify what my problem is - the reason for the thread. The reason I hate what is happening to my body
I weigh myself like every 3 weeks. No real schedule. I have four weight goals. 250 lb (getting started); 220 lb (the weight I start feeling healthy); 200 lb (because I’m 6’ 0") and 184 (my “ideal weight” although if I can maintain under 200 lb I’ll be happy). A couple days ago I went down a tighter hole in my belt loop so I figured I’d weigh myself. 218 lb.
Do you think I can go home and talk about the milestone? No. Do you think anyone at home is telling me how good I look or good job losing the fat? No. It is a hell losing weight just by eating less (again not here to debate that) while your significant other is seriously overweight can’t lose an ounce despite all their efforts. From the way she talks about our meals, you would think we are still both obese so heaven forbid I go off diet just a little bit like to celebrate it’s Friday or what not. I am alone in my celebration, alone in my accomplishment.
To be fair, people get tired of rah-rah, and if you change frequently enough, they no longer notice it. Does that suck? It can, especially if encouragement works for you.
But I think being able to tighten your belt one more notch is worth celebrating so go out and buy yourself a treat. Not a food treat, but maybe a clothing item you want, or a good book.
That’s what message boards are for! Come here and celebrate.