Is light exercise just a waste of time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Light exercise helps keep you healthy, but it is unlikely to help much for weight loss.

This is what I was afraid of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Light exercise helps keep you healthy, but it is unlikely to help much for weight loss.

I agree with this. Honestly, most exercise isn't going to do much for you unless you also adjust your caloric input. Both volume and compositon. You need to eat less food and consume fewer carbs as a proportion of the total.

[Anonymous]

I always find it funny that the same people who quip about calories in/calories out are also the ones who say that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight. Guess it’s not simple thermodynamics after all.

[Anonymous]

Read this article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/well/move/weight-loss-exercise-calories.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always find it funny that the same people who quip about calories in/calories out are also the ones who say that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight. Guess it’s not simple thermodynamics after all.

That doesn’t seem controversial at all. It’s CICO, but exercise leads to very, very few calories out, so it’s negligible for weight loss (but still good for you, OP! I’d rather be reading, too, and for me audiobooks help exercise feel more palatable).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always find it funny that the same people who quip about calories in/calories out are also the ones who say that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight. Guess it’s not simple thermodynamics after all.

That doesn’t seem controversial at all. It’s CICO, but exercise leads to very, very few calories out, so it’s negligible for weight loss (but still good for you, OP! I’d rather be reading, too, and for me audiobooks help exercise feel more palatable).

I can burn 400 calories in an hour workout. If I do that 6 days a week and change nothing else why wouldn’t that help me lose 3 or so pounds a month? I thought it was simple thermodynamics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always find it funny that the same people who quip about calories in/calories out are also the ones who say that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight. Guess it’s not simple thermodynamics after all.

That doesn’t seem controversial at all. It’s CICO, but exercise leads to very, very few calories out, so it’s negligible for weight loss (but still good for you, OP! I’d rather be reading, too, and for me audiobooks help exercise feel more palatable).

That's just not true. When I do an extra hour of walking, I burn an extra 200ish calories a day. That's an extra 10-15%! A 3 mile run will burn 400ish calories for me. That's not negligible. What makes it negligible is if you say "I walked an hour today, I deserve that cookie." Light exercise will not alone make you lose weight, diet is way more important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you enjoy it? Then not a waste of time.

Even a little exercise is better than no exercise. Yes, do intermittent exercise! on the hour stand up and do 10 jumping jacks or 2 minutes on the rowing machine! Next hour do some push ups or squats. If you are at work, if you do 2 minutes of exercise every hour -- that will add up to 16 minutes of exercise!! That's the minutes I do of body weight exercies in the morning. It's all good, it all adds up!!

Even if OP doesn't enjoy it, it is not a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read this article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/well/move/weight-loss-exercise-calories.html

Paywall. Not everyone subscribes to NYT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not at all a waste of time. But try to push yourself a little bit more each time.

+1. Exercise is about showing yourself what your body can do. If right now, your body can jump rope for two minutes, do that and watch as it becomes three over time. Or do two minutes a couple times a day.

I'm am solidly in the every little bit counts camp because every little bit often evolves into a little bit more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very obese, to the point where I can't exercise for very long (to be fair, I can walk for miles on end, but that takes time I don't have right now). If I do, for example, two minutes of jump rope (or rowing machine, or whatever), is that better than nothing? Or will I just be getting my heart rate up and making myself sweaty for nothing?

I've always wondered this.

Perhaps try mixing jumping rope with walking. Walk around the block, jump rope 2 minutes. Repeat. Work up to more jumping rope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all a waste of time. But try to push yourself a little bit more each time.

+1. Exercise is about showing yourself what your body can do. If right now, your body can jump rope for two minutes, do that and watch as it becomes three over time. Or do two minutes a couple times a day.

I'm am solidly in the every little bit counts camp because every little bit often evolves into a little bit more.

Exactly exactly this. I started a program called None to Run. When I started I could only run for 30 seconds. Now I am on week 12 and can run for 25 minutes without stopping.

It’s okay to start slow. Just start!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all a waste of time. But try to push yourself a little bit more each time.

+1. Exercise is about showing yourself what your body can do. If right now, your body can jump rope for two minutes, do that and watch as it becomes three over time. Or do two minutes a couple times a day.

I'm am solidly in the every little bit counts camp because every little bit often evolves into a little bit more.

I agree with this!! And doing anything is so much better than doing nothing. Your body loses so much strength when you do nothing. Doing something will make your body feel better. That is worth a lot.

[Anonymous]

My obese father has increased his lung capacity (he has lung issues so this is a big deal) and lost two inches off his waistline in just two months of doing the equivalent of a recline bike for 30 minutes, three times a week.

No, it's definitely not a waste of time. Anything is always better than nothing when it comes to movement of the body.

[Anonymous]

Exercise is not for weight loss. Exercise is for a healthy heart, self-esteem, and get-up-and-go energy, which you probably don't have.

Put the fork down. Zero junk food in the house. That's how you lose weight.

I had a very obese client (I'm a personal trainer.) I told her to lose 50 pounds before starting serious exercise. She was in danger of injuring her knees and back.