Surprised at how little exercise burns calories

[Anonymous]

I just got an Apple Watch to track my fitness goals. I ran 4 miles today and it burned only 293 calories. Vacuumed and mopped the house and that burned 70 calories. No wonder why I can’t lose weight. I thought those things would burn a lot more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just got an Apple Watch to track my fitness goals. I ran 4 miles today and it burned only 293 calories. Vacuumed and mopped the house and that burned 70 calories. No wonder why I can’t lose weight. I thought those things would burn a lot more.

You are forgetting that most people eat those calories that they "lost" thereby gaining it back!

[Anonymous]

Yep. People go to the gym and think they’ve earned that triple lardaccino with whip cream and end up fatter than before.

The fork pull remains the most effective exercise for losing weight.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that more people don't know this.
The only way to lose weight is to eat less. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised that more people don't know this.
The only way to lose weight is to eat less. End of story.

Sadly true. I kick my own ass on the peloton, and then it’s like “250 calories burned!”

Hooray. That covers what, my banana?

[Anonymous]

You can’t out-run the fork.

[Anonymous]

Working out, for most people, it not only about losing weight. It’s about pumping blood through your body and building muscle mass

[Anonymous]

Yes, exercise is for heart health and muscle building. I realized this 20+ years ago after sweating it up on treadmill walking 4.0 miles per hour, arms pumping , for an hour. "You've burned 275 calories" it would say. Whaat? That cupcake I had at lunch was 400 calories!

[Anonymous]

Exactly.

It's what you eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly.

It's what you eat.

True but more importantly it’s the calorie deficit you create that helps you lose weight (eat less calories and burn more calories with exercise).

[Anonymous]

Yup. Exactly why weigh loss is so hard. 80% of the battle is in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

That’s why it’s about diet. Exercise is about making the body look good - shaping it. Helping your heart and whatnot. Nutrition is the thing that changes weight though. You can lose without exercising if you cut calories but if your calories stay the same, you won’t lose just with exercise. It’s beneficial for sure but not in the ways people think it is.

[Anonymous]

Yes but exercise (particular high intensity cardio like running, and lifting heavy weights) will burn calories even after you've stopped.

Your running calories seem pretty low though - are you super duper tiny? Did you run the whole time, or walk also? I burn about 300 running a 5k.

I credit exercise bigly for my weightloss. For one, I exercise in the early morning and it prevents me from over eating too much the night before. At the end of the day, weightloss is a numbers game - your calories burned (active + bmr) has to be more than the calories you intake. Exercise has infinite benefits besides burning calories though, so please don't stop it for that reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes but exercise (particular high intensity cardio like running, and lifting heavy weights) will burn calories even after you've stopped.

Your running calories seem pretty low though - are you super duper tiny? Did you run the whole time, or walk also? I burn about 300 running a 5k.

I credit exercise bigly for my weightloss. For one, I exercise in the early morning and it prevents me from over eating too much the night before. At the end of the day, weightloss is a numbers game - your calories burned (active + bmr) has to be more than the calories you intake. Exercise has infinite benefits besides burning calories though, so please don't stop it for that reason.

OP here. At the end of the day, my total calories burned was 1931 (585 active). I ate 1336 calories. My first full day tracking although I’ve been exercising and watching what I eat for a week now. I’m 115 pounds. Trying to lose 3-5 lbs.

[Anonymous]

That seems on the low side, OP. I could be completely fooled by my treadmill, though!

I usually burn ~400 calories for 4 miles. I'm 5'8" and 140 lbs. Have I been wrong this whole time?