Hi everyone, I have a thread over in T-Vixen titled Please Help Me, feel free to give advice.
Didn’t want this discussion to get lost in there though. I’m curious, if losing bodyfat is the goal, what is more important and why:
Calories/Food Ratio’s
OR
Exercise/What type
Ready, set, go…
Howdy,
Wow, I think if you are asking this, you need to go look through an FAQ or something. Diet and Excercise are like peas and carrots, Jenny and Forrest, Socks and Shoes, plates and food, get my drift?
For effective weight loss you need both. Look at it this way…
Shitty Diet/Great Program- Suboptimal results
Shitty Diet/Poor Program- Ditto
Great Diet/Poor Program- Better, but ditto
Great Diet/Great Program- RESULTS!
The either/or thing will keep you from your goals. Its not a heirarchy…
Josh
Pondering this question is a complete waste of time. It’s like asking wether your brain or heart is more important.
diet is more important than exersize…but exersizing vigorously helps a whole fucking lot…
Maybe the question that should be asked is why would you neglect one or the other? You would get bad results if you didn’t do both.
Further, the effort that is spent in pondering this question could be better spent in improving both of those.
For a real answer, you could never figure it out because there are infinately variable degrees of bad to good and it is very hard to convey this. Also, some people will respond more favourably to one or the other.
So, it really isn’t even a question for the researchers, it’s a question for the philosophers (much like the question: how do I know that when you and I are looking at the color blue, we both see exactly the same thing: you don’t, and most importantly, it does not matter)
…laughing…thanks for your answers so far. I didn’t mean to imply I wanted to do one or the other.
I just hear arguments everyday about one over the other as far as importance. Just wanted to put it out there to a group that is very knowledgable.
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
…laughing…thanks for your answers so far. I didn’t mean to imply I wanted to do one or the other.
I just here arguments everyday about one over the other as far as importance. Just wanted to put it out there to a group that is very knowledgable.[/quote]
I’m assuming that you want to lose weight(fat)…
I’ve heard the argument that you can eat anything you want if you work out enough…unless your workout is the tour de france, you can’t out exersize a shitty diet…
diet is numero uno, exersize is number two…but both are important…
DPH, I eat pretty clean and am a distance runner (for full story see my other thread) and am pudgy. So I’ve been curious if its more my diet than my exercise. I have begun doing sprint intervals vs. long distances and am trying different ratios with my eating now. I just know people that eat like crap but exercise a ton and look great or only watch their diet and don’t eat much and also look good.
Question based more on curiosity than anything. thanks again
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
DPH, I eat pretty clean and am a distance runner (for full story see my other thread) and am pudgy. So I’ve been curious if its more my diet than my exercise. I have begun doing sprint intervals vs. long distances and am trying different ratios with my eating now. I just know people that eat like crap but exercise a ton and look great or only watch their diet and don’t eat much and also look good.
Question based more on curiosity than anything. thanks again[/quote]
Your body might be going into “starvation” mode if you’re doing distance running but can’t lose weight. It might be that you need to eat MORE. But I can’t judge from what you said, so you should post more info.
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
DPH, I eat pretty clean and am a distance runner (for full story see my other thread) and am pudgy. So I’ve been curious if its more my diet than my exercise. I have begun doing sprint intervals vs. long distances and am trying different ratios with my eating now. I just know people that eat like crap but exercise a ton and look great or only watch their diet and don’t eat much and also look good.
Question based more on curiosity than anything. thanks again[/quote]
I’ll try to make this as simple as possible…
how I define clean eating: fresh vegetables (wide variety), fresh fruits (wide variety), lean protein sources, water…put fresh veggies on three quarters of your plate and lean protein source on one quarter…eat like this at least five times a day…eat mixed fruits instead of veggies in your post workout meal…
don’t starve yourself! eat whenever you’re hungry (but make damn sure that it’s at least five times a day)…DO NOT AVOID EATING…eat clean foods as described above…
bagels, cereal, breads, oatmeal, english muffin etc. is the kind of crap I eat to GAIN weight…dump all this shit if you’re trying to loose fat…
intensity of a workout is WAY the fuck more important than some arbitrary distance…three miles, eight miles, so what…start timing your runs…always trying to get a new personal time record for a certain distance…adding more distance instead of upping the intensity is the wrong way to go…pick a TIME (say fourty-five minutes) and do your best to increase the distance in that time…INTENSITY, INTENSITY, INTENSITY…if you’re not drenched in sweat during workout you’re not working hard enough…
supps: acidophilous, fish oil, olive oil, multi-vitamin…take these everyday…
don’t try to loose weight too quickly…no more than one pound per week…loosing more fat than that in a week and you’ll loose valuable muscle too (loosing too much muscle will shoot your metabolism to shit)…
the scale lies…water bloat (and possibly muscle gain) can fuck with your mind…you may have actually lost fat for a week but if you’re retaining water that day it’ll appear as though you’ve maybe even gained weight…I find that a mirror (photographs work great as a week to week mirrow comparison for yourself) is a much better guide than a weight scale…toss your scale out the window and buy yourself a full length mirrow and camera to take pics of yourself with…
set realistic short-term goals (short term goals lead up to big long term goals)…don’t ‘bit off more than you can chew’…
make it fun…challenge yourself…reward yourself with new outfits and shit like that when you reach various short term goals…
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL HAVE A WILL STRONG WILL TO SUCCEED…people desire all kinds of crap, but how many follow through with doing what it takes to attain what they want out of life? hardly anybody, don’t be one of those worthless pieces of shit…
nothing beats hard work…
good luck!
Working out hard is VERY important,but in the end it all boils down to one thing:
you are what you eat.
You’ll never gain mass without food.
Its also VERY important to note that the solid diet and programs have to fit your goals.
You could have a AWESOME training or diet program but it may not be worth a damn for the goals you have.
DPH, I don’t know which post was better, the first one or your 12 points! Both well put.
[quote]DPH wrote:
diet is more important than exersize…but exersizing vigorously helps a whole fucking lot…[/quote]
To the OP: As far as others getting results from only diet or eating like shit and looking great…genetics. This type of abuse of your body will catch up to most.
Women can get away with looking “thin” because of societies ideals, but men just look small.
Don’t mistake being thin for being in shape.
PS- As for being an endurance runner…sorry to hear that. 
Now we’re talking. Thanks peeps.
DPH, great list, thank you.
So for example, the other day, instead of doing intervals, I wanted to run straight out, but I know I needed to push it, so instead of doing a slowwww 6 miler I warmed up .5 miles than ran at a much faster clip than usual for me (not a sprint) but I WAS pouring sweat, for 2 miles and than cooled down, total of 3 miles. So the days I don’t do 400 sprints, is this a way to go? I’d like to alternate them instead of always doing sprints.
I totally get your clean eating thing, except the oatmeal. I eat that for breakfast every morning pre workout.
BAD?!
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
DPH, I eat pretty clean and am a distance runner (for full story see my other thread) and am pudgy. So I’ve been curious if its more my diet than my exercise. I have begun doing sprint intervals vs. long distances and am trying different ratios with my eating now. I just know people that eat like crap but exercise a ton and look great or only watch their diet and don’t eat much and also look good.
Question based more on curiosity than anything. thanks again[/quote]
Problem #1: You eat clean, but you’re not eating enough for the amount of activity you perform.
Problem #2: You rely on distance running as your main form of exercise and no weight training.
Problem #3: Some people have better genetics than others and can either eat bad foods or do everything wrong in the weight room and still make gains.
Ideally, you need a good nutritional plan and exercise routine to achieve your goals. As mentioned earlier, most people can’t out exercise their diet.
What you do in the gym for 3-5 hours a week is important, but it’s the other 163-165 hours a week outside the gym that will make the biggest difference.
P.S. You really need to add weights to your exercise routine. It’s the only thing that will help you build and maintain muscle mass so you don’t continue to get fatter.
Running and other forms of aerobic activity can be good for you, but they don’t do anything for your muscle mass. Notice how there are many overweight runners and bikers? They increase their distance or frequency over time, yet, they never seem to get in better physical shape. I see this all the time.
You have to build muscle in order to stay lean and mean. Muscle burns more calories than fat. It keeps you healthy. The body naturally loses muscle as we age, so you have to do something to make up for that (weight training).
And your diet will help influence those gains tremendously. 
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
So for example, the other day, instead of doing intervals, I wanted to run straight out, but I know I needed to push it, so instead of doing a slowwww 6 miler I warmed up .5 miles than ran at a much faster clip than usual for me (not a sprint) but I WAS pouring sweat, for 2 miles and than cooled down, total of 3 miles. So the days I don’t do 400 sprints, is this a way to go? I’d like to alternate them instead of always doing sprints.[/quote]
Where are the weights? Why are you so against using them? All the running and sprints in the world won’t help you gain or maintain muscle mass.
Yes, that’s a better plan. Intensity is key. But it’s not ideal.
[quote]I totally get your clean eating thing, except the oatmeal. I eat that for breakfast every morning pre workout.
BAD?![/quote]
My idea of bad foods is anything man-made, prepackaged, processed and full of salt, sugar and other crap.
Oatmeal (not the sugar-laden stuff in the packets) is a wonderful source of low-glycemic carbs. I would watch how much you eat, but if it’s just a cup or half a cup for breakfast, I don’t think it’s too big of a deal. Just be sure to eat some protein with it too.
However, if trying to lose fat, then I would watch where all your carbs are coming from. Like DPH said, eat fruits and veggies with every meal. Fill your plate with them. If you’re filling your plate with pasta, rice, bread, oatmeal, and other high carb sources, you may want to think twice.
I also know that you are eating too little for your level of activity. So, as DPH and others said, you’re probably starving your body, and it’s going to hold onto every ounce of fat until you do something about it (slowly increase calories).
Use the search engine to find Dr. John Berardi, he has a ton of articles here. Here is the link to his site:
Nate Dog, I DO lift weights, I lift heavy to. I am actually pretty strong for someone that has no interest in being huge and muscular (laughing) I get comments from people alot like “you lift weights huh?!”
So that point aside, thanks for the tips, I do have a question though.
If like DPH and others suggest that I mostly get my carbs from veggies and or low glycemic foods, but per DPH, just veggies and lean protien and than on the other hand, i"m being told I’m not eating enough, where in hell do I get all the calories from?! I mean if I Fiday vegetables and tuna and chicken, along with some olive oil and almonds, I’m lucky if it comes to 1000 calories a day???
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
Nate Dog, I DO lift weights, I lift heavy to. I am actually pretty strong for someone that has no interest in being huge and muscular (laughing) I get comments from people alot like “you lift weights huh?!”
So that point aside, thanks for the tips, I do have a question though.
If like DPH and others suggest that I mostly get my carbs from veggies and or low glycemic foods, but per DPH, just veggies and lean protien and than on the other hand, i"m being told I’m not eating enough, where in hell do I get all the calories from?! I mean if I Fiday vegetables and tuna and chicken, along with some olive oil and almonds, I’m lucky if it comes to 1000 calories a day???[/quote]
hey, I remembered this after I submitted my post last night…
when I found myself dropping weight too fast, I added in scoops of rice…remember, you don’t want to drop more than a pound a week if you are within ten to twenty pounds of your desired goal…add in scoops of rice to stop any weightloss free falls…
good luck!
LOL!! Omigosh, dropping weight is NOT my problem, remember?? I can’t lose weight.
So, DPH, how do I get the cals in eating just veges and lean protien and healthy oils?