3 ms·

Yeah... I don't know that it is that simple. In the summer when I bike twenty miles a day, I am eating far more, and still losing weight. Don't get me wrong,

by taeric 5y ago

Yeah... I don't know that it is that simple. In the summer when I bike twenty miles a day, I am eating far more, and still losing weight. Don't get me wrong, I know that the easiest way to lose weight is to limit calorie consumption. I also know that a buffet of 1800 calories going to a bike ride helps a ton.

dahart 5y ago
I agree, maybe you got me a little wrong. I’m more or less talking about the good ol’ adage calories in, calories out. It’s never that simple, amen, but measuring and matching output with intake is a pretty good proxy and works in practice. When calories out is higher, calories in can be higher too (and should be for big exercises). My problem was unregulated calories in, and a tendency to overcompensate a bit.
- taeric 5y ago
  Certainly agreed that compensation for exercise is a dangerous and likely way to gain weight. Is why, in the winter, I have a tendency to gain weight... :)
- parineum 5y ago
  > It’s never that simple The details might differ some but the overall advice is the same. If you want to lose weight, eat less. If you want to be in better shape, exercise. If you want to improve your health, change your diet (and probably exercise). A big issue is that people conflate those three objectives. Being skinny doesn't mean you're healthy and exercising doesn't mean you'll lose weight. I exercise quite a bit and have always had an extra 10-15 lbs up until semi-recently when I put those three things together and quit eating so much. I still eat plenty of junk food and I've lost about 20 lbs and kept it off. If you're unhappy with your weight, eat less. If that doesn't work, eat less. Some people might have an easier or harder time with that because we're all different but the advice is the same.
gameswithgo 5y ago
its possible to work out enough that compensative eating is not possible, but very few people work out that much, and some people have amazing eating powers, such that even riding a bike 50 miles a day isn’t enough to stop them being fat unless they also count calories.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  Riding a bicycle? It's roughly 5x more efficient than running or walking. If you want to lose weight from cycling, you're going to have ride significantly further than 50 miles a day.
  - taeric 5y ago
    I successfully lost weight at only twenty miles a day. Now... For a time, that also included Queen Anne Hill, in Seattle. So a decent amount of climbing. Still, I could lose weight easily while biking.
    - QuercusMax 5y ago
      I lost weight on 15-20 miles per day as well. Also have lost a bunch of weight (or at least replaced fat with muscle) from just doing 10-15 minutes of PT exercises (strength training, stretching, and yoga) plus walking an extra mile or two per day.
  - nightski 5y ago
    It has very little to do with distance. I lose weight much faster with hiit than riding long distance.
    - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
      "much faster" is ambiguous here. Ride 150 miles a day every day for a week, don't over-eat, and you will lose much more weight than you ever could from HIIT. On the other hand, that's a lot of hours, and HIIT will easily win in terms of weight-loss per unit time.
anchochilis 5y ago
Yeah, for a few years in my 20s I was bike commuting 24 miles/day and running 6-10 miles/day on top of that, with longer runs or hikes on the weekends. I was in the best shape of my life, felt great and ate whatever I wanted without thinking about it. BUT I was spending 4 hours per day exercising. Now I have a 6 week old baby and WFH... I manage a 30 minute Peloton a few times a week. Maybe. Even though I try to pay attention the pounds have crept on because there's so little margin for error on 1500 calories/day. Calorie counting is no way to live, IMO. I miss the days of a long run and guilt-free cheese and beer after :)
- taeric 5y ago
  Some of that is just being in your twenties. :). Pretty sure just thinking of a hike lost weight back then.
  - recursive 5y ago
    I picked up biking in my 20s, and was slimmer than I was in my teens. That's with no intentional change to diet. No one will ever be able to convince me that you can't lose weight with exercise. When I was doing ~90 minutes of cardio a day, it was impossible not to notice.

by taeric 5y ago

dahart 5y ago

I agree, maybe you got me a little wrong. I’m more or less talking about the good ol’ adage calories in, calories out. It’s never that simple, amen, but measuring and matching output with intake is a pretty good proxy and works in practice. When calories out is higher, calories in can be higher too (and should be for big exercises). My problem was unregulated calories in, and a tendency to overcompensate a bit.

taeric 5y ago
Certainly agreed that compensation for exercise is a dangerous and likely way to gain weight. Is why, in the winter, I have a tendency to gain weight... :)
parineum 5y ago
> It’s never that simple The details might differ some but the overall advice is the same. If you want to lose weight, eat less. If you want to be in better shape, exercise. If you want to improve your health, change your diet (and probably exercise). A big issue is that people conflate those three objectives. Being skinny doesn't mean you're healthy and exercising doesn't mean you'll lose weight. I exercise quite a bit and have always had an extra 10-15 lbs up until semi-recently when I put those three things together and quit eating so much. I still eat plenty of junk food and I've lost about 20 lbs and kept it off. If you're unhappy with your weight, eat less. If that doesn't work, eat less. Some people might have an easier or harder time with that because we're all different but the advice is the same.

gameswithgo 5y ago

its possible to work out enough that compensative eating is not possible, but very few people work out that much, and some people have amazing eating powers, such that even riding a bike 50 miles a day isn’t enough to stop them being fat unless they also count calories.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
Riding a bicycle? It's roughly 5x more efficient than running or walking. If you want to lose weight from cycling, you're going to have ride significantly further than 50 miles a day.
- taeric 5y ago
  I successfully lost weight at only twenty miles a day. Now... For a time, that also included Queen Anne Hill, in Seattle. So a decent amount of climbing. Still, I could lose weight easily while biking.
  - QuercusMax 5y ago
    I lost weight on 15-20 miles per day as well. Also have lost a bunch of weight (or at least replaced fat with muscle) from just doing 10-15 minutes of PT exercises (strength training, stretching, and yoga) plus walking an extra mile or two per day.
- nightski 5y ago
  It has very little to do with distance. I lose weight much faster with hiit than riding long distance.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    "much faster" is ambiguous here. Ride 150 miles a day every day for a week, don't over-eat, and you will lose much more weight than you ever could from HIIT. On the other hand, that's a lot of hours, and HIIT will easily win in terms of weight-loss per unit time.

anchochilis 5y ago

Yeah, for a few years in my 20s I was bike commuting 24 miles/day and running 6-10 miles/day on top of that, with longer runs or hikes on the weekends. I was in the best shape of my life, felt great and ate whatever I wanted without thinking about it. BUT I was spending 4 hours per day exercising. Now I have a 6 week old baby and WFH... I manage a 30 minute Peloton a few times a week. Maybe. Even though I try to pay attention the pounds have crept on because there's so little margin for error on 1500 calories/day. Calorie counting is no way to live, IMO. I miss the days of a long run and guilt-free cheese and beer after :)

taeric 5y ago
Some of that is just being in your twenties. :). Pretty sure just thinking of a hike lost weight back then.
- recursive 5y ago
  I picked up biking in my 20s, and was slimmer than I was in my teens. That's with no intentional change to diet. No one will ever be able to convince me that you can't lose weight with exercise. When I was doing ~90 minutes of cardio a day, it was impossible not to notice.