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Also, there is a group of people who decide to get fit by going crazy with exercise, but continuing to eat junk food. Diet is several orders of magnitude more i

Also, there is a group of people who decide to get fit by going crazy with exercise, but continuing to eat junk food. Diet is several orders of magnitude more important than any exercise, yet some people go to the gym everyday, followed by eating two burgers, followed by a pizza the next day etc. etc. And then they look in the mirror surprised they're not getting better.

Fricken 4y ago
Michael Phelps is the all-time most decorated Olympian and, when training, he consumes plenty of burgers and pizza. Absurd quantities, in fact. Exercise is far more critical to fitness than nuances of diet. Of course, for many "fit" simply means "not fat". https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/this-is-what-michael-phelps-olympic-diet-was-actually-like https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/this-is-what-michael-p...
- gonzo41 4y ago
  No it's less diet and more calories. Cyclists are usually rake thin from being in calorie deficit due to the workload they put in. Phelps would be the same. Swimming is hard work. It's generally easier to try and force the equation in favor of doing exercise rather than eating well. Generally I try and do this, I just do my baseline steps + cycling and try not to miss days and I can pretty much eat what I like. But when I'm loosing weight, I usually wake up really hungry and that's when I can tell the scale has tipped the other way into a calorie deficit.
  - yakubin 4y ago
    > It's generally easier to try and force the equation in favor of doing exercise rather than eating well. That's the first I'm hearing this opinion. I'd expect the opposite. It's definitely the opposite for me, because eating healthy is pleasurable, tasty. I'm a hedonist, so I love eating healthy. I do exercise everyday, with an odd missed day here and there, but much of the exercise is a battle of my will to keep pushing, soaked in sweat. Additionally, for exercise you need to find extra time in a day, whereas with food one way or another you're going to need to do that anyway.
    - gonzo41 4y ago
      For me, I like pizza, thus I know I have to work it off. I think about food that way. So I work on the exercise side of the equation.
      - yakubin 4y ago
        Fair enough.
- yakubin 4y ago
  Yes, by "fit" I meant "not fat". And if a person doesn't lose weight from the exercise, then I'd say it's a strong indicator their exercise isn't an Olympic level Michael Phelps training, which would give them the metabolism to counteract the effect of junk food. Even with heavy exercise, I have a strong suspicion your doctor wouldn't recommend you a diet like that. Just because by some miracle it works for one guy (and who knows what the consequences are going to be in a couple decades), doesn't mean it's good advice for the general populace.
- sn9 4y ago
  It's not exercise. It's the balance between calories consumed versus calories burned. Swimming famously burns an immense amount of calories both due to being an endurance sport as well just maintaining body temperature in a body of cool water.

Fricken 4y ago

Michael Phelps is the all-time most decorated Olympian and, when training, he consumes plenty of burgers and pizza. Absurd quantities, in fact. Exercise is far more critical to fitness than nuances of diet. Of course, for many "fit" simply means "not fat". https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/this-is-what-michael-phelps-olympic-diet-was-actually-like https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/this-is-what-michael-p...

gonzo41 4y ago
No it's less diet and more calories. Cyclists are usually rake thin from being in calorie deficit due to the workload they put in. Phelps would be the same. Swimming is hard work. It's generally easier to try and force the equation in favor of doing exercise rather than eating well. Generally I try and do this, I just do my baseline steps + cycling and try not to miss days and I can pretty much eat what I like. But when I'm loosing weight, I usually wake up really hungry and that's when I can tell the scale has tipped the other way into a calorie deficit.
- yakubin 4y ago
  > It's generally easier to try and force the equation in favor of doing exercise rather than eating well. That's the first I'm hearing this opinion. I'd expect the opposite. It's definitely the opposite for me, because eating healthy is pleasurable, tasty. I'm a hedonist, so I love eating healthy. I do exercise everyday, with an odd missed day here and there, but much of the exercise is a battle of my will to keep pushing, soaked in sweat. Additionally, for exercise you need to find extra time in a day, whereas with food one way or another you're going to need to do that anyway.
  - gonzo41 4y ago
    For me, I like pizza, thus I know I have to work it off. I think about food that way. So I work on the exercise side of the equation.
    - yakubin 4y ago
      Fair enough.
yakubin 4y ago
Yes, by "fit" I meant "not fat". And if a person doesn't lose weight from the exercise, then I'd say it's a strong indicator their exercise isn't an Olympic level Michael Phelps training, which would give them the metabolism to counteract the effect of junk food. Even with heavy exercise, I have a strong suspicion your doctor wouldn't recommend you a diet like that. Just because by some miracle it works for one guy (and who knows what the consequences are going to be in a couple decades), doesn't mean it's good advice for the general populace.
sn9 4y ago
It's not exercise. It's the balance between calories consumed versus calories burned. Swimming famously burns an immense amount of calories both due to being an endurance sport as well just maintaining body temperature in a body of cool water.