The exercise versus diet debate for weight loss pops up occasionally, and the entire framing feels wrong to me. I lost nearly 100 lbs, and I've kept it off for

The exercise versus diet debate for weight loss pops up occasionally, and the entire framing feels wrong to me. I lost nearly 100 lbs, and I've kept it off for five years now. Sample size of one, yes, but I've talked to a lot of other people who've gotten healthier, and they say similar things. It's not about the most effective way to reduce the number on the scale - I suspect most people prioritizing that will find middling success, and probably will see it reversed eventually. It's about understanding how our bodies work, why certain choices are healthier than others, and making the conscious decision to embrace a new lifestyle with all the personal costs and benefits that entails. If you do that, you will be improving your diet and also getting more exercise. You'll want to do both, and the question of how much of each contributes to the number on the scale vanishes as you feel better and better each month.