When I exercise, I don’t lose weight. But when I stop exercising and just eat less, I lose weight

[toliveischrist]

@woollybear Same girl

 

[turnip]

@woollybear I was actually learning about this exact phenomenon earlier from a PhD researcher who then also cross examines other published studies. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

 

[woollybear]

@turnip Thanks! You linked the same video twice though

I’m especially interested in the healthy food/hunger hormones one

 

[turnip]

@woollybear

This should be the right one. Sorry about that!

 

[religionpsych]

@woollybear I wish I had advice but I’m in the same boat. Last year I lost 20lbs just by walking and didn’t change my diet at all. I started lifting weights again and have regained the 20lbs I’m feeling super discouraged! I’ve always been a gym girly and I love lifting but I can’t stop eating when I lift. It’s truly a love/hate relationship!

 

[cosmobrain]

@religionpsych Im planning to get serious with strength training soon, was the weight you gained in the same places as when you weren't lifting?

 

[religionpsych]

@cosmobrain Seems like the weight went to the places where I usually gain. I can tell there’s a little bit more muscle though especially in my arms. Even though I weigh the same as before lifting, my arms don’t look as big as before but it’s minimal difference sadly

 

[billbennet]

@religionpsych Sorry if this is a stupid question, but were you consistently tracking your macros/calories during both times?

 

[kacy28]

@religionpsych I lost 20 pounds last year also when I stopped working out for a few months and ate less. Getting back into yoga classes and the gym but I’m worried I’m going to gain it all back!

 

[knish]

@woollybear Yep same here. What I do is I just walk a bit and my job requires me to stay on my feet the whole day anyways, so I just eat 1200 calories and lose weight.

On my days off I work out a bit hard (strength training, no cardio) to keep my muscles toned and only that day I eat a bit more(protein mostly) because of course I’m hungrier. This allows me to keep my muscle mass and keep losing fat.

 

[pyramidions]

@woollybear Yes especially when I’m lifting I also get super bloated

 

[ktarra]

@woollybear Have you tried Pilates? You might like it bc it doesn’t rly make you hungry but still gives some nice definition

 

[cph]

@woollybear I strength train and exercise but don’t worry about food or protein. The closest I get is I don’t eat processed food and make sure I include fruit and vegetables. I’m still very muscular and my body shape does change with the work I’m putting in. I exercise so I can be physically capable, the physique is just a bonus. I try to focus on what I can do and not what I look like.

 

[woollybear]

@cph Love that for you but my personal preference is looking a certain way

 

[whothesonsetsfreeisfree]

@woollybear I can totally relate and I’m going for the lean European look, not the muscular look. Anecdotally I also do not lose weight when exercising because I’m hungry. My girlfriend and I started a journey to lean out with 2 different approaches. I exercised, ate super clean and counted my calories. She did zero exercise, didn’t change her diet, didn’t count calories but just cut portions. She dropped 20kg and I dropped 2! She looks amazing, toned and lean. She said it was so easy while I’m over here hating the whole process. I have constant food thoughts and spend my days focusing on macros, calories etc. No exercise and eating foods she likes worked for her

 

[testament7]

@woollybear But your workout is not going to waste if you don't hit your protein goal for the day. Your muscles still got stimulus to get bigger. Protein helps maximize thr effectiveness, but if you got 80% of the effect and don't force yourself to eat stuff that you don't even want and is over your goal, isn't that much better?

 

[woollybear]

@testament7 What if I were to hypothetically only eat 25% of my protein goal for the day. Would the muscles still be able to grow or at least maintain so they don’t disappear during a calorie deficit?

 

[testament7]

@woollybear Not sure how high your protein goal is, most small women would not really miss any gains with like 80g. It's all just different stimuluses: deficit makes your body want to eat up muscle, resistance training makes it want to increase it, protein also signals that it should build. If you eat that way anyway, working out can still only help, whether that means build, maintain, or lose less muscle.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11730397/ This study shows that on a VERY low protein diet people still got more muscular and stonger if they did resistance training vs those that didn't. There is no point where your workout is just worth 0 effect because you didn't get enough protein.

 

[woollybear]

@testament7 So say I were to eat very little, and didn’t track my protein but still did resistance training. Would that prevent me from losing muscle? So that way my body would eat the fat instead of the muscle even if I’m not eating much protein?

 

[testament7]

@woollybear Maybe not. But you would lose less muscle than if you didn't even resistance train.