kb44

If a person did no exercise and was losing weight .. What percentage more will they lose if they did 1 hour of workouts ?

Thanks Kevin

simonladen

If you workout pretty intensely for 1 hr, you normally burn about 400-500 calories as a very rough estimate. To lose 1 pound you need to burn 3500 calories, there abouts.

So that much...

Personally, working out not only makes you feel really good about yourself (managing stress, body image etc) but also allows you to actually eat a pretty normal diet. It allows some wiggle room as it were. This is a guy's perspective though.

almeeker

I'm with Simon on the working out and I'm not a guy. It's hard to say exactly how much extra you lose by adding workouts to your weight loss journey, because you reap what you sow and because as you build more muscle you also become more efficient at burning calories just moving around. But based on the above estimate for calorie burn, you would lose about an extra pound/week. Which may not sound like a lot, but it would be an extra 52 pounds in a year, so count me in baby!

midwestj

Kevin,

I agree with the above posters, it will probably help you lose around an extra lb a week. If you workout 3 days a week and then do some light exercise on the other 4 days you will burn roughly an extra 3500 cals which is 1 pound. I don't know what you are referring to when you say exercise, but I would start a strength training program as strength training is the only way to really improve your muscle to fat ratio. Do some high intensity interval training for cardio on your workout days. For off days 30 min of light cardio is fine.

You can lose weight dieting, but it is harder to improve body composition by only dieting. Your body will eat your own muscle along with your fat, so you might be losing weight but it won't get you the physique you are most likely after. You will be losing lean mass and fat mass.

To really improve your body comp you NEED to start utilizing some form of strength training. This will help you maintain your lean mass and depending on how you are eating and how hard you are training you will build more lean mass, along with calorie restriction you will be shedding fat. Put those together and you have a powerful combination to transform your body. Weight training also causes you to burn additional calories for up to 48 hours or something, they call it after-burn.

And like the above posters said it just makes you feel good about yourself. You will be pooped after a workout but in general you are going to have more and more energy. Developing core strength (abs and back) is also a great way to get rid of back problems.

rpmcduff

I agree with Midwestj,
I read about a study in Muscle & Fitness magazine that said that those who diet without exercise could see as much as 75% of their weight loss from muscle and only 25% from fat. I want to lose fat not muscle. Besides I feel better when I exercise. So even if you lost the same amount of weight by dieting alone, you wouln't look as good as if you had exercised.

fital

def add in exercise...raises metabolism throughout the day. Increases seratoin levels for a feel good buzz ( more you exercise the greater the feel good effect) also will help when you switch to maintenance mode. just don't go too hard to start, build up slowly, find something you like. I love yoga addresses the body, mind and spirit. good luck!

kb44

Thank you all very much, I have been doing 20 minutes on the Nordic Trac 3 days a week and walk 30 min during lunch everyday and trying to keep my calories under 1400 a day .Some days I will get it between 1100-1200. Usually one day a week I will hit 1700 calories a day.
My weight was 327lb but now it 302 . I have been using the Fitday program for 3 months as of the 28th of July.
I guess the question to really Exercise or Not was to see if I should try to really do more at my weight or take it slowly for a while so I don’t injury a knee or something else. Then pick up the pace later. I will keep you inform later . This is a great site with great people… Kevin

mtlgirl

So does this mean that if I burn 500 calories per day, over a week (7 days) that would be 3500 calories so I'd lose an extra pound that week?

It is hard time-wise to burn 500 calories per day, every single day of the week but I am going to try it for next week because I am so tired of not losing more than 1 little old pound every week. I currently exercise for 3 hours per week. I do intense 20-40 minute workouts 6X week but I am going to increase it this week to see if I get an extra pound off!

midwestj

kb44, try doing some of that cardio on a stationary bike if you want to up the intensity. The way to do this is to increase the resistance, not speed, and thats much easier on your knees then running/jogging. Try looking for a high intensity interval program, that will help boost your fat loss. Also try looking into some bodyweight workout routines, you'd be surprised how good of a workout they can be, and most can be done at home.

midwestj

Its much easier to just cut out 500 calories from your diet a day than try to burn it from exercise. 3 days a week of hard training is enough plus some physical activity on your off days.