Which would you prefer: cutting down your diet or doing an exercise without cutting down your diet?

Discussion in Sports & Fitness started by 003 • Dec 17, 2014.

  1. 003

    003Well-Known Member

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    Personally I prefer doing an exercise without cutting down my diet because it both feels good to eat and to do the exercise. It's really rewarding to exercise and at the same to it. And cutting down your diet, or not eating the foods that you like is really depressing, so why resort to it, when there is another alternative that is fun, right?
     
  2. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I'd rather cut down on my diet which I do from time to time anyway. I don't mind exercise, but I don't enjoy it as much as I used to and find it a chore. I prefer walks or a short run to anything else, because it's not fun. I like swimming every now and then, but usually after exercising I am so hungry and feel I deserve a treat so it undoes all the good I have done sometimes.
     
  3. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    Because eating properly isn't just about not being fat, it's about being healthy. Being healthy should be first and foremost for everyone and when you eat with it in mind, you get the best of both worlds. I'm not sure why a future of illness is ok to everyone as long as they're not fat in the process. Ask everyone who grew up eating what they want and ended up with very very uncomfortable health issues (and death) because of it. Most adults past a certain age (and now many children) are suffering from one thing or another due to how they ate up until the moment they were diagnosed. There isn't always a warning other than the ones you're reading right now. No sign it's coming, just someone warning you and you ignoring it lol. You can wait until then to change, but many illnesses are for life once you've pushed your body that far. Many people aren't even lucky enough to get their first symptoms. They just drop dead. No chance to change. Your body accumulates what you're doing to it, it doesn't just happen.. it waits and grows and then at some point it catches up and you'll regret looking at food the way you do now.

    When I stopped eating the typical processed diet and got used to it.. it wasn't like torture at all. I finally realized what an addict I was to put it before my health and well being. Now I have a huge appreciation for real foods, can't stand the thought of what I used to eat and I look and feel great. I can eat as much as I want without torturing myself with calories and how much I have to work off, don't have to worry about fat or boring exercise. Exercise is mandatory.. but I no longer feel the need to do a certain amount and push myself (it's still stress on the body.. and stress is stress). Exercise should be fun and not something you set out to do and obsess over. It should just be a part of your every day. Playing, walking, exploring, sports etc. I will never miss the days my life revolved around what went into my mouth. Now I eat till I'm full, what I want, when I want, and there is no more thought about it until I come here and everyone asks how to lose weight while still eating garbage lol.

    You may enjoy it as you're chewing, but that shouldn't be worth your life. It's not normal that we've come to think and act this way.
     
    #3Dec 17, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2014
  4. Squigly

    SquiglyActive Member

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    Probably doing exercise, I think that adhering to a strict diet can be very boring. It's alright to have a steak or some pizza sometime in my opinion, so long as your output equals your input you won't gain weight!
     
  5. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    I'm with you on that. Because I love food too much, and wouldn't sacrifice it for anything. Dieting really isn't for me. So I'd much rather eat whatever I like whenever the fancy takes me (in moderation, of course!) and do some exercises to balance it out. My personal thing that I do is eat everything I like in moderation, and do a little workout to burn it off. That works well for me :)
     
  6. lemony

    lemonyMember

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    I definitely believe that the amount of food one consumes should be proportional to the amount of workout one does. If I were to cut down on my diet, I would most definitely cut down on my workout as well. One needs to have the energy to work up a sweat as well as burn off the remaining calories needed to be shed off. Plus, working out without the proper amount of food is basically just starving your body, which is not good at all. The body goes into starvation mode instead of building it into a healthy one.
     
  7. Webene

    WebeneMember

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    If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a net caloric deficit. As you mentioned, you can diet down or increase exercise. I think to successfully lose weight, or more specifically burn fat, I prefer to actually do both. Diet is extremely important to stay healthy, and an extreme diet is not good for you metabolism, just like too much food will make you overweight. It is a lot easier to diet to sustain a deficit in my opinion because overeating takes far too much exercise to actually burn off. Although, exercise is also really important to sustain muscle mass, keep up the metabolism, among other benefits. So, I believe to be successful both a diet and exercise needs to be done to lose weight.
     
  8. troutski

    troutskiWell-Known Member

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    Why not just eat a decently healthy diet and exercise regularly? Neither of these tasks are hard to maintain indefinitely. You're only going to hurt your health by exercising more but eating less healthy or eating more healthy and not exercising much at all. There's no point to doing one and not the other when it comes to eating properly and exercising. If you're not doing both, then you're being lazy and throwing your health away.
     
  9. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    The second option, exercising without cutting down one's diet, is more preferable. I try to minimize my intake of carbohydrates, sugar, sodium and fat-rich foods once in a while, but whenever someone invites me to an eating session, I can't turn the person down. Even when I'm alone, I suddenly feel pangs of hunger and end up buying snacks from random stores. I figured that rather than deprive myself, I should just work hard to burn the calories stuck in my body. I also drink herbal supplements to keep healthy.
     
  10. happyshopper

    happyshopperActive Member

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    I would prefer doing an exercise without cutting down my diet because when your active you burn whatever it is you ate. In the past I danced a few times a week at a dance studio and I could eat anything I wanted without gaining weight due to the fact that dancing kept me in shape. I'm also health conscious and like to eat lots of vegetables and fruits but I'll splurge sometimes for the holidays or other special events.
     
  11. hellavu

    hellavuActive Member

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    I do both; they're not really alternatives (except if you just mean "to make sure that the calory balance is stable", which is trivial), they're complements. If any seems easier than the other in a way that makes people just want to go for one, I'd say go for whatever seems easier, up to the point when it's such a deep rooted habit that you could not imagine life without it -- and then add the other in, since the first does not need any special "effort" to sustain anymore. Tada!
     
  12. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    I am going to be the rebel that I have always been and pick both, although I have never had to cut down my diet. I have had to pick and choose what was best for my body. But as far as the quantity of how much I eat, I have never had to cut down. I don't work out that much, and when I do it happens in sporadic bursts. I think that eating well and working out go hand in hand, and are both essential in order to keep a healthy body and mind.
     
  13. Feneth

    FenethActive Member

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    I maintain a diet that works for me and get regular exercise. BUT if I had to pick one, I would exercise alone. I don't eat a lot of junk at home but I love eating out. They type of calorie deficit I would need to maintain without exercise to balance things out would mean too much restriction for me. I don't mind a little bit long term and self control; the exercise helps make it only a little bit.
     
  14. Sunflogun

    SunflogunActive Member

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    Now this is an entertaining question! :) From the health point of view I would definitely prefer to eat what I want and work out more, but from the economic perspective it does make more sense to eat less and exercise less as well, unless we are exercising at home or outdoors cost free.
     
  15. egrocket

    egrocketNew Member

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    It is easier for me just to exercise because I love food.:) Also exercise, is easy and fun for me. I tend to eat a lot and then start playing a basketball game or something of that extent. I still try to find the right foods but I just eat a lot of them!
     
  16. Jannnnjan

    JannnnjanActive Member

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    It is a vicious circle - if you have a poor diet then you will not have the energy to exercise. I thought I was eating reasonably healthily but still did not have the energy to do exercise. Then I cut down on refined sugar and found that I had more energy and now exercise regularly.
    If you look at food items in a supermarket you will see that there is aisle after aisle of food stuffs that are loaded with refined sugar. We are being set up for a sugar addiction which is unhealthy and zaps energy.
     
  17. Nickchick

    NickchickWell-Known Member

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    I would rather eat what I want without any health complications. I don't think it's fair because it's not like I binge eat. I don't eat that much in general and I don't stay away from all healthy things (I like celery for example but it seems like every time I eat it plain I feel more hungry). Also I don't drink much caffeine anymore or do any drugs in general. I avoid medication like it's the plague because it has no necessary function like food does. Now of course you don't live to eat you eat to live but I believe in life you should be able to enjoy everything you do. Just because eating is a biological need does that mean we shouldn't be able to enjoy it?
    Idk it's one thing to never watch what you eat but it's another thing to be paranoid and eat something you don't like just because what you like could kill you when life itself can kill you. This is just a hypochondriac's opinion I guess. I worry enough about my health.
    I could always find an exercise I like (I dance) but there is no substitute for the foods I do eat. I know it sounds stupid but the thought of changing my diet completely makes me not want to eat at all. It feels too controlled. Isn't our preference for food part of what makes us who we are? Why do I have to be something I'm not?
     
  18. hayrake

    hayrakeActive Member

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    I tend to change my diet around a bit without actually cutting down so much on intake. I just try to watch what I take in and I exercise a lot anyway, but when I want to lose a bit I might run a little farther, etc, in conjunction with paying more attention to the types of foods I'm taking in.

    I guess that means I tend to work it a bit on both ends.
     
  19. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I eat normally and stay active. I don't diet, so if I didn't exercise I'd probably get pretty fat.