Originally Posted by
terrymorse
I wouldn't be so unequivocal about that.
Studies suggest that exercise can have a real effect.
We are straying a bit from bike shops but that study seems to say a couple of things.
a. No change in diet
b. absent that, exercise was needed to reduce weight.
c. and that the caloric imbalance was small in the controls used.
So basically, if you are pretty close to neutral in calories in/calories out and don't change your diet - exercise will help lose weight. That is true but I suspect many people who need to lose weight are not that close to calorie neutral. I occasionally calculate this for myself and the portions/food types are pretty modest compared to the modern traditional western diet. In that case, diet plays the dominant role.
However, exercise does play a role I believe in creating a psychological/lifestyle approach that influences food choices (tend to think more about the fuel choices) and increases base metabolism somewhat. On the flip side, exercise can sometimes stimulate overeating as a response. Lots of pro/college era athletes go to pot after retirement because of skewed mental imaging regarding normalized food volume consumption.
Apologies for the thread derailment
