Q: Is it possible to make any fitness gains at all with just exercise and not changing diet? I admit, I struggle with cheating a lot. I eat good, frequent, meals every day, but I always cave in and eat crap on top of that. When I track typical days, I can see that I probably eat 2300-2400 calories, with a good portion of that being junk food. I've been exercising seriously (weights plus HIIT) for about 8 months, and while I'm not really shocked that my weight hasn't changed at all, I am kind of surprised that my bodyfat percentage hasn't gone down at all either. I'm also still the same pants size, and I look the same as I did in my lone before photo.
I know that getting my eating under control will help, but I guess I just hoped that I might lose, say, 5 lbs from exercise alone over the course of 8 months. I'm a size 16 in the neighborhood of 200 lbs. Body fat is at 36% - tested under the same conditions each time. I know all the basics, but even after all this time, I still have trouble with the application. Yikes. I'm honestly getting to the point where if I don't see some results, I want to just quit. Why do all that work if nothing changes, right?
A: You can't out train a bad diet. No matter how hard you work, how perfect your routine, how dedicated your daily effort, if there's no calorie deficit, nothing happens. Studies have shown that most people underestimate their calorie intake by 20-40%. So, if you're estimating 2300-2400, it's entirely possible that some days you're actually consuming as much as 2760-3360.
You're probably thinking that's really bad news, but the good news is that you're not gaining. You're eating a lot of food. You're eating all your favorite tasty crappy junk, and yet you gain no weight. That means your metabolism is ON FIRE. So, don't tell me nothing's happening. You're a human blast furnace, that's what's happening! Now you have three choices.
1) You can continue doing exactly what you're doing, eating exactly what you're eating, and taking great joy in the fact that your exercise program is effective enough that you're not gaining fat, even with all of your indulgences. Nothing wrong with deliberately hanging out in Maintenanceville from time to time.
2) You can make an adjustment or two, possibly make your portions a little smaller, eat a little less junk, step up the exercise intensity, and you'll start to see gradual but consistent fat loss.
