General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Can you exercise away a bad diet? Rss Feed  
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2015-08-25 10:20 AM

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Subject: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
I have puzzled over this for a long while:

I generally eat healthy- vegetarian (which I know DOES NOT automatically mean healthy), focus on on whole foods, careful about protein sources (I try to stick to whole sources vs. supplements etc.)- however I have a few weaknesses- hummus/ wheat thins, good beer, peanut butter, chocolate, and carbs are my major offenders. Anyway, the question is, if I train between 12-15 hours a week will my vices outweigh the exercise as far as weight loss and fitness?


2015-08-26 7:45 AM
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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
I think the answer to that as far as weight goes is very individual. I train about the same amount when I'm seriously preparing for a longer event, and, while my diet is generally healthy, I definitely don't deprive myself of the foods I enjoy, which include (dark) chocolate, butter on my bread (though I don't eat much bread), the occasional steak, probably one batch of fries per week, omelettes for weekend breakfasts, peanut butter, etc. I find that my weight stays about the same really no matter what I eat at that level of training. Maybe it's just that with a generally healthy diet, those "treats" aren't really adding any calories that I'm not burning off. To really put on noticeable weight, I would have to cut back my training substantially, say well below 10 hours a week, maybe 6 or 7, or stuff myself with more/more fattening food than I really want to eat. But I'm naturally thin, so it might work differently for others.

I have a friend who trained for the same HIM last year. She's vegetarian, and more of nutritional purist than me, though not fanatical about it. She also has a naturally slender build and really struggled to keep her weight up, to the point where she was having some related health issues, despite being slightly heavier than me (same height), probably with slightly higher body fat, and training somewhat fewer hours per week. So maybe for the naturally skinny, those "weaknesses" actually are helpful, in keeping energy input and output in balance, as long as one's basic diet is healthy. I know others, though, who despite training for iron distance still struggle to control their weight. So maybe they have to work harder on keeping to healthy basics and reigning in the extra treats. Life, I guess, is not fair. For everyone, though, focusing on having a basically healthy day to day diet and keeping the treats as "healthy" as possible (i.e. whole grains, natural peanut butter, dark chocolate) is probably a more useful goal than being "perfect".

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-08-26 7:47 AM
2015-08-26 2:08 PM
in reply to: mtrunner6

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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
I agree that the answer will vary from one person to the next. Your vices sound pretty modest to me. I don't think it's healthy to try to be too puritanical and then get uptight when you stray - especially if your overall habits are generally good. It's just not sustainable to always deprive yourself. Don
2015-08-29 10:26 AM
in reply to: donw


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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
Originally posted by donw

I agree that the answer will vary from one person to the next. Your vices sound pretty modest to me. I don't think it's healthy to try to be too puritanical and then get uptight when you stray - especially if your overall habits are generally good. It's just not sustainable to always deprive yourself. Don


What he said. Your vices are pretty mild anyway. Mine are beer, oreos, the occasional cheeseburger and donuts. Part of the reason I train is so I CAN enjoy those things once in awhile. As long as your weight isn't wildly fluctuating your fine.
2015-09-04 1:24 PM
in reply to: turnip13

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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?

Maybe to a point but it is FAR to involved for a simple answer.

I'm no expert, but I have spent almost 6 months working with a nutritionist and researching the effects of food (sugar, protein, fats) and realize what you eat may be even MORE important than we believed.  I also think we have been conditioned to think the wrong way and calories is not just a calorie and calories in vs calories out is far too simplistic (and wrong).

If pressed?  I would answer NO.  Exercise can possibly limit the effects of bad diet, but even that wears out.

I used to eat what I wanted.  Sugar, carbs, junk food, etc.  Figured I was training for Ironman all the time, that should take care of it.  Funny thing is, never really made improvements, lost that weight, or lost body fat

Worked with a nutritionist, dumped the sugar and processed carbs which keeps blood sugar lower WHICH avoids spikes in insulin WHICH makes your body burn FAT instead of blood sugars for energy -  I work out far less, eat MORE (of the good stuff) lose weight, getting ripped, getting stronger...

I would even say diet could be MORE important for some things that pure exercise.  Sugar/carbs/processed food and high blood sugar?  POISON.  It's making us fat and unhealthy as a nation - I can point you to many great documentaries if you want to know more.

 

 

2015-09-06 1:34 AM
in reply to: Kido

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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
True--though OP was asking about weight and fitness. In the short-term, given the right genetics and enough training, one can probably exercise away the weight effects of a less than perfect diet. (To be fair, OP's diet, and mine, sounds pretty clean compared to most Americans.) In terms of long-term health and possibly even optimum performace (which is not just a matter of ideal weight but also things like optimizing recovery and immune function), proper diet becomes more important. When I make an effort to reign in my diet, it's less due to concerns about weight (just isn't an issue for me when training hard) but more about staying healthy both in the short and long term.

It's particularly dangerous to assume that one is immune from things like heart disease simply because one is an endurance athlete--there are lots of famous examples of people who found out the hard way that wasn't true. many such conditions have a strong genetic component--dietary flaws that might be no big deal for someone with better genes might doom someone with more risk factors, regardless of activity level. So the answer is going to be very individual in terms of both weight and overall health. Nonetheless, there has to be a balance between eating a healthy diet and obsessing about minor "transgressions". Maybe it's just my perspective as a female athlete in sports where disordered eating is so common--there's a fine line between taking care of oneself and being too obsessive. I know a lot of athletes of both genders who have at times crossed that line to the detriment of both physical and mental health.


2015-09-07 7:32 AM
in reply to: mtrunner6

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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
I think that many of the foods that have been mentioned as vices and indulgences are good choices to eat every day. (E.g. hummus, peanut butter, whole grains, carbs). People that don't have a problem with weight gain (and I'm lucky enough to be one of them) may be able to put beer and chocolate on the every day list.

I don't like to classify foods as healthy or unhealthy. I prefer broad classifications based on the amount that I try to eat. E.g.
I generally eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day.
I eat ice cream occasionally.
Admittedly here are some things that I believe are unhealthy and should be avoided... added sugars and man-made fats are two that come to mind.

The OP's question is "can you exercise away a bad diet?" and frankly I don't claim to know the answer to that question.

However, what the OP describes does not sound like a bad diet - it sounds like pretty sensible diet. And in my opinion sensible is a better goal than perfect when it comes to eating. Sensible suggests sustainable lifestyle choices while perfect suggests a DIET. And diets seldom work in the long term.

For the OP - you might want to read "Racing Weight" and/or "Diet Cults" by Matt Fitzgerald.
Don
2015-09-09 11:29 AM
in reply to: mtrunner6


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Subject: RE: Can you exercise away a bad diet?
I don't know of any large, high-powered study that has looked at the impact of exercise vs. poor diet over time on chronic disease, because such a study would be hard and tremendously expensive to design (it's hard to find a large population of people who exercise routinely at high intensity over long periods of time - i.e. decades AND eat poorly throughout that period; face it, health behaviors cluster). Keep in mind, however, that as chronic disease risk goes I would say food generally has a bigger impact than activity because the effects of food are continuous, while the training effects of exercise taper 4-6 hrs after you are done working out.

A few of those foods you mentioned - hummus, peanut butter, are really not problematic. Chocolate, depends how much. Beer, depends how much again (although I am of the school of thought that the ideal level of alcohol is zero); some beers have as much alcohol as wine. Not sure what you mean by "carbs" because that could be anywhere from steel-cut oatmeal to glucose syrup. I dislike using the term "moderation" because it is so relative.

What you should ask yourself is if your diet meets the hallmarks of a healthy diet pattern; plant-based, stressing whole/minimally processed foods, with meat/fish at the margins and variety within these. The more variety, the better. If you ask me, foods like concentrated sweets (pie/cake/soda/juice/etc.) and other "junk" foods (pizza, etc.) should be treats. The definition of that is up to you, ultimately, but I would say <1/wk. My personal preference is fruit because it has complexity of flavor as opposed to cake, which is just sweet. If your diet is hitting this mark most of the time, the occasional cake/pizza is really not of concern.
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