Which of these is correct?

[SilentShadow]

Does what you eat matter most, or how much you eat (in terms of weight loss)? Feel free to leave details. :)

What you eat matters the most!

Portion size matters the most!

[ak666]

I still think exercise matters most.

I just ate mostly what I wanted (but not too much junk) and I'm one of those people said had a "super fast metabolism".

However, I did intense exercise for several hours each day every weekday (vert skateboard).

I don't think restricting portion size is a good idea when weight loss is your goal. It may sometimes be good for the longest possible life (hara hachi bu, eating to 80% satisfaction), but not when your goal is to look your best.

[ak666]

For example, let's say person A has been sprinting as fast as they can for an hour a day multiple times a week -- lung-exploding exercise. And they've been doing this for 5 years, but their diet is all over the place and includes a bit of junk.

Then let's say another person, B, has been dieting for 5 years but has not done much strenuous exercise at all, or only light exercise like walking which never reached a very high intensity level.

My money is on the person A to still have much lower body fat.

[SilentShadow]

I'm not active, so that is why I would consider restricting. The only thing I do to raise my metabolism is drink water, oolong tea, and green tea. I don't enjoy exercising.

[ak666]

>> I don't enjoy exercising.

It would make it so much easier if you could find something you enjoy. Just running for the sake of getting fit is difficult to motivate yourself. It's why skateboarding vert was so effective for me. I just love it. It's not exercise, it's the most fun thing in the world to me, like flying.

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Maybe you can find something like this you absolutely love that involves exercise but it's not the main point -- just "fun" -- tennis, kickboxing classes, aerobics classes, dance lessons, bicycling, rollerblading everywhere, etc.

[DarkHumorRUs]

Are you people serious?
All that matters is that you burn a certain amount more calories than you consume. That is how you lose weight.

You could eat 1500 calories worth of donuts every day, and if you burn more calories than that every day, you'll lose weight. You'll be lacking most of the nutrients and shit you need throughout the day, but you'll lose weight.

So that's portion size.

[ak666]

I put "what you eat" because if someone eats to the point of satisfaction but it consists of junk instead of healthy food, probably they'll end up consuming way more calories than if they changed what they were eating.

[cheeseysouffle]

For weight loss it's how much you eat but for your health it's what you eat. Theoretically you could consume only ice cream and still lose weight.

However vegetables and plant stuff tends to have less calories so you can have a huge portion with lower calories.

[KittieCat]

I'd say whay you eat. You could eat leaves all day to no end and lose weight. You could have a friend twinkie and already go over your daily allowance

[SilentShadow]

What if the bad food you're wanting to eat is under your daily allowance? Could you eat a bowl of chips or a few cookies and still lose weight?

[KittieCat]

You could.. would be rather restrictive on portions with other meals I'd say avoid it

[Regulatus]

Yes, but if you are eating garbage instead of wholesome foods, you could lose a lot of muscle instead of just fat.

[Xfitchick]

Balance is more important, but you need enough of every component to feed your body (calories, proteins, vitamins, metals, ...)

[Anonymous]

What you are putting in your body matters most, but things in moderation is also a good rule to go by.

[Mesonfielde]

You should eat a lot of delicious, healthy food