I found it very funny that I spent about 2 years eating less so I could get better at cycling, then suddenly had to start eating more, once I was down 50kg, because I was getting faint on very long cycles.
At some point you have to control your diet. But, if you can control your diet, the exersize clearly isn't a requirement.
Once you can run frequently without gorging afterwards, the extra 300-500 calorie buffer makes dieting a million times easier.
(Lost 35 pounds in 2024, 90% of it during weeks in which I ran consistently)
When you increase activity, over the course of weeks, the body adjusts and does everything it can to not touch those fat stores.
Case in point: women who exercise intensely experience a reduction in the production of sex hormones, as that is energy intensive.
> TT and FT began to decrease starting 12 weeks in both moderate and high intensity exercise groups. Most significant decrease was at 12 weeks in high intensity exercise group
Your body doesn't adjust endlessly. The technique to continue to shift body composition is called progressive overload, this isn't outdated and is the basis of most athletic training regimens.
Again I want to reiterate that no one is suggesting that diet isn't the foundation of fitness and controlling body composition. I am simply and factually stating that you can use exercise as a lever to achieve a calorie deficit. Arguing otherwise is to argue against thermodynamics, moving your body consumes energy and you body simple cannot achieve perfect efficiency.
Only that it's a minor contributor and I would argue that's the case.
One of your examples, swimming, will put on weight as it will builds muscle mass which obviously is heavier. But one of the side effects of this is that your appetite will increase. And without careful diet management it's very easy for this exercise to be a net negative.
Most people waste a shocking number of hours out of every day scrolling, watching TV etc, and just take it for granted as part of a "modern lifestyle", but it's just an optional way to spend time, and not very productive.
I have full time employment, a relationship, children, and manage to get our for 1hr of running almost every day. (And find time to debate with strangers on HN XD)
Sure, but what you want is more muscle mass and less visceral fat so that's exactly what your want. Raw mass is too coarse grained to tell you much.
People tend to offset that energy expenditure elsewhere in their life, often without being conscious of it. The body is really good at balancing out your energy consumption.
If I go for a 40 mile bike ride today then I'm pretty sure I'll zombie out in front of the TV tonight.
If you simply cut back on calories by 20% - 30%, your body will adjust to the new norm within a couple months, and you just expend 20% - 30% less energy. You have maintain some baseline activity levels in order to continue burning fat.