Comic Strips

I've learned that cardio can work, but there's also a lot of truth to that "you can't outrun a bad diet" saying. Like you said, your body can subtly undermine your work by making you more hungry, and it can also cause you to be less active in between exercise without realizing it.

basically all cardio machines at the gym are going to be boring as all hell, going outside and doing activities is a lot more fun

I have health issues so I can no longer go biking outdoors, but I use the app KinoMap (like Peloton but without brand lock-in) to view POV video of bike trips and the app adjusts resistance over BT according to the road topology.

I pick out a map/video and internet radio or a playlist from the country it is recorded. It makes exercise much easier and more fun for me and is way more engaging than staring at numbers on a display.

They also have videos for running trails and rowing and additional social media stuff that I am not interested in.

What is this "going outside" you are talking about? Sounds very interesting

Personally Ive never been able to lose weight except by eating less. Lost 8 pounds backpacking in 5 days once though, was probably atleast a 2k calorie deficit per day.

The boring as hell part can be managed with a smartphone and some movies.

Of course depending on the specific machine. Some are better for it than others.

I prefer elliptical machine as it spreads the load out all across the body and it's the easiest to manage the load with it to aim for some specific heart rate zones. At the same time i have almost 2(1+1) undistributed hours to watch whatever movie or TV show i want. More peaceful than watching those at home.

There's little to no evidence that cardio excerse leads to weight loss. Groups who restrict calorie intake alway out perform the exercise group in weight loss studies and there's never any significant difference between 2 groups who both restrict calories but one exercises and the other does not.

It's a fundamental misunderstanding of how we use glycogen for moving around and fat as an emergency reserve. If we remember that we evolved as persistence hunters, it starts to make more sense. I.E. what's the point in putting on a layer of fat for a winter reserve, if you could accidentally run it off chasing down a meal? Those that could run it off chasing down a meal didn't survive the hard winters and those that didn't lived.

The whole idea that you could do cardio to lose weight was invented by food producers to make people think they could treat their diet like a credit card and payback overspending with exercise. That way, we would eat more and they would make more money. It's also the reason it's called cardiovascular exercise and not weight-loss excersise.

if your aim is to use a lot of energy, dialing down the intensity significantly and working for a longer time is the way to go basically all cardio machines at the gym are going to be boring as all hell, going outside and doing activities is a lot more fun

If you are having enough fun, even high-intensity can be maintained far longer than you'd think possible when doing something that's engaging. Still, spending 1 hour in zone 4-5 is probably gonna burn less calories than a 1.5 hour workout centered on zone 3.

cardio as a means of losing weight has a downside in that vigorous exercise provokes a lot of hunger. make sure to combine with small sustainable changes in diet for best results

But what if you just work out so intensely, that you're too tired to eat? Its funny to me that the body can have like a 4K calorie deficit for the day and still just be like "No food. That's a problem for tomorrow. Sleep now." Probably a case where ignoring your body is a good idea.

even going for a walk is probably as effective

Speak for your fucking self. I run about as well as a 65 year old tractor left out in the sun

Yeah, long brisque walks and other low impact exercise helps your body's internal systems in ways that are more beneficial than just weight regulation. I started walking a couple miles every other day a month ago and despite not losing any significant weight yet I just sleep better, my digestive track is working better, and I just feel better overall.

Missed it due to weather the last few days and I clearly need to get out for a walk this evening.

Note: I feel miserable while I am doing the exercise, the good feeling is the rest of the day.

I can't pedal and write code at the same time. I can't focus and concentrate to read and understand things while trying to pedal, it's too distracting.