Diet vs Exercise – Which is More Important for Weight Loss?

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‘You can’t out-exercise a bad diet’ – because when it comes to looking out for your body, diet is key.

Diet vs Exercise – Both are critical to maintain healthy bodies

• You need both diet and exercise if you want to lose fat and gain some muscle. Nutritional habits have far greater impact on your body and health than just exercising. Both however play their own role in losing the weight and keeping it off. The ideal is to combine healthy nutrition with exercise. Doing both will produce even more success in attaining your body goals and losing weight.

• If you apply 80% nutrition and 20% exercise rule, it is very apparent which plays a bigger role in weight loss. Exercise is just not complete without healthy eating. There is even a possibility for weight gain if changes in diet are not put into place and you increase the amount of exercise you do–this is because exercising tends to make you hungrier as well! Changing your diet is very important because the equation for weight loss is simple — calories in should be less than calories out. Exercise, on the other hand, is very important to build and maintain muscle which helps the body burn more calories and stay healthy.

Simply, you are what you eat

• It might be nice to believe that you can make permanent weight loss changes to your body if you concentrate only on exercise, but that is far from the truth. If you want to lose weight, then exercise and diet together will yield the best results.
• While exercise is vital for helping you to lead a healthy life, just doing exercises exclusively isn’t going to promote weight loss. A study completed in 2015 found that controlling your calories is more successful than exercise. Further research found that when you work out you might burn more calories, but eventually your body adjusts and the effect on weight loss plateaus if you only focus on exercise alone. This is why it is very important to stress that to get healthy weight loss, both diet and exercise go hand in hand! Eating the right food is very important but physical activity and exercise helps not only build muscle, but also helps reduce risk for heart disease, cancer and diabetes. It also helps in boosting your mood and can help you sleep better.

Why is diet more important than exercise?

For many years, physical exercise has been championed as being the most effective vehicle for driving home weight loss giving it an apparent lead on the Diet vs Exercise controversy. While a good exercise regime is certainly very important; it is nonetheless the diet that drives sustained weight loss.

Here are some reasons why diet is more effective than exercise, and how to benefit from it.

1. Exercise alone does not drive significant weight loss

Studies prove this.  Some people become physically active to compensate for the calories they eat. The quality of food and the amount of food though will play a very big role and exercise alone will never be able to counteract the effects of a bad diet. To help with this, it is a good idea to keep a food diary that lists the food you consume, so it is easy to assess if your diet is in line with your weight loss goals.

2. Exercise increases your appetite

Yes, regular exercise can trigger subconscious eating habits, based on research, and that physical exertion increases your appetite and metabolism. Studies also show that those who do adhere to rigid exercise regimes increase their calorie intake simultaneously. Snacks and meals need to be regulated to get to desired the weight loss.

3. All this increased physical activity hasn’t countered rising obesity levels

Between 2001 and 2009 in the US, people involved in physical activities increased, yet obesity continued to rise.

Another confirmation that exercise is not sufficient to prevent weight gain. One needs to review the nutritional values of the meals they consume because exercise alone will not cut it.

4. Food is the fuel source that drives exercise

Many people misunderstand this statement. Without the right calories from the correct healthy foods, you won’t be able to exercise effectively and achieve the weight loss that you desire. You have to fuel your body with the right foods to achieve your weight loss and fitness goals.

5. Short-term weight loss driven by diet

Today’s new age makes everything around us fast paced. We become impatient if we don’t see fast results, and that includes dieting. Experts estimate that weight loss generally consists of 75% diet and 25% exercise. Short-term weight loss occurs through eating smart and lessening the calories you take. In other words, over the short-term, people look at diet first for losing weight over exercise in the same period.

6. The effectiveness of just exercise for weight loss as a standalone is not effective

The American Dietetic Association highlights that it is almost impossible to lose weight loss without reducing what they eat.  Exercise is important but diet still has a bigger effect on weight loss.

On the Diet vs Exercise controversy, the decision is always a personal one.

The answer should be both, nonetheless changing your diet is key to reaching your weight loss goals!