Exercise + Diet: You Can't Lose Weight Without Both
You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” and that’s certainly true. But, does that mean we can go without exercise entirely when trying to lose body fat? Is it more effective just to focus on consuming fewer calories from food? Or, should you eat more to make sure you have the energy for a high-intensity Zumba class, despite the fact that doing so will mean a higher calorie intake? And, what to eat if so?? Studies show that the healthiest and fastest way to shed fat is to focus on diet and exercise simultaneously. Both consuming fewer calories and burning more calories through exercise will contribute to a lower end-of-day calorie count. Everything adds up. And, getting enough exercise in combination with healthy nutrition does so much more than just influence your net daily calories! Let’s discuss further why both are so important, why it’s sometimes difficult to do right by our bodies, and some helpful tips that will help you develop lifelong healthy diet and exercise habits.
Working out and eating a healthy diet are both vital to weight loss in different ways because they have different effects in the body. Yes, both decrease your net daily calorie intake. But, exercise burns fat and builds muscle. Increased lean muscle mass means a higher metabolism, which then leads to an increased calorie expenditure all day long for doing nothing. That’s right. The more muscle you have in your body, the more fat you’re burning even while sitting down or sleeping. And, let’s not neglect the fact that exercise has tons of other positive health effects from boosting and stabilizing mood to improving your quality of sleep! Exercise is clearly indispensable in achieving and maintaining weight loss and overall health, but diet is just as important for one main reason—it’s a lot easier to choose a salad over a Big Mac than it is to run off the almost 600 calories in that low-quality cheeseburger. You’d need to run almost 5 miles to burn that off!
The truth about proper nutrition is that it’s a lot simpler than we often allow ourselves to believe. That doesn’t mean eating right is easy, especially when we’ve trained our pleasure receptors to expect high-fat and high-carb treats on a regular basis. And, if you’ve been indulging in lots of sugary coffee drinks, pastries, or fatty fast food, you will need to prepare for some level of detox once you cut them out. But, a balanced diet can be simple, and that’s because the highest concentration of micronutrients exist in single-ingredient foods, like fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc. Ditch highly-processed food, and your diet will immediately become far more balanced from that decision alone. We all know that dietitians recommend whole foods, but most of us struggle with consistently following through on our diet plans.
The struggle with healthy eating is definitely real, but there’s good news—the reason why most people fail to lose weight is identifiable and manageable! It’s about being honest with ourselves. One weight loss study showed that participants under-recorded their calorie intake by 700 to 800 calories a day when they had no method of tracking the foods they ate. The same participants also reported that they had worked out much longer and more intensely than they actually had. This misrepresentation typically wasn’t the result of a premeditated lie. We, humans, simply think/believe that our decisions are healthier than they actually are. So, how do we make sure we stay honest with ourselves and accountable to our goals? A few helpful habits from the experts:
✓ Keep a diet and exercise journal
✓ Have snacks on hand at all times
✓ Use a calorie tracking app
✓ Don’t stress about the scale
✓ Aim for 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week
✓ Don’t neglect strength training
✓ Load half of your plate up with nutrition-dense vegetables or fruits before adding any other food item
