Diet vs Exercise

The weight loss industry is a $60 billion industry and it didn’t get to this size for nothing. More than one-third of American adults are obese and that number doesn’t include people who are considered simply overweight.

It seems these days you can’t throw a stone without hitting someone who is either currently struggling to lose weight or has struggled to lose it in the past. And each of these people has basically had two weight loss avenues to choose from: diet or exercise.

Is one better than the other at helping people in their battle of the bulge?

Initial Weight Loss Relies on Cutting Calories

Research suggests that the most effective way of losing and maintaining weight is to cut calories from your daily diet. This doesn’t mean exercise has no benefit, but it does mean jogging on the treadmill for 45 minutes three times a week won’t do a thing for you if you’re still eating 1000 calories too many each day.

Modern Americans are simply consuming too many calories. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), “Americans at the beginning of the 21st century are consuming more food and several hundred more calories per person per day than did their counterparts in the late 1950s.” Not only are we eating more calories but the quality of those calories has decreased as well. Yet we think we are eating healthier and therein lies the problem.

Each year the USDA reports Americans are eating more fruits and vegetables. Organic food sales are also on the rise. So why is there still a prevalence of obesity in this country? Most likely because we have a knack for bastardizing anything healthy and making it unhealthy.

Sure, more people are eating salads, but they are also drenching those salads in dressings that can add 300 extra calories to their meal. And fruit is obviously healthy, but when you make a huge fruit smoothie for breakfast you may be consuming 800 or more calories, almost half the daily limit for a woman.

As soon as people hear the word “diet” they instantly go into deprivation mode. They assume they are going to have to eat nothing but steamed broccoli and grilled chicken breasts for the rest of their lives and this aggravates them so they try and take health shortcuts.

Cutting calories is essential to weight loss but not at the risk of sanity loss. A simpler and more effective way to cut calories and still eat quality foods is to make small adjustments over time. Instead of the brownie for dessert, try a small fruit salad. Instead of a side of French fries, try a side of mashed sweet potato instead.

Is dieting – AKA cutting calories – important for weight loss? Absolutely. But unless you’re smart about it, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Maintaining Weight Relies on Exercise

According to researchers at UCLA most people who lose weight from dieting will gain it all back and then some.

“You can initially lose five to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back,” study’s lead author Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology said in a press release. “We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.”

Are you nodding your head right now? Have you been able to lose weight in the past by dieting alone but were never able to sustain it? That’s because, although it doesn’t seem like it at the time, it’s fairly easy to lose weight by cutting calories but difficult to sustain a lower calorie diet.

And this is where exercise comes into play. The majority of people who experience weight loss success don’t rely on dieting alone, but get into the habit of moving their body more throughout the week. Once these exercise habits are created and firmly embedded into your mind, you have a far greater chance at long-term success with your weight as well as your overall health.

Stanford University examined national health survey results from 1988 through 2010 and found that lack of exercise, not a higher calorie intake, could be driving the increase in the rate of obesity in this country.

So which is more beneficial for weight loss: diet or exercise?

The truth is, both diet and exercise are important to not only losing weight but keeping it off long-term.

Your aim should be to eat the RIGHT kinds of foods which provide your body with beneficial nutrients (such as Omega-3)… and to do a little exercise every day. Remember the saying “use it or lose it“? Well that saying applies to your body as well.

You want results? You’re gonna have to work for them.

I’m not asking you to stick to raw chicken and broccoli every day… just be wary of the effects of eating processed or sugary foods. Same thing applies for exercise – you don’t have to run a mile or lift weights, just make sure you move your body in some way each day, a walk down the street or a little gardening will do just fine.