What is more important for weight loss – diet or exercise? This question continues to plague journalists, researchers and consumers. The question is simple with an answer that is anything but. Like everything else in life, there is a big grey area in which all wisdom is found. Don’t degrade the two concepts by pitting them against each other.
An article surfaced recently touting the notion that to lose weight once and for all, eating less is more important than exercising more. Food choices directly affect body weight. And it goes far beyond the traditional energy equation of calories in vs. calories out. We know there is an unequal relationship between caloric intake and expenditure simply because our bodies treat calories differently depending on their source. Because of hidden sources of sugar in the typical American diet, we have overloaded our metabolic systems with excess sugar, hence the obesity epidemic. It does take longer to burn calories through exercise and most people, programs, machines and gadgets overestimate caloric expenditure through physical activity.
But rather than focus on selective components of research regarding the merits of diet and exercise, it is far more constructive to focus on how to best integrate their healthy practices into everyday living. Both diet and exercise are important for weight loss for different reasons. In addition to the wondrous physical benefits of exercise, regular physical activity also help with weight loss in the following ways:
- Decreased anxiety
- Decreased depression
- Decreased muscle tension
- Improved sleep
- Healthy food choices become more feasible
- You will begin to see possibilities
- You feel better about saying “no”
- You will like yourself more
- You will have a more positive outlook on life
What I know for sure is that when regular physical activity is incorporated in one’s lifestyle, magic happens and it isn’t found on the scale.
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