Diet vs. Exercise: Which One Has a Greater Effect on Your Body’s Capacity to Lose Weight? Losing weight and keeping it off for the long run is a huge challenge for thousands of Americans. Everyone knows they should maintain a healthy weight but achieving this goal can be really difficult. Starting with a checkup at the primary physician’s office is a good start.
Then, armed with the health check-up results, seek help ion losing the extra pounds and keeping them off. It often takes a combination of a healthy diet and regular exercise. But, which thing makes the most impact of our ability to lose weight?
Why Make the Effort to Lose Weight?
Obesity affects more than a person’s looks. When a person gains too much weight they can develop health problems including joint issues, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, increased chance of cancer, and other health problems. Overweight people suffer more pain and inflammation as well as bone and joint issues.
Choosing A Diet Program
There are many ways to lose weight and find exercise programs. Some people rely on their physicians to advise them, some get a trainer at their local fitness facility, and others choose a diet and lifestyle program. First Fitness Nutrition has options that include supplements and dietary changes that guide a person through the weight loss program while giving them advice on how to live a healthier life eating better foods.
Though many people can tackle weight loss and exercise programs on their own, others prefer to sign up for a well-designed program that gives them more help along the way. The supplements and products that support the weight loss program help a person curb their appetite, burn more fat and have more energy while they start their weight loss program. This is backed up with a proven and supportive program to learn how to eat healthier foods and make lifestyle changes that support weight loss for the long term.
These programs give people the guidance and personal help they feel they need to stay on a weight loss program. It gives them lifestyle changes to make a little at a time. A short term diet will never work for the long term and weight lost will come back. To keep weight off, a person must permanently change their lifestyle. Having guidelines will help make the best changes in the least painful ways.
People must change their relationship with food. Eating for comfort or because a person is bored must end. Eating when one is hungry and eating the right foods in the correct amounts is important.
Don’t Neglect Exercise
Eating less food and better food will help a person lose weight. But without exercise, a person loses not only fat but the muscle and bone density. A combination of a healthy diet and exercise increases the weight loss benefits. With a good exercise program, a person will lose mostly fat while building muscle and retaining bond density. A person should aim for five to seven 50 minute workouts each week. If that is not possible, do what is possible.
Even though the dieting is about 75% of weight loss and exercising only 25%, that is an important 25%. Exercise has added benefits for a person’s overall health. Exercise can improve the quality of a person’s sleep, reduce their stress level, and lower cholesterol. Exercise also helps a person grow muscle and improve bone density.
The Benefits of Losing Weight and Keeping it Off
Looking better and feeling better are two important benefits of losing weight. But there are more benefits to losing weight in a healthy way:
- When a person loses weight slowly and in a healthy way, the weight is easier to keep off.
- After losing weight, people may be able to enjoy more physical activities like exercises, sports, gardening, and more. This is because the joints feel better and weighing less increases a person’s mobility.
- Self-esteem improves when a person loses weight and knows they look better. This improved self-esteem can encourage people to continue living a healthy lifestyle that made losing weight possible.
- Weight loss when it is sustained can reduce weight-related issues, improve blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and overall health.
Diet vs. Exercise to Lose Weight
Though a person can burn calories exercising, it will not result in substantial weight loss if a person is practicing poor nutrition or is eating too many calories. Nutrition makes the most impact on losing weight but exercising is also important. In the end, it turns out that a successful weight loss program depends on both diet and exercise to be successful for then long term.
When a person is losing a lot of weight, it is important to exercise to help the body look its best with less weight. No one wants to lose weight only to deal with loose skin flaps and a loss of muscle tone. Exercise helps the body adjust to the weight loss by replacing fat with more muscles and improving skin tone. Cutting calories and burning calories through exercise can be more effective than relying on either one alone.
What Foods Should Make Up A Nutritious Diet?
A healthy diet to lose weight is one that can be sustained over a long period of time and causes a person to consume fewer calories than they burn. But people who cut calories too much can be bad for one’s health and can not be sustained so when calories are increased to normal levels the weight comes back. Experts suggest that a person eat 10 calories per pound of body weight. So a 150-pound person would consume an average of 1500 calories per day and lose weight. A 200-pound man would be able to consume 2,000 calories and lose weight.
A good weight loss diet lasts forever and is based on changing eating habits permanently. A balanced diet consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. The person who wants to lose weight must cut back on carbohydrates, sugars, and starches as well as fats. Some lean proteins include meats such as beef, chicken, pork, and lamb, fish and seafood, whole eggs, and plant-based proteins like beans, legumes, and soy. For your protein source, a dehydrated product must be a good idea too like buffalo jerky.
A person can eat a lot of low carb vegetables to get nutritional benefits with few calories. They contain fiber, minerals, and vitamins a person needs to stay healthy. Low carb vegetables include broccoli, kale, spinach, cauliflower, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, Swiss chard, and more. Avoid the bad fats but eat healthy fats such as limited amounts of butter, olive oil, and avocado oil. Each meal should include protein, fat, and low carbohydrate vegetables or fruit. Experts also advise drinking plenty of water.
Studies show that people have more success with low carbohydrate diets than low-fat diets for short term weight loss. People who are trying to lose weight and keep it off should avoid or limit the intake of certain foods:
- Sugary drinks, soda pop, and diet drinks. Alcoholic beverages should also be limited. Sugary drinks can include sports drinks, fruit juices with added sugar, sweetened ice tea, and sweetened coffee drinks.
- Baked goods like cookies, cakes, donuts, and pastries. Avoid pre-made desserts that are high in added sugar or fructose. Baked goods containing trans fats also contribute to weight gain.
- French fries and other foods that are fried in fat with added salt. Restaurant hamburgers are also high in fat and calories.
- Snack foods such as flavored chips and crackers and other highly processed foods have too much-added fat, salt, and sugar.
- White bread, white rice, and white pasta have too many carbohydrates and too little fiber, nutrients, and protein. Substitute whole grains and brown rice.
- Energy bars and highly sweetened granola bars, candy bars, and sweetened dry fruit have too much sugar and fat and too few nutrients.
- Ice cream and sweetened yogurt have too much sugar and calories. Go for unsweetened yogurt with fresh fruit instead.
- Over processed meats such as dried, smoked, fermented, canned, or other processed and preserved meats are often high in calories and salt and low in nutrients. So avoid foods such as bacon, hot dogs, ham, salami, and jerky.
- Alcoholic drinks are often high in calories and sugar with little fiber or protein and other nutrients. Also, alcohol reduces inhibitions and can lead to a person eating other unhealthy foods.
It is not necessary to totally avoid all of the foods a person likes. Eating a treat once in a while does not hurt. Avoiding unhealthy foods does not mean a person can never eat them. It is important for a person who is trying to eat healthier and lose weight to not feel like they are giving up too much. It is also good to learn what good tasting enjoyable but healthier foods can be substituted for less healthy foods.
A long term diet needs to be satisfying and enjoyable or the person will not stick with it. The person should seek the advice of nutritional and diet experts to plan a healthy eating lifestyle they will enjoy over the long term. There should be a lot of food choices available in every category. A person should also have a plan for foods to order in restaurants or eat at parties that are healthy. Changing to healthier eating habits has long term benefits for losing weight and keeping it off and for general health.
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