Diet Or Exercise For Weight Loss?

So if you have struggled with losing weight in the past you probably have tried many different methods to lose weight.  You probably followed some diet or maybe even a few diets.  When that didn't work as you hoped you started an exercise program.  Maybe you even tried some combination of both.  Hopefully you found some strategy that worked best for you.

Now there is one thing we can be absolutely sure of in terms of weight loss.  There are many different ways you can achieve it.  We all need to discover the lifestyle that works best for us.  Regardless of how you plan on losing weight, the two main criteria that we must look at are your calories in and your calories out.  Losing weight may not be this simple, but no matter what the diet program or exercise program you follow, we have to be aware of how much we are eating and how much energy we are spending.

So this is often followed up with, "well what is more important diet or exercise?"  Most people will tell you that you diet is 80-90% of your weight loss success.  While this is true, it is only partially true.  Obviously you can follow the best workout programs that burn hundreds of calories, but if you eat too much you won't see anything move on the scale.

While I don't disagree that you nutrition is a huge part of it, this really is a loaded question.  Neither is more important.  They both are a necessity and should work together, so one can't be more important than the other.  To illustrate my point check out this brand new study that was just published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Researchers wanted to look at the effects of diet and exercise on behavioral change.  In this case, as in most cases, our behavior we are trying to instill is to eat a better diet and exercise regularly.  They divided the subjects into 4 groups.  One group just changed their diet first then 4 months latter they added exercise.  The second group just did the opposite and started with exercise first.  A third group changed both at the same time.  And the final group was the control group that did nothing.

They wanted to see with all of these scenarios, which group would be most likely after 12 months to stick with the program.  We can assume that those that stuck with it had the best weight loss results.  They found that the group that lead to the best adherence was the diet plus exercise group from the start.  This goes against what many people do though.  Often we will start one to try and get into a routine and then start the other.  It seems logical to do it this way, but it seems the best strategy is to start with both and incorporate the entire program right from the beginning for the best results.

You probably also heard me talk in the past on how important exercise is for weight loss in addition to dietary changes.  One of the biggest reason previously discussed was when diet is used without exercise (especially resistance training) muscle mass and bone mass is lost as well as a reduction in metabolism making it more difficult to continue to lose weight in the future.

So if you are really trying to make a lifestyle change and not just a quick fix for weight loss, work on putting all the pieces together right away.  Neither is more important, they both are a must.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training