Weightloss Tips: Exercise vs. Nutrition...which gets the job done?

If you’re looking to lose weight, where’s the first place you start?

There’s a little bit of a hung jury on that. Most experts say that weightloss comes down to the 80/20 rule: 80% nutrition and 20% exercise, and yet most people automatically go to exercise first.

Now, there’s a couple reasons for that.

We are surrounded by advertising that says: do my 30 day workout challenge and lost 10 lbs! Not to mention all those fitness videos that star these ripped out fitness models who infer that by doing this workout you’ll look like that too.

This, coupled with the fact that exercise gives you immediate feedback: your heart rate increases, you sweat, your muscles get sore, it’s fun, all makes your mind think that you’re making big changes fast.

Nutrition...well you can’t eat a salad for one day and notice the scale drop, or really any biofeedback at first. Conquering your nutrition is also more challenging! It requires deep diving into the habits you’ve spent most of your life building up, and unraveling them one by one to set you on the track that’s going to let you lose weight and keep it off.

That’s why most people go for exercise first. We hear things like “I exercise so I can eat what I want to eat…” and the reality is that that mindset is NOT going to get you to your goals.

You’ve probably heard the phrase: “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet” and it’s totally true. The reason why is because people drastically overestimate the amount of calories they burn while exercising. 

Here’s an example: For someone who is 200 lbs and fairly lean (meaning they have an average or even below average body fat percentage) 60 minutes of working out burns around 350 calories. 

So if we know that nutrition is really important when it comes to losing fat, and exercise doesn’t burn as many calories as we thought, but does help build muscle (which is important), what do we do?

Well...what if the rule wasn’t 80/20? What if it’s actually 100/100?

BOTH nutrition and exercise are 100% important when it comes to changing the way your body looks and feels. No one gets stronger by eating good food, just like no one loses fat through just exercise alone. Not only are they important to lose fat, they are both equally important in keeping it off!

We’ve seen that people who continue working out after dieting are more likely to keep the weight off long term.

There have been studies conducted as well that prove out this theory. A study was done where it tracked folks who lost weight and the folks who keeped it off. It showed that those who had a significant amount of weight to lose (over 40 lbs for example) actually did lose on average 30lbs, but the percentage that kept it off over the next 3 years was only 5%.

5%!!!!

Now, if you’re one of those 95% of people that have lost weight and not kept it off, you are definitely not alone. The key is incorporating BOTH nutrition and exercise.

Here’s how you start:

For nutrition, start with figuring out where you’re at. Are you familiar with what a protein carb and fat is? If you’re not, maybe just start with writing down everything you eat. This will bring awareness to what you are currently doing. You can either write it down, or use an app like MyFitnessPal.

For fitness, start small with exercise. Start off with 2-3 days a week of a 30 minute workout. Incorporate some walking in and other light exercise that you can stay consistent with.

Remember, consistency is key to long-term success!

And if you need extra help, don’t hesitate to reach out!