A: This is absolutely no doubt that dieting is the best
thing for weight loss. Many people fall into an exercise0based weight loss
plan. The math on exercise and weight loss just doesn't work. Weight loss is
all about reducing the number of calories you consume. If you are trying to
lose weight, eating fewer calories is the fastest (and possibly only) way to
weight loss. Here's why: to lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 calories.
Intense exercise for one hour burns, say, 400 calories. That means that it
takes almost 9 intense exercise sessions to burn one pound (or three weeks, if
you exercise three times a week). If you can cut 1000 calories from your daily
diet, you'll "burn"? a pound every 3 and a half days.
That said, exercise has a role in weight loss, just maybe not the one you think.
- Exercise to Feel Good: Exercise improves your mood. If you exercise, your body releases chemicals that make you feel good. This is great. Let's face it, dieting is no fun, so work some exercise in to lift up your mood.
- Exercise for Energy: Exercise improves sleep. If you can sleep better each night, you'll feel great throughout the day.
- Exercise for Muscle: It is true that muscles burn more calories. If you can increase the amount of muscle on your body, you burn more calories everyday just sitting still. The bad news is that, for weight loss, it takes pretty significant muscle growth to shed some pounds. Building muscle is a good weight maintenance strategy and can be a focus when those last few pounds are in site.
- Avoid "Exercise Math" When you are dieting, don’t get trapped by "exercise math"? Many people think "Oh, I can have this cookie because I exercised today."? Banish that thought from your mind. Exercise never justifies food. If you let it, you'll slow your weight loss down to a creep. Stick to your diet and don't reward yourself with food.
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That has helped in my every day routine i feel so much fitter ive lost 4inches off my thighes allready its fantastic and i only have 3 meals a day breakfast weatabix with low fat milk and strawberrys and a light lunch and then a healthy meal for tea thanks alot xx
I must challenge the comment that only diet will lead to weight loss. I used to have a job that required I take a train to work. The station was 3/4 of a mile from my office. I walked to my office each day…Mon-Fri. I walked back to the station after work. I made no changes to my eating habits…I regret to admit. However, in the 18 months I was in this job I lost 35 lbs. It was the exercise only. So just imagine what doing the exercise and adopting better eating habits together will do!
Dieting best way to lose weight—no way!
Although you make some excellent points about the good things exercise does for you in your article about whether dieting or exercise is the best way to lose weight, you also state that there is “absolutely no doubt that dieting is the best way for weight loss.” I think several million dieters who have dieted for years only to regain their weight, usually along with a few extra pounds, would quarrel with that conclusion.
Dieting is not only not the best way to lose weight; it is the worst way. Studies show that only 5 percent of dieters lose weight and keep it off. In fact, most dieters end up fatter than there were before they started dieting.
At study at Stanford University, it was found that people who exercised the most also ate the most without gaining weight. Many other studies have demonstrated that people who exercise have the best chance to lose weight and keep it off. That’s because exercise changes the body. It increases metabolic rate, increases the amount of muscle, raises the level of calorie-burning enzymes inside the muscle, and increases the burning of fat. Dieting does just the opposite. It also changes the body over time—but not for the good. Dieting causes the body to become more efficient at storing fat and less efficient at burning it. It also turns muscle to fat, changes the level of hormones, enzymes and other chemicals that control hunger and calorie burning, and worst of all, it is detrimental to your health.
One other point that all dieters are familiar with–dieting often makes you grouchy and irritable, while exercise elevates your mood and makes you feel good.
For more information about what dieting does to your body and your chances of losing weight, see my website
I do not agree that burning 400 calories in one hour is energetic.
I am 75 years old and for three days each week I exercise for two hours and on each occasion burn between 1200 and 1350 calories. The calories used during exercise is not the end, for on those exercise days my total calorie loss is up to 4500. On one or two ther days I briskly walk between six and seven miles in approximately 90 minutes.
Even at this level of exercise I do not lose weight and have to rely on a controlled eating pattern.