04 May Weight loss for beginners Diet VS Exercise
Weight Loss for beginners: exercise or diet for weight loss ??
One of the biggest debate regarding weight loss is what is more important : exercise or diet/nutrition .
First thing to understand is that people that want to lose weight , most of the time want to lose fat.
Not only that but they want it to come with feeling good and fit into their old cloth size or simply fit into a smaller size pants or dresses .
What is the key element to loose fat?
The key element to loose fat is to put your body in a state where it uses fat as fuel .
This is achieved by caloric deficit and will obviously lead to weight loss .
Now caloric deficit doesn’t mean you have to eat less or have to go on a diet…
In fact – many times eating less will lead to the bodies opposite reaction and it will store fat or ‘ hold ‘ to it .
So the game of weight loss played between how much calories you intake ( and their quality) and how much of them you burn through the day .
If you will keep a healthy caloric deficit of roughly 300-500 Kcal / day – you will see consistent fat loss .
Not only will it be consistent – but it has more chances of success as you will learn how to adjust your lifestyle and habits to get to this deficit.
So what about exercise ?
Exercise is what will help you build muscle ( tone / shape up ) , speed up the fat burn ( If you perform high intensity training ) and in turn – will elevate your daily caloric expenditure .
( so technically even if your weight is not changing and you will keep the same amount of calories you eat / day AND will add exercise to it – you will lose weight ) .
The problem and the common mistake that many beginners do when it comes to weight loss is that they exercise AND they increase their intake : so again – they get to the point where the intake equals the expenditure .
This is the COMFORTABLE spot for people to be in : because on one hand they feel good because of their training and exercise and they might build some muscle so they shape up , yet they don’t get rid of the fat because like explained before – the body don’t tap into this energy source .
The impact of exercise :
There is no doubt that exercise is vital for healthy lifestyle and when it comes to weight loss not only it helps with burning more calories but the more muscle you have the more calories your body will need to sustain it : which means even when you are not exercising your body will need more calories .
Hence , If you you increase your muscle mass : you actually can eat more as well ( obviously being mindful to the caloric deficit ).
Another thing to consider about exercise is the intensity and diversity of it .
Resistance training is the most popular approach to weight loss however a combination of resistance training with other type of movements like dance , martial arts and even yoga can show much better results as different training modality requires different adaptation which means your body again – will burn more calories during training .
How do you know your intake ?
Well : there are good news and bad news .
The good news – is that most of the days your diet is pretty much the same so when you create healthy habits : it will become natural to you.
The bad news – when you just starting you MUST track the foods & drinks you eat in a day and understand your daily average intake .
When you get this number : you can be smarter about your food choices and exercise adjustment to fit both your lifestyle as well as the intensity of it .
Anyone who have succeeded to achieve sustainable long term weight loss will tell you that they found the balance between what they eat , when they eat and which exercise they do to stay in shape .
One of the biggest complains of our clients is that they need a new wardrobe after few month as their cloth getting loose and they feel slimmer and healthier .
Weight Loss for beginners : So what is the answer ?
To be honest : this is the same answer we give our members when they come to the initial consultation in our studio at Fitness in Motion .
Nutrition and diet is definitely a key role in fat loose and just by changing the diet , you can lose weight and see results in a period of time .
However : exercise and the discipline that comes with it – will dictate if you will be able to sustain it in the long term.
Hence , you should look at exercise and physical activity as an integral process in weight loss and fat loss rather than thinking which one is more important .
There are also other elements to consider when it comes to successful weight loss but we can’t cover everything in one post .
If you are looking to lose weight and constantly struggling with it : CLICK HERE and see how our clients achieved long term success while enjoying their new cloth , lifestyle and food .
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