Diet Vs Exercise

There is no clear winner in the diet vs. exercise debate. It is a combination of both that will give you the results you are looking for. Both these factors can help shift the balance towards energy deficit and that is what is needed to see results.

It remains however, that you cannot lose tons of weight by heavy exercise nor through diet alone. All your good efforts in the gym will be blasted away if you get hungry and have a carbohydrate dense piece of sweet bread after the work out.

It is also impossible if you are as busy as I am and used to dislike exercise like I did.

So, the clear winner is a combination of moderate exercise with healthy and clean eating with focus on real foods. Here is what I did:

(1)I started off by removing all unhealthy or not nutritious food from my pantry - breads, pastas, ice cream and fruit juices.

(2)I calculated my Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR is the minimum number of calories your body needs at rest to fuel its metabolic activity, for example to maintain functions such as heart beat, breathing and temperature. BMR for an individual and is based on age, height and weight and also your gender.Comparing calories consumed in my food with my BMR gave me the exact calories I need to burn or eat less of, to reach my goal.

For Women: the Basal Metabolic Rate is:

BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161

For Men: the Basal Metabolic rate is:

BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) + 5

Now to find your total daily calorie needs you need to adjust your BMR for your activity level

If you are sedentary: BMR x 1.1

If you participate in light exercise 2-3 times a week: BMR x 1.275

If you are moderate active (playing sports 3-5 times a week): BMR x 1.35

If you are heavy exerciser- (hard sports or gym 6-7 times weekly): BMR x 1.525

If you exercise very heavily-(physical jobs, training twice a day for 7 days): BMR x 1.7

(3)I ate more organic. I drank more water.

(4)I put emphasis on whole grains like quinoa and chia, ate less rice, bread or potatoes and drank protein shakes to keep me full and satisfied.

(5)I started to exercise – just not too much – I took up activities that I really enjoyed - like swimming. I tried to make it to the gym once or twice a week.

(6)What I certainly did was stay away from fruit juices and calorie-rich deserts and foods because I knew those were the reason I put on weight in the first place. I trained very hard in the gym and I certainly didn't want to waste my efforts.

The result: I lost 8 kilos in a month and also managed to keep them off. So you really need not work too hard in the gym. Nor do you need to starve your body with fad diets.

In conclusion

Some might tell you that nutrition or diet is the most important factor for weight loss-others will ask you to slog it out at a gym. Interestingly, and through my own experience, it is not about whether diet or exercise plays a more important role in helping you lose weight but rather what you believe to be true.

If you think it is exercise, it might lead you to higher calorie consumption. If you think it is diet alone, then you might not exercise much thereby being unaware of the activity levels needed to burn those calories.

From a public health perspective though, some exercise is better than no exercise. Strength training is specifically recommended. It is good for overall lean mass and tones and shapes your body. So go for a pre-evaluation plan and evaluate any program you decide upon thoroughly through outcome measures before taking them up.

The program you will choose must also include a permanent maintenance plan in order to be successful. Good luck! You really CAN lose weight!