There are only two things you can do to lose weight
1) Consume less calories
2) Burn more calories
Thats it! That will always be it, there is nothing that will ever change this hard and fast rule. How you go about getting one or both of these things done is where the trick is, and apparently it must be one helluva trick because almost half of the North American population cant figure it out. This is also why the fitness, functional foods, and supplement industries continue to grow with no end in sight promising all the latest weight loss fixes.
So the question becomes, which one is more important, diet or exercise? This isnt that simple of a question.
Ive heard experts say that if you eat right exercise doesnt matter, and Ive heard other so called experts say if you exercise enough diet doesnt matter.
I think the real answer is in the middle somewhere.
For example: you can lose all kinds of weight by just restricting calories and never working out at all...this isnt exactly what I would consider the healthiest way to lose weight, and research shows that most people cannot sustain this for very long and go back to eating the way they did before.
On the other hand it is difficult to workout enough to be able to completely ignore nutrition/diet when you are trying to lose weight. If for example you dont work and can spend 3-4 hours exercising each day, then you would be able to lose weight and have a pretty care free diet. Again, this may not be the healthiest way either and certainly isnt practical as most people cannot workout for 3-4 hours every day.
So considering these points I would say both diet and exercising are essential to creating and maintaining your best possible shape! Learning how to do both effectively gives you some wiggle room when you slack off on one or the other.
For example: Lets say you have a solid workout routine going, and youve been hitting the gym 3-4 times per week consistently for a period of months. You can probably get away with a couple of days of eating all kinds of naughty stuff. Because of your consistent workouts the negative effects of your eating adventures will be minimized.
Similarly, consistent moderate food intake allows you to miss a few days in the gym here and there without putting on all kinds of weight.
Both diet and exercise play a role in weight loss, the degree to which varies from person to person. People who workout more often will have a greater benefit than people who workout less often or not at all. People who eat moderately with less high calorie days, will see greater weight loss than people who have more high calorie days. In the end it all comes back to consuming less calories than you burn off.
John Barban is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, a varsity strength and conditioning coach as well as a successful entrepreneur. John has trained with world class level powerlifting teams and athletes at the professional level. Most recently he has specialized in training female varsity athletes, specifically women's ice hockey players. John has his masters in nutritional science and human physiology from the University of Guelph, and further graduate work at the University of Florida where he taught principles of strength training and conditioning in the department of health and human performance. John also has extensive experience developing and formulating nutritional sports supplements. John write for http://www.grrlathlete.com and http://www.womensworkout.blogspot.com
