When it comes to weight loss, many people primarily associate it with sweating it out at the gym, jogging for miles, or doing countless crunches. While physical activity undoubtedly plays a crucial role in a healthy lifestyle, the truth is that achieving and maintaining weight loss goes far beyond exercise. Nutrition is the unsung hero in this journey.
Exercise vs. Diet: The Numbers Game
Let’s start with a simple fact: Exercise burns calories, but it doesn’t burn as many as you might think. An hour of moderate-intensity exercise might torch around 300-400 calories, while the calorie content of a single slice of pizza can easily surpass 300 calories. This stark contrast demonstrates that you can’t outrun or out-bike a bad diet. The numbers just don’t add up. Of course when it comes to exercise and nutrition the impact they have goes way beyond just counting calories. In fact I do not have my clients count calories believe it or not, but the previous example does give some perspective on how quickly one can undo the benefits of exercise just with some mindless counter grazing.
The Myth of “Eating Whatever You Want”
It’s common to hear people say, “I can eat whatever I want because I work out.” While exercise can help balance calorie intake to some extent, relying solely on physical activity to counter poor dietary choices is a recipe for disappointment. Not to mention that it can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, where eating becomes a reward for exercise, rather than a source of nourishment.
The other reason this can happen is that exercise increases the appetite hormone so if a person is hungry and hasn’t planned out a healthy post exercise snack or meal containing protein they may find themselves grabbing a muffin at their fav coffee shop which is going to negate the workout they just did.
Nutrition as the Foundation
To achieve lasting weight loss and overall health, nutrition must be the cornerstone of your strategy. Here’s why:
1. Quality Matters:
It’s not just about the quantity of calories as I stated before; it’s also about the quality of those calories. Nutrient-dense foods provide essential vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, fiber, protein and other compounds that support your overall health. A nutrient dense diet supports your body’s needs while promoting fat burn and muscle growth. Both of these will improve overall body composition which is more important than just the number of the scale.
2. Satiety and Hunger:
Nutrient-rich foods, such as lean proteins, fiber-rich vegetables, and healthy fats, help keep you fuller for longer. This can curb overeating and reduce the urge to snack on unhealthy foods.
3. Energy Levels:
The right foods provide a steady source of energy, helping you power through your workouts and daily activities. Poor nutrition can lead to energy crashes, making exercise feel like a chore. This is another reason I find people do well with intermittent fasting and getting their bodies to use their own fat for fuel. It avoids the ups and downs of glucose that can happen when only relying on food for fuel.
4. Nutrition Affects Metabolism:
The food you eat impacts your metabolic rate. Protein, for example, requires more energy to digest than carbohydrates, temporarily boosting metabolism. Not to mention that as you build more muscle your basal metabolic rate (#calories your body burns at rest) increases so now your body is working for you to burn more fat, even as you sleep. A protein rich diet supports a healthy metabolism.
Balancing Act: Exercise and Nutrition
Exercise and nutrition are not opposing forces; they complement each other. Regular physical activity can enhance your metabolism, build lean muscle mass, and improve overall health. But remember, you can’t out-exercise a poor diet.
To achieve your weight loss and wellness goals, focus on both components but the timing of how you prioritize these 2 components is crucial:
1. Nutrition:
Prioritize whole, unprocessed foods, and portion control. Ensuring you are getting enough protein, lots of veg and healthy fats. In my programs I also use various types of intermittent fasting which gets the body to switch from using glucose for fuel to using your own body fat for fuel. This results in more fat burn and loss of inches. It is for this reason that calorie counting is not an essential part of my programs, making it easier for busy people to follow. We start with this before introducing much exercise so the focus is on burning fat, detoxing the body, reducing inflammation and regulating blood glucose levels.
2. Exercise:
Once a person has made good progress on reducing body fat and decreasing inflammation, making them less prone to exercise induced injuries, then it is a good time to incorporate exercise with a focus on muscle building strategies. This means resistance training and adjusting the food plan to build muscle. Over time a person will find their metabolism increases which makes it much easier to maintain their weight loss long term. Find physical activities you enjoy, whether it’s dancing, cycling, hiking, or yoga. Consistency is key; aim for some cardio, ideally HIgh Intensity Interval Training with an emphasis on strength training exercises.
3. Mindfulness:
Pay attention to hunger and fullness cues. Exercise definitely has an impact on the hormones that control these cues as well as conditioned responses to stress, fatigue and various emotional states. All of that can lead to emotional eating and mindless snacking which can derail progress and make one feel disempowered.
4. Patience:
Weight loss is not always linear. Plateaus and setbacks are normal. Also make sure you are not just using the scale and pounds lost as your measuring stick. The scale is impacted by changes in fat, water and muscle. Inflammation, poor detox, constipation can all contribute to an increase due to water retention, even though your body may still be burning fat.
As you incorporate resistance training and build muscle you may find the scale plateaus or even goes up but this is likely due to you building more muscle. For this reason track your inches as well. If you are seeing inches decreasing especially around the waist then you are likely burning fat even if the scale is not moving.
The other option is to get an accurate assessment of your body composition and monitor those changes. It is for this reason I have incorporated the DEXA scan into my programs which is the gold standard of body composition testing. There are scales that can track these changes as well but unfortunately many of them are not that accurate and as well they only give you percentages which is not the same as seeing the changes in actual lbs in fat and muscle. Stay committed to your long-term goals and track the right numbers. .
In conclusion, remember that exercise and nutrition both impact your weight loss journey. While exercise contributes to your overall health and fitness and long term weight maintenance, it’s the quality and quantity of your food intake along with the timing of meals that will determine your success in losing and achieving a healthy weight. By striking a balance between the two and prioritizing when to focus on which one, you’ll be on your way to long-term success.