Diet or Exercise, which one is better?

Have you ever thought “I should exercise everyday so I can eat whatever I want” or “I should eat healthy so that I wont need exercise?” This type of thinking can lead you to excess weight and unhealthy lifestyle. It is important to understand that exercise and diet both have their separate roles for a healthy lifestyle. In other words, if you want to stay fit and healthy, you will need exercise as well as healthy diet. Most people often get confused with the role of diet and exercise for fitness. This article will help you understand this combination and how you can use it.

Diet VS Healthy Diet

Sometimes you might hear from people that I’m on diet and cannot eat this and that. They usually go on a crash diet and reduce a lot of weight in a short time. But when you will see them after a few months, they will look even bigger. Because when they come back to normal diet, they eat a lot more calories than usual leading them to weight gain.

On the other hand, you will also see people eating healthy and controlling their portions. They usually take more time to reduce weight but keep it off for years. As they follow a sustainable lifestyle that also provides them better shape, increased endurance, resilience and cardiac health.

Exercise

The concept of exercising and fitness has got immense popularity these days. You will find people exercising four to five days a week. However, some of them get in shape in a few months but others remain the same or even gain weight. You will also see people arguing that whether we should do cardio or weight training or both (I have written a blog on this topic, you can read it here). When exercise doesn’t give results, the problem is in the diet. As experts says, diet counts for 80% to 85% of the fitness, while exercise counts for only 15% to 20%. It means the discipline we carry outside the gym is more important when it comes to achieving fitness goals.

Simple Mathematics

It is a common rule that if you want to lose 1 pound, you have to burn or reduce 3,500 calories. Which means, if you are taking 2,500 calories, reducing your daily intake to 2,000 calories will help you reduce one pound a week. On contrast, a 200-pound person burns 391 calories in an hour of walking at 3.5 mph. It means you’ll have to walk for about 75 minutes a day to reduce one pound a week which is almost impossible. So, managing diet is easy as compared to exercising vigorously.

Sustainable Weight Loss

If you want to shred fat and sustain your weight loss, a combination of healthy diet and exercise is recommended. You can lift weights, run a mile, go for sprints or use the treadmill whatever is convenient for you. Crash diets are famous these days. Some of them suggest to reduce 50% of daily required calories or some claim that you should eat 60% of daily required intake to reduce weight rapidly. It’s true, these diets initially reduce weight quickly but their long-term effects are harmful and sometimes even fatal. They can lead you to various health conditions like low blood pressure, low blood sugar and dizziness, just to name a few. Therefore, the golden rule here is to eat healthy in controlled portions. Make a good combination of healthy carbs, fats and protein, while make sure that you are exercising for 30 minutes a day for at least five time a week.

The Final Word

If you want to get in shape, the idea is to keep moving and eating healthy. This will take time to reduce fat but the results you’ll get will not only sustainable but they will also help you achieving longevity. The combination of balanced diet and exercise can will improve your stamina, endurance, bone density and cardiac health.