Eat Less Or Exercise More: Which Is More Important For Losing Weight?

If you're like most people then you'd like to lose some weight and you know that you could achieve this by one of two ways:

 
          

eating less

      or exercising more

But, which is more important and most effective when it comes to losing weight?

Most people fall into one of two general categories: 

1) Those who would rather EAT LESS rather than exercise- These are individuals who absolutely hate to exercise and are convinced that they can lose the weight by eating healthy and consuming fewer calories

2) Those who would rather EXERCISE MORE than eat less food- These are individuals who are determined that they can eat pretty much whatever they want and are convinced they can add more exercise to burn the extra calories.

Category Number 1: Eating Less 

The fundamental rule for losing weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn. This creates a negative energy balance known as a calorie deficit which is required to lose weight.

This rule implies that as long as you are eating fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight.

Does it work?

Sure...for a while.

There are a lot of individuals who lose weight by following some kind of diet while opting not to exercise.

And, they lose weight...

...In the beginning

But, for some odd reason they hit a plateau where the weight loss stops. Then once they reduce their calorie intake further they start to lose weight again.

Unfortunately, this cycle repeats itself over and over until the individual is eating so little food to the point that it becomes nearly impossible to lose anymore weight and suddenly they find themselves hungry, tired, weak, irritable and sometimes dizzy or light-headed.

The problem with this approach is that it's rarely a long-term solution to weight loss because it's too difficult to maintain.

What's worse is that without the stimulus to boost your metabolism, it begins to slow down in an effort to conserve energy and it does this by burning muscle...

What does burning muscle have to do with your metabolism?

EVERYTHING!

Your muscles burn a lot of calories and during long periods of very low calorie intake as your body begins to burn muscle tissue you burn fewer calories.

This is why when people quit their diet and resume eating the same as they did prior to the diet they gain back all the weight they lost with interest.

They have a slower metabolism and burn fewer calories than they did before which means they'll gain weight even though they haven't increased the amount of calories they normally ate pre-diet.

Category Number 2: Exercise More

So, what happens when you add exercise without changing your diet? You definitely will burn more calories which can lead to increases in weight loss.

But, this approach has its drawbacks as well..

You can add more exercise up to a certain point where your body can tolerate it. Go beyond this point and your body cannot tolerate it very well.

This is the case with those who are convinced they can out train a poor diet.

They get tempted (quite often) by high calorie, high fat foods and convince themselves that they can get away with eating like this and that "tomorrow" or "this week" they'll train much harder or exercise all week long or something similar.

So, they hit the gym 5, 6 or even 7 days a week in some cases.

Heck, I've known some individuals who tried to do this and do 2 workouts a day!

This is excessive for the majority of individuals and even if you could keep it up in the beginning it would only be a matter of time before your body says 'ENOUGH!' 

Once you reach this threshold your body cannot recover from all the physical stress and begins to break down. You'll most likely experience some or all of the following:

• Decreased desire to workout
• Poor workouts
• Chronic fatigue
• Elevated heart rate (at rest and/or while training)
• Muscle and/or joint pain
• Injury
• Poor/disrupted sleeping patterns
• An overall feeling that you don't feel 'right' 

Chronic excessive exercise can also lead to muscle breakdown, chronic inflammation and injuries that can stop you from losing weight and burning fat.

What's The Best Weight Loss Solution?

The best weight loss solution is taking the middle of the road of achieving a calorie deficit by using both strategies:

1) slightly reducing your daily calorie intake AND
2) performing a regular exercise routine that's consistent but NOT excessive

And, here's another big piece most people completely miss...

Don't worry about losing WEIGHT...Focus on losing FAT instead. 

We are so conditioned to let the scale judge us on whether or not our efforts to achieve our ideal body are successful...

But, the scale doesn't tell you the whole story. 

It only reads the total of what you're body consists of which includes: fat, muscle, bone, water, blood, your heart, lungs, liver and other internal organs

Wouldn't you agree that what you really want is to lose all the jiggly stuff hanging from your upper arms, stomach, waist, hips and thighs, right?

So, ask yourself this...

...If I had my idea of the absolute perfect 'dream' body for me would how much I weigh matter?

Think about this for a minute

What's your idea of your perfect body?

Is it having a flat, sexy stomach like Jessica Alba or arms like Madonna...whatever it is for you, picture having that exact body.

Would you rather have that body and not be at your 'target weight' or would you rather be at the weight you think you need to be but not have the body you want?

My point is this: Shift your focus off of your weight and onto losing body fat and you'll achieve the body you want.