HOW TO PRIORITIES IN WEIGHT LOSS

PRIORITIES IN WEIGHT LOSS

Image Source - Google | Image by - advancedbariatrics

Is it smart to focus only on exercise to lose weight? What is the best tool? Exercise or diet?

In order to answer these questions we must first remember a very simple formula that almost everyone seems to overlook (especially fad diets), we lose weight when we consume less energy than we spend.

As seems logical then, we can achieve weight loss in two ways. We can consume less energy, eat fewer calories, or we can increase energy expenditure through physical activity.

It’s actually much easier to control your calorie intake from your diet, than to try to compensate for it with exercise. We can only control about 10% - 20% of our energy expenditure (we burn far less than we think during exercise).

In the following table we see some examples of foods that we all know are not healthy (but we do not know to what extent) and how much time we should spend doing intense cardiovascular exercise to burn it:

The above cases, although they seem extreme, are occurring more and more frequently, especially in young people, who have less and less time to cook.

It seems pretty obvious that it’s much easier to stop eating a burger with fries than to do almost 2 hours of intense cardiovascular work.

Below, however, I present 3 very common cases that we find with clients in the area of nutrition, and that do not seem so extreme:

OLIVE OIL

"The oil? If it's very healthy ... the truth is I don't look at it, I throw a good jet at it and that's it."

EVERY DAY I EAT SALAD FOR LUNCH

"What do I put in the salad? All very healthy! Lawyer, 2 or 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a can of tuna (with oil that water does not give me like), lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and some cheese. "

LIGHT DINNER

"I eat terribly gently, therefore as to not gain weight then again i buy hungry." Surely these cases have caught your attention and we could list many more.

THEN WHAT SHOULD THE FOCUS BE?

The focus should be on both exercise and diet. They are two sides of the same coin, they are two tools that are allowing us to generate a caloric deficit that at the end of the day will be what will decide whether we lose weight or not.

Pointing out, however, whenever possible we will try to create the deficit through exercise.

We must not forget that when we diet we are ingesting fewer calories than the body needs, and therefore also fewer nutrients.

Exercise when well managed is a very good helper when it comes to losing weight, it largely dictates how much weight we lose (whether we lose muscle or fat).

In addition, it improves physical fitness, has psychological and health benefits in general and therefore deserves a high place in the health plan of anyone.

However, as we have seen in the previous examples it is very difficult to compensate for a bad diet. Therefore, the combination of success and where the best results will always be given will be given in the combination of a change of habits in both diet and exercise:

We will enjoy better nutrition (less deficit in the diet).