Life is about balance.
“It’s about having an active lifestyle, staying healthy, and making the right decisions. Life is about balance. Not everybody wants to run a marathon, but we could all start working out and being active, whether you walk to work or take an extra flight of stairs.” Apolo Ohno
Part of our decisions include what we eat, how often we eat and how much we exercise. Nutrition for life is really what it is about. And a combination of regular exercise and healthy eating assists in long term weight management and weight loss, particularly as we get older.
Many people start an exercise regime in order to kick start their weight loss however, without a change in eating patterns, they may become fitter but not necessarily healthier, and the scales may not show any improvement. Alcohol intake and excess saturated fat, sugar, preservatives and carbohydrate intake are particular issues when it comes to weight loss.
To lose weight the equation is simple. Calories Out > Calories In. So, basically you need to burn more energy than you are consuming. Anyone who has embarked on a weight loss program knows how difficult this seemingly easy equation actually is in practice.
Here’s a visual representation on why it’s so hard to out exercise a poor diet.
The reverse is also true, not eating enough of the right foods and restricting caloric intake can also affect your exercise program and therefore, weight loss. If you don’t eat enough, your metabolism will slow down as the body goes into ‘protection mode’ to sustain itself. This could result in lethargy and a lack of energy to exercise. The overall affect can be no (or very slow) weight loss.
It isn’t just about losing weight either, it is about building lean body mass. “Lean mass requires more energy for your body to sustain than fat, so it also offers a metabolic boost — making weight management easier”. Lean Body Mass Diet,
Maintaining a very restrictive diet for a prolonged period can lead to a reduction in muscle tissue and can decrease the ability of your skeletal muscles (the ones needed for lifting, walking, and other forms of exercise) to perform well, found a study published in the journal Advances in Nutrition.
It is quite common for people to say “I am training so hard but not losing any weight”. In some instances, depending on how bad their diet is, a person may even continue to gain weight at a slower rate. As soon as you start discussing their eating, it becomes apparent why.
Most people are not professional athletes nor aspire to be so it is unrealistic to suggest junk food is cut out completely. The 80/20 Rule is always a good guide to living. If you’re good 80% of the time, you can be ‘bad’ 20% of the time. Eat clean and enjoy that glass of wine or molten chocolate mud cake occasionally.
Life is about balance. You can always exercise and not change your diet, or change your eating patterns without exercising. Either will have an impact on your body, however, a healthy combination of both will give the best long term results.