Diet vs. exercise

Diet vs. exercise

Which has the biggest weight loss benefit?

Recently I came across a brilliant web post that helps to address the age-old argument: Which is better for weight loss, diet or exercise?

I think we have all been though the standard yo-yo weight loss programs. At my heaviest I was about 113kg and my lightest 83kg. I’d restrict my food, go for crazy/ strict/ illogical combination rules.

There was even a point where I wondered if gastric banding would be an option. After a while I was starting to think, what was the point?

Weight loss is frustrating and confusing, and it seems that there are a whole lot of people making a stack of cash by exploiting this phenomenon. Just have a look at my bookshelf filled with multiple “fad” diets, many contradicting each other.

So what diet works?

A New England Journal of Medicine study looked at four diets that mimicked the current diet trends — low fat, low carb, high protein and in between. The study’s findings were interesting as it seems that protein, fat and carb ratios don’t make much of a difference.

Over the study’s two-year period, all people lost weight in the first six months but after 12 months the weight slowly started to creep back on.

The main factors that helped weight loss were reduced energy intake and having a support system that helped people keep their weight loss goals.

Does exercise help weight loss?

Exercise has been shown to help with weight loss, however, the key is consistency. While it’s easy to get revved up about starting an exercise routine, over time many people find they are exercising less and less.

One of the keys to success with exercise is to find something you enjoy and stick with it. Having someone to help you stick with your goals can help as social supports make missing a walking session just that little bit harder if you are not feeling up to it on the day.

One factor that appears to sabotage the potential weight loss that occurs with exercise is that post-exercise hunger can go high, and people “treat themselves” with high-calorie snacks that equal the number of calories burnt during the exercise. As discussed at The Conversation, “A 100g chocolate bar could easily be eaten in under one minute”. The calories in this single chocolate bar would require a “seven-kilometre run or 90-minute walk to burn off the energy”.

Which is easier? A seven-kilometre run or not eating a chocolate bar?

As a good mate of mine says, “muscle is built at the gym, but weight loss is created in the kitchen”.

So what factors do help weight loss?

It’s not all gloom and doom. The key to successful weight loss is to find something and stick to it over the long term.

As mentioned by the team at The Conversation:

Long-term successful “weight losers” make a conscious effort to adopt at least one weight-loss strategy from the following list:

increase fruit and vegetables
increase exercise
reduce kilojoules
reduce fat
reduce sweets and junk food
reduce portion sizes
reduce overall quantity of food

Looking for one simple way to reduce energy intake? Stop drinking soft drinks.

Want to reduce your portion sizes? Buy smaller plates.

Find it hard to get motivated to go for a walk? Start a regular walk group with your friends.

Believe it or not, the process of weight loss is fairly straightforward — move more and eat less. The key to success is slow, steady and regular action. Small changes over a long period of time can make a massive difference.

By DR GEORGE FORGAN-SMITH, General Practitioner

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One response to “Diet vs. exercise”

  1. Heya,

    Great article!

    I’d also mention, regarding soft drinks, recent studies are showing a link with diet drinks, appetite and weight gain.

    There is now more evidence pointing to the chemicals in diet drinks stimulating the appetite, so although you initially consume less calories with your drink, they are stimulating you to eat more and thus over the long term, gain more weight.