The age old question. What is more important for weight loss, diet or exercise?
What percentage of each is it?
To be honest its true, you can't out exercise a bad diet, thats for sure. But it depends what level a bad diet is, everyones idea of a bad diet might be different.
One person might say a bad diet is having a couple of square's of dark chocolate every night is bad, someone else it might be endless takeaways and sugary treats. So yea you can't out exercise a bad diet, but really it depends how bad.
It also depends heavily on what level of weight loss you want to achieve and to what level you would like to achieve with your physique. I mean if you are talking a couple of pounds and not wanting to have a visible six pack then, that probably wont take as much hard work. If you want to look shredded like a mens health cover model but you are currently a good couple of stone away from seeing those wash board abs, well then you need to put in a lot more serious work.
Balance...
I have managed to find the perfect balance with my lifestyle, I enjoy working out but I also enjoy food. Due to the nature of my job I probably work out more then the average person, so I can get away with eating a bit more then most.
You need to find the best balance for yourself, if you don't like exercising much and on a day to day basis aren't very active then you may have to pay more attention to your diet then most. But If you have a very active job and exercise often, you can probably get away with eating a bit more. That being said if you still aren't losing weight then you need to address your diet more.
For some people they move so little, that just by increasing their activity and keeping their diet the same that might be enough to get them so far. If they was to concentrate on walking 10,000 steps a day and exercising 3 days a week with the aim to build a bit of strength and muscle then that might be enough to see great results, others maybe thats not enough or maybe they already do that but want to lose more, well then they need to focus more on the diet side of things.
Sticking to exercise...
Through my experience people who have a regular exercise regime tend to stick to a diet better. They have the mindset of not wanting to undo all their hard work in the gym. People that tend to go to slimming clubs and follow fad diets only, in my experience have a period of success with weight loss but don't have long term success because they have failed to take on the actions of a healthy lifestyle. They are all too focused on the numbers on the scales and at some point those numbers will stop decreasing which means that their motivation to carry on dieting will go away. Get into a good exercise regime first and sort your eating habits out as you go along, I find this is a way that works well.
The answer...
The answer to the question, what is more important for weight loss diet or exercise?
Well I hope by reading this you have got some idea of where you fall in line with this. The answer to the question is both, but depending on how we'll you already eat in comparison to how much you move may make a difference.
I say look at your lifestyle as a whole, do you already eat well but not move much?
Then move more and you should see results.
Do you move and exercise a lot but aren't shifting weight?
Then reduce the amount of food you are consuming.
That Is the answer to which one is more important for you personally.
Pop me an email if you have any questions, I would love to help.
Speak soon and see you in the next one.
Jonny AKA The Fitness Dad.