Tuesday, September 18, 2012

You Can't Out-Train a Bad Diet



So we talk about exercise. A LOT. And the fittest folks are usually looked at as the folks who exercise all the time. But to get your body healthy, burning the right amount of calories and losing weight or staying toned, diet plays such a huge role. And that is where most people face problems. People don't seem to understand that exercise is not magic; it does not erase a bad diet.

It sometimes seems like because eating right takes willpower, we slack off big time. Exercise takes willpower too. But slacking off on exercise does not feel good. Whereas eating bad food? Well, I don't need to say more. Plus as you sweat and hurt all over from exercise, you literally feel the calories going away.

But let me ask you this? Do you realize that you would achieve more eating healthier than exercising? Think about it. For example, you slave for an hour and burn 500 calories (depending on your body weight and what you do), and so if you eat a 1,000 calorie meal, that would be about 2 hours worth of exercise to burn off. How many times a day would you be able to keep it up?

Now, if you eat a 500 calorie meal instead of 1,000 by controlling your portions and picking better options, that would save a lot of time, and would melt off weight faster. So when you do work out for an hour, you're reaching your goal much quicker.

Additionally, food affects your mood and could be the difference between being sluggish or energized. Eating loads of burgers and high-fat foods usually slows you down and makes you less likely to work out. Or if you do work out, you're pushing yourself too hard for too long because you are determined to burn it off. And then you could hurt yourself.

Usually, people tend to overestimate how much they burn, and underestimate how much they eat. It's human nature.  I have read a few studies where Americans were polled and the result was that most Americans think they eat healthy. Yet, Americans are among the most obese in the world. This shows that people really do underestimate how much they eat. Thus, if you are eating wrong, and then you think you're burning more than you actually are, you see how that can be a problem for your weight loss goals? This is probably one of the reasons why people don't see results.

So what should you do? Starve yourself? Heck no. But you should be putting just as much effort into your nutrition as you are putting into your exercise regimen. Inform yourself about better food choices, and know what you are actually putting into your body. And you should start to see the results you my not have been seeing.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Forbes.com

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