Exercise vs. Nutrition: Priorities for Weight Loss
Exercise is often marketed as the answer for fat loss, the key to losing weight and achieving your ideal physique. And of course, eating healthy is part of it too. By considering these two essential components of fitness and health, reaching your ideal weight has become more attainable than ever. However, part of the issue lies here in itself: between exercise and nutrition, which one is more important? Among the vast crowds that are getting started on their fitness journey today is the lack of awareness on the importance of nutrition — its undeniable potential to make or break your weight loss progress.
In the end, changes in weight boil down to the number of calories you burn and consume. If you burn more than you consume, you’ll lose weight. If you burn less than you consume, you’ll gain weight. Keep in mind that this is about your change in weight, and although it is related to fat loss, there are a multitude of more complex factors that come into play for losing fat.
Now, when it comes to nutrition, it is commonly seen as supplemental to your exercise routine — a way to support your fat loss rather than dictate it. The reality is, you could do no exercise at all and still lose weight. Not to say that this is in any way ideal, but it’s true nonetheless. As long as you maintain a caloric deficit, that is you burn more calories than you eat, weight loss can be achieved.
Given this information, it is very likely that your fat loss progress is being stalled by the lack of attention to your food consumption. You could spend an intense half-hour on the treadmill burning 300 calories, and completely negate those effects with an indulgent snack in less than a minute. Even if it isn’t an indulgent snack, overeating with healthy foods will prevent weight loss progress too. I understand these frustrations all too well. How could eating healthy foods still prevent me from losing weight? I, too, have been in the same boat for months with little progress until I learned the proper way to feed my body and achieve my goals.
As a great starting point to prevent these setbacks, take time and be honest with yourself; reflect on your eating habits and make appropriate changes. When it comes to what you need to prioritize and be consistent with, your nutrition and diet will almost always prevail, with exercise being a close second.
Now that you’ve set your priorities straight, stay tuned for more information on how to properly implement and make changes to your exercise and nutrition practices for fat loss.
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