To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More

The fat burning power of exercising may be overrated

There has been many attempts by different groups to condition people into believing that strenuous exercising is key in any attempt to lose weight. There are many well informed individuals that are now questioning this line of reasoning. The bottom line is that many people are now left with no other choice but to change their assumptions in relation to weight loss.

Aaron E. Carroll, recently wrote this in an article for NY times.

One of my family’s favorite shows is “The Biggest Loser.” Although some viewers don’t appreciate how it pushes people so hard to lose weight, the show probably inspires some overweight people to regain control of their lives.

But one of the most frustrating parts of the show, at least for me, is its overwhelming emphasis on exercise. Because when it comes to reaching a healthy weight, what you don’t eat is much, much more important.

The fact of the matter is that the saying which says that people are what they eat is unfortunately very true. And therefore a person which are consuming 1000 Cal every day will have to find a way to burn 1000 Cal in order to effectively regulate his body weight. The problem is that comprehensive research into the area of exercising programs has determined that exercising is in fact very limited in its ability to burn excess fat. It has been determined through such research that some of the most strenuous exercises might only burn approximately 350 Cal in this space of 30 minutes. The problem here is that most obese people will struggle to maintain a five-minute exercise and it will take a substantial amount of time to get that body into a condition where it will endure 30 minutes of exercise. The reality of the matter is that exercising is very difficult for a person which are overweight and it will take a lot of motivation and discipline to maintain such an exercising program. Therefore these exercising sessions may simply not be sufficient to make a real impact upon that weight problem.

Focusing on the wrong things

He also wrote,  “Proclamations that people need to be more active are ubiquitous in the media. The importance of exercise for proper weight management is reinforced when people bemoan the loss of gym class in schools as a cause of the obesity epidemic. Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program places the focus on exercise as a critical component in combating excess weight and obesity.”

Over several decades there has been a substantial amount of research which has been done where in the benefits of adequate exercising has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt. Sports people are able to be more competitive when they follow an effective training program. They are often more successful because of such scientifically proven exercising programs. However the tendency in our society to depend almost entirely on strenuous exercising as a way in which to control weight simply does not seem to be justified when looking at all the scientific evidence which has been collected. This has been comprehensively proven by research which has been done especially over the last decade where in it was determined that the majority of American citizens are substantially more active than they were a decade ago. Despite this indisputable fact the amount of people who are obese has nevertheless increased by a substantial margin. Regardless of the statements which has been made by people who are pro-exercising a significantly more active lifestyle simply did not prove to be having any notable effect on people that are struggling with weight problems.
Exercising is not entirely useless

At the end Aaron concludes “This isn’t to say that exercise plays no role. There are many studies that show that adding exercise to diets can be beneficial. A 1999 review identified three key meta-analyses and other randomized controlled trials that found statistically significant, but overall small, increases in weight loss with exercise. Many people think of dieting as a drastic and rigid change, with a high risk of putting the pounds back on. What is more likely to succeed is gradual change, made in a much more sustainable way. I also don’t mean to make it seem that weight loss with diet is easy and exercise is hard. They’re both hard. The challenge of a slowing metabolism, and the desire to eat more, occurs in both cases, although dietary change still works better than exercise.”

The solution is eating habits and not so much exercising habits

You are what you are eating and not really how much you are training. Although a well-balanced exercising program will no doubt be beneficial to your overall physical health, no amount of exercising will ultimately be able to substantially reduce your body weight. This will only be accomplished when you carefully regulate the amount of food and the types of food which you are consuming every day.