Is Diet or Exercise More Important for Weight Loss?

By Alexis Mills

When you are trying to lose some weight there is a large emphasis on both diet and exercise. While I've only ever heard people say that you can out-exercise an unhealthy diet, I have never heard it the other way around. So, does that mean that when it comes to being healthy and losing weight, is diet more important than exercise? Let's take a closer look.

Diet or Exercise?

There are several diets on people's radar, such as keto, Whole30, and veganism, that are in the spotlight because of their effectiveness in shedding weight and bringing other health benefits. But this doesn't mean that you should solely focus on food instead of exercise. For keeping weight off for good, certain studies found that exercise was more effective for people. A study from University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center showed that people who could maintain the weight that they lost relied on physical activity instead of dietary intake.

When trying to successfully lose weight, and keep it off, this is the most important concept to wrap your head around. You can't eat more than you are working off to make a change in your body. So, the people who weren't on a special diet, but were exercising, were working off what they consumed. This study provided evidence of why people struggle to keep off weight and how people were successful at it through high levels of physical activity. This works because they aren't restricting their energy intake from weight-loss diets, but are instead using exercise to energize and provide weight-loss maintenance.

The Takeaway

It's important to note that this does not mean that you can necessarily eat what you want and still get the results in your health and appearance that you want. What we consume is still important -- but being restrictive with what you are eating is not realistic for long-term weight loss. What we can take away is the value of exercise in our health routine to helping achieve our weight-loss goals. Plus, exercising comes with massive mental and physical benefits which is reason enough for us to keep moving.

We all should be looking at food and exercise as ways to heal our body, prevent disease, and achieve optimal health. Some of these fad diets don't allow a healthy relationship with food and some exercise plans don't allow a health relationship with your body. Remember, when going on your journey to weight loss, to do what feels right for you and to not always go along with what you think is right.

To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Bothell, Wash.