If you’ve started on a fitness journey to lose weight, you may wonder if diet or exercise is more effective. This topic is often debated by fitness experts, and most people believe you need both for a sustainable, healthy weight loss process. However, many still think that one is slightly more important than the other. Before you begin your weight loss journey by enrolling in fitness classes and stocking up on healthy foods, it’s important to understand how each aspect helps you lose weight. Below, learn what is most important when trying to reach your weight loss goals. 

Why Does Diet Help With Weight Loss?

A diet isn’t the same as dieting, although there may be some crossover. Dieting is when you restrict the number of calories you eat, and your diet is what you eat and when. When you want to lose weight, slashing calories isn’t always the best step to take. Calories give you the necessary energy to get through the day. If you don’t have enough food in your system to move around and exercise, you’ll feel sluggish, and any weight you lose will go back on again once you start eating normally.

Instead of eating pasta, bread, and other unhealthy carbs and fats as meals, replace them with healthy fats and proteins. A better approach to looking at this is through your macronutrient intake. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats. You need a balance of all three, but protein is particularly great for weight loss as it keeps you feeling fuller for longer, promotes muscle growth and repair, and increases metabolism. A high-protein, low-carb diet can result in successful weight loss.

How Does Exercise Help With Weight Loss?

If you burn more calories through exercise than you consume, you will lose weight. You can make a significant difference by being smart about how you burn calories. Walking on a running machine for an hour will burn 200 to 400 calories depending on your weight, incline, and speed. Twenty minutes of high-intensity exercise burns fewer calories initially, but your body continues to torch calories throughout the day and, more importantly, burns fat and not muscle. For optimum weight loss, find an exercise you enjoy doing, such as fitness classes or boxing. You’ll put more effort into it and get more out of it.

Which Is Best Overall?

Undoubtedly, a combination of high-intensity exercise and a balanced diet will see the best results. But when you look at diet and exercise individually, a poor diet will sabotage even the best fitness regimen. Cutting out processed food and reducing calories will result in some weight loss even if you don’t do any exercise. However, your body will eventually acclimate to the new diet, and you will need to exercise to lose additional weight. 

If you are looking to change up your fitness and health regimen, enroll at Life & Elite Fitness in Snohomish, WA. Whether you prefer one-on-one personal training or love the buzz of group fitness classes, their certified fitness trainers will give you a thorough workout and keep you on track to achieve your fitness goals. This intimate gym space is packed with state-of-the-art training equipment, including TRX machines, free weights, and cross-training apparatuses. Find out more about the programs they offer and schedule a consultation today. Call the team at (206) 450-0964 or visit their website.