Diet Or Exercise – Which Is More Important?
First Off – Understand Calories
Weight loss and weight gain revolve around how many calories are consumed compared to how many are burned. This is why it’s important to understand the basics of calories. I know it sounds simple – we lose weight when we take in less calories then we burn off in a normal day. But not knowing how many calories you should be taking in a day to achieve weight loss or, more importantly, knowing how many you shouldn’t be taking in a day will get you on the right path so take a few moments now to read the chart found in the link above.
Know How Many Calories You Are Burning At Rest
Another area you need to be aware of is exactly how many calories are you burning a day. Many of us think we are actually getting more exercise than we really are, To figure out how many calories you burn a day just from being awake, use this Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator . If you want to start losing wait with no exercise, start taking in 75% of your BMR a day. So if I have a BMR of 1900, I will only consume 1425 calories a day. I don’t care what you consume, just follow this and you will lose weight.
Know How many Calories You Are Burning During Exercise
Now you know how many calories you burn in a day by just being awake. Maybe you’ve looked at the number of calories you can take in and thought “wow, I don’t want to only eat x amount of calories a day”. To eat more, you need to exercise if your goal is weight loss. Exercise can come in many forms, from easy morning walks to jogging, lifting weights, jumping ropes, really the list is endless. What you need to know is how many calories you are burning doing the exercise of your choice. Use this aerobic calculator to know how many calories you are burning and then add them to your 75% number above to get an accurate reading of how many calories you can intake and still have weight loss.
As you can see, when it comes to diet or exercise you do not have to choose one or the other but really, combining the two is the way to go. If you just don’t have the time or will to start exercising you need to at least understand your calorie intake if you want to lose weight. I would strongly suggest writing these numbers down and also writing down all calories taken in during the day. Seeing things in writing make it much more realistic, in my humble opinion.
Please share your thoughts on diet or exercise below! i always love to hear what works for my readers.
