Cutting Calories Or Exercise - Which Is A Better Weight Loss Strategy?

Most of the weight loss guides online or in magazines advise how you should achieve a delicate balance between exercise and diet if you want to melt all the fat and flab soon. However, there are many who prefer to work with one strategy at a time, either exercise or diet and hence often ask which will be a better one.

Both diet and exercise play a crucial role when it comes to losing weight. Where dieting, through its curtailment of calories, prevents the formation of new fat deposits, exercise revs up the body's fat burning mechanism and thus helps get rid of fatty deposits. This short article weighs these two weight loss strategies against each other and brings out the advantages and disadvantages of each.

The Basic Principle 

Before we get down to the battle, let's understand what science has to say about weight loss. In order to lose a few pounds, there should be a calorie deficit. You should eat fewer calories than your body expends. Only then will you be able to shed the unwanted pounds. You can create a calorie deficit either by eating less or exercising more.

Dieting

Many fitness experts focus their attention on diet. Exercise for them is a secondary aspect, an activity to enhance health and strength. They are not wrong in doing so. When you diet to lose weight, you cut out or reduce your intake of unhealthy fats and sugars. You make up with an increased intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meats. The fiber and protein in these foods keep you satiated for a longer period of time. Protein also builds muscle mass.

A benefit of this method is you not only eat controlled quantities of food, you also eat nutrient-dense foods. A judicious supply of nutrients and vitamins increase efficiency of body systems and enable it to process food and breakdown fat faster. Dieting also keeps woman from overtraining thus reducing the risk of serious injury. If you exercise hard but make no change to your eating habits, you won't budge an inch on the scale.

Exercise

When you only diet and do not exercise, there are higher chances of the body burning muscle mass instead of fat. Losing muscle mass is a big blow to any weight loss program because they use up a large amount of calories and hence helps create the calorie deficit mentioned above.

A combination of weight lifting and intense aerobic activities will help to maximize weight loss results. Aerobic exercises boost your metabolism and enable the body to burn calories in large amounts. Strength training builds muscle which in turn supports metabolic activity. While diet helps you get rid of fatty deposits, exercise helps tone a flabby body in addition to burning fat. Exercise also gives you liberty with food. If one day you digress from your meal plan, you needn't worry because exercise will take care of it.

All in all, it is extremely difficult to tell the best strategy when it comes to fast weight loss for women. You need both exercise and diet to balance the weight loss equation. Besides, you will need to try both to find out which one works the best for you because every woman's body responds differently.

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Are All Calories The Same?

I must confess before the age of 19/20 I never once in my life bothered to check the calorie content of any food, it didn't make a difference to me. A part of me wishes I hadn't looked to be honest, it definitely makes your food choice decisions a lot more time consuming.

And I'm not really into the calorie counting thing, I check some foods just out of interest.

Is that bad for a personal trainer and nutrition coach? Maybe, maybe not.

The weight loss formula is:

If energy in (calories from food) is greater than energy out (calories burned) = Weight Gain

If energy out is greater than energy in = Weight Loss

That's the rule and science suggests it does work, of course if you want to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit.

I'll quickly tell you what a calorie is. A calorie is a measure of energy. We usually refer to calories as Kcal (kilocalories). One Kcal is the energy required to heat 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

The reason I'm not too into counting calories is:

Because I'm not trying to lose weight

I question whether it's as simple as suggested

It's too time consuming

Here is a scenario:

A lady burns a total of 1800 calories a day through working, exercising etc. she then consumes 1600 calories through eating salad, chicken, fish and vegetables through the day. She has created a 200 calorie deficit which is going to point to weight loss.

Another lady burns a total of 2000 calories in one day and then consumes 1800 calories through eating a chocolate bar, bowl of chips, piece of toast with cheese on a pizza slice and some ice cream, she has created a 200 calorie deficit which suggests she is going to lose weight, but will she have the same results as the first person?

Just looking at the figures you would say yes but I just can't believe that's true.

Is a calorie just a calorie?

Will you get the same results from eating 100 calories of carrots compared to 100 calories of cake?

Of course you won't there is a tonne of goodness in the carrots whereas the cake may taste nice but it's just basically empty calories which will lead to storing fat. Also what will fill you up more? What will give you more energy? What will affect your long term health more?

Fibre is important and fills us up, the healthier foods like nuts and veg will have more fibre in which will keep us full for longer compared to the processed foods.

This is my problem with calorie counting because I think there is more to it.

Would you get the same results if you ate 1500 calories of protein compared to 1500 calories of fat a day?
Both would be dangerous as you need to balance out your intake of macronutrients but of course you wouldn't have the same results.

Our body requires energy to process all of the food that comes into the body, generally the body uses more energy to process protein than carbs, and more energy is needed to process carbs than fat. So effectively a protein diet adds fewer calories to the body than carbs and carbs add more than fat.

Not all calories are created equal.

Clearly big food companies get in on this and make billions of pounds just from advertising food as low calorie, there are low cal pizzas, ice cream, crisps, cheese, yogurt, pretty much everything.

Does that mean that these pizzas, ice cream, crisps etc.. Are good for us?

No it just means that they are slightly lower calorie than the original, which probably isn't always better. They got it lower calorie probably by taking out some salt or sugar but have replaced it with other unnatural substances so they don't lose the taste, so it could even be worse for you.

Low calories diets aren't good for us, yes you will lose weight but will you have energy? Will you be happy? Craving free? Probably not. Your body will probably think it's starving so your metabolism will slow down which will force the body to hang onto the energy it gets as fat which will prevent weight loss.

There is even more to it but I don't want to write too much.

Is the timing of the meal important?

Is the size of the meal important?

Do the frequency of the meals matter?

Of course they all do and I think this proves that there are so many different variables to suggest that A Calorie Is Not Just A Calorie.

So basically I can't dispute that if you burn more energy than you take in you will lose weight, the reason I've written this article is so people can see that it isn't quite as simple as that. Eating bad foods is still going to affect your body in a bad way just as good food will do the opposite regardless of how many calories are in it.

I think if you are eating junk food all the time but still creating a positive calorie deficit then eventually you will get ill as you are not consuming enough good foods.

If you eat clean natural foods then they are going to contain less calories, as this is the eating structure I suggest my clients eat I don't need to count how many calories are in it because it's easy to create a calorie deficit.

I just think that the processed is too oversimplified.

Just because our weight is low does it mean we are healthy? No.

I think there should be more focus on eating clean, natural foods than simply trying to eat below a certain number of calories each day.

Take care,

Jamie Stedman

Now you know some vital information which will hopefully help your exercise program and increase your chances of achieving your goals. I am a personal trainer, sports scientist and sports coach from Llanelli in South Wales. For more information from me on personal training, diet and nutrition, exercise, motivation, mindset and many more why not visit: http://personaltrainerllanelli.co.uk/
There are many easy to read helpful articles and information which can inspire you to reach your fitness and exercise goals FASTER!
Thanks for reading.

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Understanding the Relationship Between Calories and Weight Loss

What are Calories?
Calories are a measurement of energy. When you eat food, your body receives energy from the calories from that food. The food is then digested and broken down into nutrients that your body needs, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Your body (depending on many factors), only requires a certain amount of calories each day for your body to function. A few examples are maintaining your heartbeat, healing wounds, and giving you energy throughout the day. Any excess calories that your body intakes, it stores as fat. Here is an analogy to make it clearer.

Think of calories as money, and your body as your bank account. Each day, you need a certain amount of money for you to function, such as paying rent, buying food, or gas for your car. You have a limited amount of money to spend each day (depending on your salary). So if you spend more than you make, you go into debt (think of debt as fat).

How many Calories Do I Need Daily?
The number of calories that are required daily will vary from person to person. Your gender, how much you weigh, your age, and the level of physical activity will determine how many calories your body needs. For example, a 200 pound male will most likely require more than a 120 pound woman. Similarly, an athlete will likely require more calories than a person with a similar body who is not physically active. There are however, some general figures that you can use as a guideline to start understanding calories. An average male requires 2,500 calories a day, and an average woman requires 2,000.

Weight Loss and Calories
Losing or gaining weight can be simplified and explained this way.

Intake more calories than you burn and you gain weight. Burn more calories than you intake and you lose weight.

Going back to the money analogy, here is how it works.

Spend more money than you earn and you gain debt. Earn more money than you spend and you lose debt.
In order for you to lose 1 pound, you need to have a deficit of 3500 calories. Typically, people will aim to get to this deficit by reducing their daily caloric intake by 500 calories. Of course, there are other factors to consider such as health and nutrition. It can get very complex and confusing, so remember that this article has simplified much of this in attempts to help you really get the essential concepts of calories and its relation to weight gain.

If you think about it, there are many methods to stay healthy and look fit. More often than not, the public get caught up in the long term weight loss plans and miss the best way to immediately trim down and look incredible.

Surprisingly, the number 1 way is through the use of a body shaper. These stomach shapers give you a slimmer waist, provide rear support, and some can actually help you remove weight by loosening fat cells in and around your hips. And of course there is no fasting needed, exercise, or work of any kind.

Looking back a few years, these belly bands were very uncomfortable and you often needed an extra hand to put them on. The fabric used did not provide much flexibility, and would not mould the body perfectly.
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The Best Way to Burn Calories

One of the best ways to burn more calories in your workouts is simply to use more full body movements. The reason for this is simple. Your body burns 5 calories for every liter of oxygen it consumes and the more muscle required for a given movement, the more oxygen it needs.

If, for example, you perform a set of seated biceps curls I'm sure you can appreciate that you wouldn't be huffing and puffing, right? Therefore, there isn't a great oxygen demand for that type of movement because it is solely focusing on the small biceps muscles.

However, if you performed a set of wall squats with biceps curls all of a sudden your body requires much more oxygen to fuel all the working muscles. With this type of movement all of the large muscles in your legs are working at the same time as your biceps muscles. More muscle working means more oxygen needed which means that more calories will be burned.

Therefore, with full body (multi-muscle) movements you will burn more calories! Give it a shot. If you wear a heart rate monitor during your workouts then you'll also notice that movements that use a lot of muscle mass or that move weight over a greater distance will elicit a higher heart rate.

If your heart rate is more elevated then you will burn more calories. You will also receive a greater cardiovascular training effect while developing lean muscle.

Here are some typical exercises that can be spiced up by using full-body calorie-crunching movements.

1. Wall squats with biceps curls INSTEAD OF biceps curls alone.

2. Lunge walks with lateral raises INSTEAD OF lateral raises alone.

3. Step-ups with shoulder press INSTEAD OF seated shoulder press.

4. Squat presses INSTEAD OF squats alone.

Give these movements a shot and you'll notice an immediate difference. Start off by performing 2 sets of 10-12 reps for each movement (after a comprehensive warm-up obviously).

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Get Rid of Calories With 5 Basic Cardio Boot Camp Exercises

What do you do to lose weight and eliminate fat? Diet, eat healthy food and do exercise, right? You can do all those tricks to gain weight loss and have slimmer body. But, with doing cardio boot camp exercise, you'll be able to burn calories easily. Besides trouble-free to do and you can do it everywhere you want, it's really effective to support your goal.

Actually, you can adapt cardio boot camp exercise that you have taught from grade school gym class. Yeah, you can do the basic cardio work out that you already know. So, you'll not confuse to search the workout.
Just apply what you already learnt to get rid of fats in flash. If you don't know or forget which cardio exercise from your grade school that helpful to burn calories, here are the lists of 5 workouts you can do.

1. Knee-ups.
Stand tall with hold towel or medicine ball in one of your hands. Next, jump slowly with lift right knee, passing your leg under one hand to the other. Then, lift the left knee and rotate it fast back and forth.

2. Power Lunges.
Step the right food onward, incurvation both of your knees into lunge with front knee at 90 degrees angle. Pounding, rising and lowering your body in a few inches for 2 counts. After that, leap to switch your legs that make your left leg's position in front with knee curved at 90-degrees angle. Pulse before you jump to switch the legs.

3. Shoot Baskets.
To do this cardio, it doesn't matter you have basketball or not, because you can imagine it. Just picture that you hold basketball since you stand with knees slightly bent. Jump up and make motion as you shooting hoops with your arms. When you land on the ground, bend your knees until you can touch the floor.

4. Crab Walk.
Sit down with feet level on the floor and knees bent. Put your hands on the floor under shoulders. Lift off your butt. So, you are like in tabletop position. Then, create straight line from shoulder to knees. Move forward by crawling in 8 counts combine with back for 8 counts and right for 8 counts. Keep crawling with crab walk in square formation until the time is up.

5. Burpee Plank.
It is an up and down cardio train which also know as squat thrust. This movement will make you sweating like you do the real boot camp exercise. To do this work out, you can start with stand as legs hip-width apart. Curve your knees to place your hand on the floor. Hop back into plank and do a pushup. Leap your feet back toward hands. And go up again as doing jump jack.

To burn calories fast and get the result immediately, you can try each of those exercises for 60 seconds. Repeat each workout as you can.

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The 2 Best Exercises to Increase Metabolism and Burn Calories Faster Then Ever Before

If you don't know how to increase your metabolism you will never achieve the body that you want. Now there is a lot of information how you can boost your metabolism but in this article I would like to give you my person 2 best workouts to do it. Do not fool yourself losing stubborn body fat without exercising is nearly impossible.

Rowing workout If you suffer from a slow metabolism then it is highly recommend to do rowing workouts. Many fitness experts claim that rowing is the best exercise and they are right about it. The biggest advantage is that it workouts all the major muscle groups in your body. Yes this is an exercise that workouts the legs, the arms, the abs and the back. But before you implement the rowing workout into your lifestyle you need to know a few things. Rowing is just like running or jogging a cardiovascular activity. This means that you need to do it long enough to burn fat. Most people don't want to hear this but a five minute rowing workout will not increase your metabolism. If you would like to use rowing for fat loss then it is recommend to do it at least thirty minutes for at least three times per week.

Rowing is a great exercise to increase fat loss but it has some mine points. First of all if you suffer from lower back pain then this exercise is not recommended. Another "disadvantage" is that it is extremely exhausting. Keep in mind that the average person need to do at least thirty of forty five minute of cardiovascular activities. If you can't row long enough implement the rower into a circuit of cardio machines.

Full body workouts Full body workouts are your next "secret" weapon to increase your metabolism. Scientific research has shown that these workouts are superior to lose fat and build lean muscle mass.
However if you don't do full body workouts already you may end up in sweat after doing them. For starters I would recommend a beginners full body workout. Never train every day of the week in fact beginners should only do two or three full body workouts each week.

Note the word full in full body workouts that mean that you have to train every major muscle in your body. So make sure you train your chest, abs, triceps, biceps, shoulders and hams.

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