Diet vs Exercise, Part 1 of 3

I apologize for the rather lengthy lapse since my last post. I sat down to write this one post a few days ago and ended up with what could well have been a book chapter. So I’ve decided to break it down to a mini-series of sorts. Diet versus exercise is something I think about a lot. Perhaps I’ve gone “all in” favoring the food-related end of this matchup by entering a nutrition masters program, but the notion of exercise remains close to my heart. If someone were to ask me the best way to shed extra pounds, what would I suggest? You might be surprised by my answer.

I’m a certified personal trainer, so you may guess that I’m a huge proponent of exercise. But as a tool for weight loss, I will be the first to acknowledge that results may be modest at best. Most studies I’ve read that put diet-focused and exercise-focused weight loss programs head-to-head found that dieting produced two to three times more weight loss than exercise alone. Even those incredible six minute ab videos come with a pocket-sized diet program that is absolutely essential to achieve those jaw-dropping before and afters with results not typical below in tiny print. I’ve witnessed the shortcomings of an exercise-only program firsthand. Several of my clients came for sessions three times per week and did an additional hour of cardio on two other days when they started training with me. This should add up to major weight loss, right? Not necessarily. A month later, many of those clients showed no significant difference on the scale or even in circumference measurements. This is when I had to bring their attention to what they were putting in their mouths. What did I recommend? Stay tuned to find out.