Diet Vs. Exercise

Many people believe they can obtain and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle by choosing to eat whatever they want and exercising often or following a healthy diet but seldom exercising. Often, it's true that only one or the other will succeed at delivering significant health benefits; however, for both weight management and overall health, the two work best as a combination.

Weight Control

The key to maintaining a healthy weight is to burn off about the same number of calories as you consume. If you're not active, you can do that by limiting the amount of calories you eat daily, and if you do exercise, you can choose activities that will burn off as many calories as you eat. Researchers Christian Paez and Len Kravitz of the University of New Mexico report that physical activity without caloric restriction does not always affect fat loss in the body, however. Thus, you may be more likely to maintain a healthy weight by just monitoring what you eat instead of exercising with no monitoring.

Individual Plans

There are health advantages to regulating both your diet and exercise routine. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercising regularly can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels; reduce the risk of osteoporosis, diabetes and cancer; and help you sleep better and feel better. However, it may not affect weight control or fat loss without the addition of a healthy diet. Following a balanced diet can improve high blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but it may not be effective in lowering cholesterol levels or making changes in how you sleep, look and feel.

Initial Changes

For the quickest weight loss results, it may be more effective to cut calories from your diet. One pound equals 3,500 calories, so if you are currently able to maintain your weight, you can theoretically lose one pound per week by cutting 500 calories per day from your diet. Exercising to burn more calories than you take in will also help you lose weight, but unless you begin with a very vigorous exercise plan, the process will happen more gradually.

Long-Term Effects

According to the Cooper Institute, two groups of participants in a 2010 Louisiana State University study, one using a reduced calorie diet only and one using a combination of diet and exercise, lost equal amounts of weight and belly fat in six months. However, only the diet and exercise group enjoyed an improvement in blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as insulin sensitivity. With exercise's additional health benefits, it's physically better for most people to exercise regularly rather along with a healthy diet, and it's best to do both.

Conclusion

Particularly if you're trying to lose weight, the Cleveland Clinic notes that exercise is only part of the equation. In addition to using a complete and consistent exercise routine, the clinic recommends that people following a weight loss plan make a concerted effort to modify their eating habits or speak with a nutritionist about the dietary changes they should make. The American Council on Exercise backs up this recommendation, nothing that 89 percent of National Weight Control Registry members successfully lost weight with a combination of diet and exercise, while 10 percent did it with diet only and 1 percent did it with exercise only.