You Can’t Out-Exercise a Bad Diet: 3 Tricks to Weight Management
In the title of my blog, I have paraphrased one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Jason Fung.
In his book, The Obesity Code, Dr. Fung explains that diet is responsible for 95% of weight management, and exercise a mere 5% of weight control.
This statistic was shocking to me because we have been taught that controlling our weight is as simple as counting calories consumed and subtracting calories expended through exercise.
Calories In (Food Consumed) – Calories Out (Exercise) = Weight Stability or Weight Loss
This, however, is not accurate.
Calories In – Calories Out ≠ Weight Stability or Weight Loss
Calories consumed cannot be controlled through exercise.
As a group exercise instructor and a regular at the gym for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand how many gym-goers, including myself, are very dedicated to showing up and working out, believing exercise is equally, if not more-so important than our diet for weight loss and weight maintenance.
With the turn of the New Year, the attendance at my gym and in my group cycle class is higher than normal, and I am reminded of my favorite quote as I overhear gym members’ conversations about New Year’s resolutions to lose weight.
However, even with the dedication to the gym, year after year I see the same results; there is minimal weight and body fat loss across the gym members.
By the time I finish this writing, you will understand why this logic is flawed, and why we need to focus our attention almost exclusively on diet in order to achieve weight management results.
I will also offer 3 tricks to easily control your weight with diet while enjoying exercise, not as a weight loss or maintenance aid, but instead as a tool for mind management, and for the health benefits it provides: better muscle tone and increased lean muscle mass, increased insulin sensitivity of muscles, increased strength, and increased bone density.
The “Calories In - Calories Out” formula presupposes that exercise is the only activity that the body performs to burn calories.
The amount of calories the body uses in a day, however, is much more complex.
The body’s use of calories is measured as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), and exercise isn’t the only activity that affects it.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), includes the calories needed to move the body, but the majority of calories expended are required for your body to perform its most basic functions, including, but not limited to: breathing (lungs), blood circulation (heart pumping), brain function (oxygen consumption), and excretion (intestines and colon).
Additional factors that are out of our control also affect Basal Metabolic Rate including, but not limited to: genetics, gender, age, height, lean muscle tissue, body fat, and diet.
This doesn’t mean don’t exercise.
Exercise is important not only to our health, but also for building lean muscle mass.
Lean muscle tissue will increase BMR not only during exercise, but also during rest.
So, how do we control our weight?
In order to maintain a consistent weight, you must balance eating and not eating (fasting).
The hormone, insulin, is the fat storage hormone, and too much of it causes obesity.
When you eat, insulin levels rise, and you store food energy as body fat.
If you spend most of your time eating, you will gain weight.
When you fast, insulin levels fall, and your body uses stored food energy (glycogen and body fat) for fuel.
If you spend most of your time fasting, you will lose weight.
In addition to planning your meals at least 24 hours in advance, balancing lower insulin foods with not eating all of the time is the secret to weight control.
Focus on my 3 tricks to weight management, and I promise you will take enormous strides towards controlling your weight.
3 Tricks to Weight Management:
1. Choose foods that don’t cause insulin to rise sharply - the food you eat will determine how high insulin spikes.
TRICK #1: Consume natural, unprocessed foods—foods that come from the Earth are best. Limit or eliminate flour and sugar from your diet as they tend to cause the highest insulin levels.
2. Limit how often you eat - eating triggers insulin, so the more you eat, the more insulin is present in your bloodstream.
TRICK #2: Unless otherwise directed by your doctor, 3 meals max per day will provide more than enough food energy for most normal, healthy individuals. Meals should have a defined beginning and end, without snacking in-between. This includes beverages that raise insulin.
3. Plan your meals at least 24 hours in advance – planning ahead requires you to use the highest form of your brain, the prefrontal cortex, and decisions made ahead of time prevent poor choices in the moment by the primitive brain to relieve desire for instant gratification.
TRICK #3: Write down what you will eat 24 hours in advance, and more importantly, honor your decision.
If you’d like help with how to keep weight off, without deprivation, I will work with you to identify the behaviors causing your overeating to STOP THE HABITS FOR GOOD.
Click here to be taken to my “Book An Appointment” page to sign up for a free 30 minute consultation to see if my 8 week one-to-one coaching program is a good fit for you.
Space is limited. Don’t waste another minute thinking about your weight and weight management, let’s get started to discover your personal weight struggles today, and end the fight for good.