The New Year is just a few days old and there are of course a lot of things that you swore you would leave behind in 2018. It could be a bad job, a bad relationship, a bad habit, or any kind of baggage. But as we all find out, it’s possible that you may be starting off the New Year with additional weight on your shoulder. And we’re not talking about the bad habits, jobs, or relationships that you left behind in 2018. We’re talking about some pounds of extra weight.
The holiday festivities do offer a lot and the food is always in plenty. Naturally, it’s common for people to jump into the New Year with some extra weight. When that happens, we start off the year with one common resolution and that’s to hit the gym and shed off the extra pounds as fast as we can. It doesn’t have to be the weight put on during the festive season though. Even people who have often had the thought of starting an exercise plan wait until the New Year before they commit. As a result, there’s always a huge influx of people in the gym once the year starts.
However, before you start pounding the treadmill, perhaps you should know that exercise is far less effective for weight loss compared to dieting. Nutritionists argue that what you remove from your diet is more important compared to how much you exercise. The argument here is actually very simple. Think of it this way, all the calories that you take in come from the foods that you eat. On average, an adult will need about 2000 calories a day just to maintain normal body functions. This entire calorie intake will come from food. Conversely, the amount of calories you burn through exercise makes a very small proportion of your daily calorie intake.
Although it’s possible to lose weight through exercise, the results are often more successful when dieting is incorporated in the plan. Nutritionists say that if you reduce your calorie intake and combine that with a short exercise routine, you’re likely to lose more than someone who just exercises a lot. According to most experts, between 60% and 80% of the calories you take are consumed by the Basal Metabolic Rate. In other words, these are the calories that keep your body functional. 10% of the calories are used in breaking down the food you eat and only between 10% and 30% are burned through physical activity.
In addition to this, nutritionists say that it’s very easy to undo the exercise that you have done. For example, an average person weighing 185 pounds would normally burn 200 calories walking 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour. If after the walk you decide to get your favorite ice cream, some cookies or even drink a glass of wine, the calories burned will be right back in. A lot of people do have the mentality of thinking that they have earned the right to eat what they want after a workout. However, this can be very counterproductive in the long run.
