Exercise vs. Diet - What's More Important?
You've heard me say 100x that "abs are made in the kitchen," that you can't run off a bad diet, and that what goes in the mouth matters most when it comes to health and weight-loss...
...and now there's ample new research backing me up ;)
Check out these reports!
You Can't 'Outrun' Obesity: Study Says Exercise Doesn't Help Weight Loss
Take off that Fitbit. Exercise Alone Won't Make You Lose Weight
Workouts Do Not Work Off Ill Effects of Poor Diet (*you need a MedScape account to read this study but it is free to sign up)
The proof is in the plant-based pudding 'eh ;)
You don't need a personal trainer, CrossFit, or P90X DVDs, you just need good food.
(And not too much of it.)
Physical activity has a multitude of merits, but weight-loss is not one of them. (Plus it's 1,000x easier to create a calorie deficit on the input side rather than the output side.)
One of the reasons I don't encourage "working out" during weight-loss is because I've found members that do, often reward themselves for it, OR exercise stimulates their appetites which leads them to overeat, OR they overestimate how much they actually burned which sabotages their efforts.
Members who walk, do yoga, and other light movements don't seem to fall in these traps. (Plus here's another study revealing that yoga may benefit heart health as much as aerobics!)
There's been so many crazy myths about exercise and diet floating around for decades (such as the myth of slow metabolism and starvation mode) and I'm glad modern research is finally starting to poke some holes in them. (I'm also going to poke holes in ALL the myths during next week's online overeaters workshop and weight-loss summit for members!)
P.S. A new study also came out this week that says OBESITY IS CONTAGIOUS (here). This isn't entirely new information, the New York Times reported back in 2007 that "obesity is contagious".
Our social connections have an enormous influence on our health. You're more likely to be healthy if your friends are healthy, and more likely to be overweight if your friends are overweight.
This is one of the reasons why I love the member forums and chats so much -- I've built that social network of like-minded healthy peeps to support me, inspire me, and keep me accountable. I also don't think it's coincidence that we've seen a huge jump in success rate since we brought in a community aspect.
Jennifer's email this morning seems to agree:
"I wasn't planning to renew my subscription because I thought, I have a year's worth of recipes already, but I fell in love with all the members and their encouragement, food pictures, and discussions were so helpful. I think the online community has made the difference for me this year staying on the meal plans and achieving results."
Bottom line: Lifting your fork is more powerful than lifting a barbell. Make it a priority this week to eat well and find an accountability buddy :)
P.S. Join the Meal Mentor newsletter (it's FREE!) Click here to signup!