In the battle of gym vs. diet which comes out on top?
As a fitness professional and an immense foodie I know first-hand the fine line between working out and dieting. I want to whip up a decadent 3-course dinner for my girlfriend but am I willing to pay the price in crunches, burpees and on the treadmill?
For whatever reason people have a tendency to lean more towards dieting or intense gym sessions as a means of keeping on top of their desired weight so I thought it might be useful to examine the relationship between exercise and diet in four simple points.
We at Peake Fitness advocate regular exercise (in whatever form you choose) over dieting any day and these are the reasons why:
Working out stimulates the growth of metabolic tissues
Sounds simple, right? Exercising to lose weight means you’re burning mostly fat when you hit the gym, which means your attaining your goal. On the other hand, dieting alone may result in weight loss initially but you’re also losing crucial bone density and stripping away muscle.
Toff’s tip: When you hit the scales after a short workout remember that muscle weighs more than fat so the numbers on the scale may not look how you’d like, but your body will thank you for it.
Mental and physical perks!
Even if you’re hitting the gym once a week, you’ll find yourself improving not just physically, but mentally too. Exercise can help improve the quality of your sleep, reduce your stress levels, and lower your cholesterol.
One of the best things about the gym over dieting alone is that you escape your worries for the entirety of your workout – and don’t necessarily have to feel guilty about eating afterwards, as you’re simply fuelling yourself. It’s a win-win.
Replace negativity with positivity
Once you’ve overcome the challenge of working your gym session into your busy schedule, the fact that you are exercising already means that you are in the right mindset to eat more healthily.
When dieting instead of exercising, you are restricting yourself to eating less, meaning that you’ll think about it more. This can lead you to spend more time worrying about your caloric intake than if you knew you’d burned fat before or after your mealtime.
Identify your weak spots and make them your goals
Sometimes identifying your weak spot and making that your goal is the quickest path to success. If you’re no good at weights, start small or make it more fun by getting a friend involved or pushing yourself with a personal trainer. If you loathe cardio, begin on the cycling machine with your favourite workout music on full blast and before you know it you’ll be cycling for miles!
If you tackle your diet in the same way, by picking one of your weak spots to slowly eliminate, you’ll see positive results before you know it.
In my view, everything in moderation – including calorie-counting and exercise. But I am only human so if you want to bring me a chocolate bar on your next trip to the gym my favourite is a Dairy Milk!