Shore Fit By Bonnie Miller
Have you ever heard someone say, “You can’t outrun your fork”? Or, “You can’t out train a bad diet”? Well, it’s true and as a rule of thumb, weight loss is generally spoken in terms of 80/20, 80% diet and 20% exercise. The 80/20 rule has been around for a long time but requires dedication and consistency. I am a living example of how true this statement is! I used to joke with my husband that I’m the only person who can gain weight while teaching 8-10 spin classes per week! Now, I know that I’m not the only person who can gain weight and exercise a ton but it was my running joke in our house! The math is simple and so is the key to successful weight loss if that’s your goal. To achieve weight loss, you need to take in less calories than you burn. Simple, basic math will get you there.
At least one time or another (if you’re an exercise person), you will hear someone say to you, ”you can eat that piece of cake [or whatever it is] because you’ll burn it off later at the gym!” Or, “you workout so that you can eat whatever you want!” If your goal is weight loss, then you have to be very conscientious of calories in and calories out! The reason that diet is so much more effective than exercise for weight loss is because we need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit in order to shed one pound. This my friend, starts with your diet. You can’t think that if I run that marathon or start taking those bootcamp classes, you’re going to lose weight if you don’t pair it with a balanced, healthy eating plan. I see it all the time. People get frustrated with their lack of weight loss because they are working out, and the scale isn’t budging. The focus has got to be on your food intake and the calories of what you’re actually consuming. I believe you need both pieces of the puzzle–diet and exercise–if you’re going to be successful on your weight loss journey. It is possible to lose weight without exercise, but isn’t possible to lose weight if your nutrition (diet) counteracts your energy expenditure (exercise). A healthy combination of the two is best for weight loss at any stage. For example, it’s much easier to create a deficit of say, 600 calories through diet than to burn 600 calories through exercise for most, especially if you’ve never worked out before. This is why I suggest a healthy combination of the two, making it less dramatic. Think about it, if you eliminate that nightly dessert of 300 calories and burn 300 calories by working out, you have your 600 calorie deficit! Like I mentioned earlier, it’s basic math and not overly complicated. If you follow the 80/20 ratio, you’ll want to burn approximately 1,500 calories via exercise and cut 2,000 calories through dieting per week. That’s a total of 3,500 calories and there’s your pound of weight loss. Of course, you can play with these numbers; this is simply an example. You don’t need to hit an exact ratio of diet and exercise to shed pounds, but it is important for people to focus primarily on their diet when the goal is weight loss!!!
I also believe in varying your workouts with a healthy mix of strength training and cardiovascular training, not just cardio!!! That’s a whole other myth that we will get into down the road–that strength training makes you gain weight or look bulky. Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Pound for pound, they weigh the same, muscle just takes up less space. Both modes of exercise burn calories and in turn lead to stored fat being utilized as energy. I currently teach a class that combines the best of both worlds, cardio and strength. We combined 30 minutes of cardio via indoor cycling with thirty minutes of strength training. It’s a great way to get both in one hour.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your body tends to resist weight loss when you start eating less. This is what we call a plateau. It can become very frustrating when you’re on this weight loss train and everything is moving along and then, bam, it comes to a halt! Your body goes into starvation mode. It happens to everyone who successfully sheds pounds. What actually happens is that your metabolism slows down as you lose the weight. This is where strength training is especially beneficial. You can speed up your metabolism through strength training. It’s my absolute favorite mode of exercise, nothing makes me feel stronger than lifting weights.
So, the bottom line is this, what you eat matters more than how you work it off in regards to weight loss. However, fitness will push you through those plateaus and enable you to achieve your ultimate goal of weight loss, and nothing feels better than an intense sweat session!v
Bonnie Miller is certified fitness instructor at the Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness Center and the JCC in Margate. She is a mom of three and resides Somers Point.
