Best Way to Lose Weight – Diet or Exercise?
If you have been trying to lose some weight, and have done any research at all, you have no doubt read that dieting is best…or exercise is best. So which one really is the ‘best’ way to lose weight?
The short answer is that both ways may help you to lose weight, but neither one will work unless you understand some basic principles of how the body uses and stores calories.
We are all subject to what is called the Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories every living person needs to survive. It is based on the amount of calories needed to keep our organs functioning. Even walking to the fridge for some tempting snack or a cold one, and then back to the sofa for the next TV show would be considered ‘exercise’ when computing your BMR. It is the amount of calories you will burn if you stay in bed all day and do nothing.
The Basal Metabolic Rate is a clinical formula developed by countless measurements on countless people of both sexes and different ages. Your BMR decreases with both age and the loss of muscle mass. You will increase your BMR by adding muscle mass. Women and men have different formulas to compute their BMR.
A very precise BMR will factor in gender, age, weight, genetics, diet, body surface area, body fat percentage , body temperature, external temperature, glands, and the amount of exercise done on a regular basis. We can get a very accurate number without all this by using the following formula;
For women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)
For men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) = 5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)
Note: 1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.
As an example…a woman who is 30 years old…5′ 6″ tall (167.6 cm)…and weighs 120 lbs. (54.5 kilos)
BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 – 141 = 1339 calories a day
To find the numbers of calories we actually burn in a day we need to multiply our BMR by our activity. This is determined by the following types of physical activity;
Sedentary = BMR x 1.2 (little or no exercise, working at a desk all day)
Lightly active = BMR x 1.375 (light exercise 1 to 3 times a week)
Moderately active = BMR x 1.55 (moderate exercise 3 to 5 times a week)
Very active = BMR x 1.725 (hard exercise 6 to 7 times a week)
Extremely active = BMR x 1.9 (hard daily exercise + physical job)
Our 30 year old woman who is moderately active will need 2075 calories a day
This number is also referred to as ‘total daily energy expenditure’ or TDEE. This is the number that we have to know in order to plan a program to lose weight…no matter if we choose diet or exercise as the method.
Now back to our original question…which method is the best? Dieting all by itself will lower the BMR, making it more difficult to lose weight by simply reducing calories. Extreme dieting may actually have negative side-effects like hormone disruption (thyroid output).
Exercise without also reducing calories will result in very slow weight loss as we will not burn enough calories without very rigorous exercise…which usually results in an increase in food consumption. The recommended reduction for safe weight loss is between 500 and 1000 calories a day.
The bottom line concerning calories and weight loss is very simple. If we burn more calories then we consume we will lose weight. If we consume more calories then we burn we will gain weight. The trick is to find the balance using both diet and exercise.
Adding a moderately active to very active amount of exercise to your weight loss program also boosts your muscle mass which will increase your BMR. To keep the weight off it is necessary to lose it gradually…’crash’ or fad diets are not recommended.
Reducing your calories by just 500 a day off your TDEE will result in a loss of one lb. a week. This is an excellent rate to insure you will keep the weight off and you should not exceed 1000 calories a day, or 2 lb. a week. The combination of exercise and calorie reduction will give you the results you are looking for with the added benefit of becoming much more fit in the process.
A little effort will go a long way…happy weight loss.
Brian Tilley
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/best-way-to-lose-weight-diet-or-exercise-315613.html
January 27th, 2010 at 5:27 am
What is the best diet to lose weight while doing little exercise (no time), and what is the eating schedule?
I need to lose 10–20 lbs and get very little exercise because of time constraints. I’ve heard about low-carb diets but know nothing about them. What is the best diet choice to lose weight and then to maintain my ideal weight?
January 27th, 2010 at 10:29 am
drink lotsssss of waterrrrrrr
eat fruitssss anytime of the day..
drink green tea it helps burn fat
grape fruit does too
do not eat after 6pm
dont forget the 2litrs of water a day
atleast 1hr of working out (cardio) everyday 7 days a week.. well 15kg in a month, u should workout an hr everyday,,,
Ummm watelse.. eat a fist only of protein.. fish is the best… fish and veggies thats ofcourse lunch……
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:31 am
eat 3lbs of gummi bears a day, and drink a ton of diet coke. I’ve lost 30 pounds this month
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Your biggest meal should be breakfast, your body needs the energy to metabolize fat for the rest of the day. Then keep proportions smaller and smaller throughout the day, do not eat after 6-7. all foods consumed then will be stored as fat and you mention not much time to exercise and burn it off. And water water water.
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:35 am
eat normal not to much when eating don’t drink when finish drink(drink only if the food stack in ur neck)when eating dont lay down when finish eating don’t go for sleep go in 30 min-1 hour.
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:37 am
If you don’t couple a decent diet with exercising, you won’t lose weight. Unless you just don’t eat anything, but then skin gets saggy, face looks haggard and old. Not nice.
Sensible eating and exercise are the golden combo, my friend.
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:39 am
You’ll achieve your goal of losing 10-20 lbs. thru a well balanced diet (80% alkaline foods meaning fruits/vegetables and 20% acidic foods daily), regular exercise (three/four times weekly 30 minutes each while watching TV at home), and drinking a sufficient amount of water daily. By sufficient amount of water daily means: Divide your weight in lbs. by 2; Substitute ounces instead of lbs. when you get the answer. The answer is the number of ounces of water that your body requires daily to lose weight (i.e., if your weigh 128 lbs., you will have to drink 64 ounces or 8 glasses of water daily).
However, I’ll go one step further to show you the best and safest way to lose weight so that your entire system will achieve a balanced pH and not be depleted of the essential minerals that it needs. Here’s why. As the typical American diet is mainly acidic, except for most fruits and vegetables, it is close to impossible for our body to attain the alkaline levels that spells good health without the proper nutrients. This being the case, it is very difficult to lose weight unless you monitor closely your body’s pH. Let me explain.
An acid pH has considerable influence over the majority of weight problems, including Diabetes and Obesity. It seems that a habitually acid pH can directly cause immediate weight gain. Here’s what happens when a system is too acid. A condition known as Insulin Sensitivity or Syndrome X results, which forces too much insulin to be produced, and the body is flooded with insulin so that it won’t waste any calories, it diligently converts every calorie it can into fat.
It is thought that an acid pH immediately signals the powerful genetic response to an impending famine, directly interacting with the all important and very sensitive, Insulin- Glucagons Axis. This makes the body produce more insulin than usual, and in turn, produce more fat and store it. In general, the more insulin is available to the body, the higher the probability that fat will be produced and stored, rather than used and burned as energy.
Thus, an acid pH will probably alert the genetic response to famine, directing more insulin to be produced and storing more fat than usual. Conversely, a healthy, slightly alkaline pH, will be more likely to yield normal fat burning metabolic activity, making no demands on the body to overly produce insulin and make fat, allowing fat-weight to be burned and naturally lost. And, with a healthy pH, there’s less likely to be any yo-yo effect, or rebounding from a diet with additional weight gain. As long as nutritional stores are maintained, a healthy, slightly alkaline pH allows fat to burn normally for energy, rather than being hoarded under the mistaken biochemical belief of an impending famine.
The best way, though, to drink 8 glass of water daily is to mix it with Xtreme X2O, a natural and organic, coral calcium with 70 trace minerals, which transforms the pH of the water beverage to 9.9 (highly alkaline)!
You may ask why not just drink plain water? The answer is: When you drink lots of water, all of 8 glasses daily, it does not have the essential minerals (calcium, magnesium with 70 trace minerals) that your body needs to elevate its pH and therefore, alkalize your body as the pH of plain water is rather low and very acidic (pH < 7.0). Additionally, our body cannot manufacture any of these essential minerals so you’ll have to ingest it from an outside source. If you take any form of supplements in tablet or capsule form, they are at best only 10%-20% absorbed by our body (check the color of your urine: if it is bright
yellow, your supplements are going down the drain as well. That’s why they call it ”expensive urine”). I had to learn this the hard way, more than a decade long. Upon taking X2O, you’ll notice your urine is light, light yellow in color, meaning the minerals are fully absorbed by your body, not going down to drain.
Remember, "Alkalinity" equals Oxygen and Oxygen = Good Health.
If you would like to know what your pH level is, let me know. For more info, check this site:
http://www.xoomaworldwide/alkalizewithx2o
Thanks.
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http://www.xoomaworldwide/alkalizewithx2o
January 27th, 2010 at 10:41 am
just drink alot of water everyday and drink water before and after eating a meal
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:43 am
you can make time for 30 minutes of exercise a day
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:45 am
The diet I followed is called Shapeworks. I lost 95 lbs in 8 months and did no exercise at all. I am a football coach, so I have no time for exercise or eating right for all that matters. That is why this plan worked so well for me. Here is where I got it from: http://www.loseweightnow.com/tfward
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