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Exercise Versus Diet For Fat Loss

If you’re someone who’s looking to shed a few pounds and get down to your goal weight, one thing that you might be questioning is what is more important for fat loss: getting a good diet in order or performing some intense workout sessions. 

While there’s no question that a combination of both will yield the best possible results, if you had to choose between one or the other, is one more important? 

Let’s take a closer look at this factor so you can see for yourself what you must consider. 

The Question Of The Calorie Deficit 

The very first thing that you must take into account is what it is actually required for fat loss.  In order to successfully melt pounds of fat from your frame, you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. 

You can either achieve this by reducing your food intake on the diet side of things or increasing your calorie expenditure on the exercise side of things. 

Now, when it comes to accomplishing this goal, diet tends to win out.  You can easily create a 200-400 calorie deficit with your diet plan, but it would take exercising for 30-60 minutes to do the same. 

Most people grossly overestimate just how many calories they burn during a workout. They don’t realize how hard it is to create that deficit through activity alone. 

Maintaining Your Lean Muscle Mass And Metabolism 

On the flip side of the coin, exercise is what will ensure that you maintain your lean muscle mass as you go about the fat loss process. It will also help to boost your metabolic rate. 

A low calorie diet however can put you at risk for lean muscle mass loss and will naturally cause a slow-down to your metabolism. 

So from a long-term point of view, exercise will yield weight loss that may be easier to keep off, provided you don’t eat back all the calories that you burn off. 

Your Body’s Tolerance 

Finally, the last thing that you must take note of when asking yourself which is better in terms of the overall fat loss results it will provide is what your body’s tolerance level is.  Are you someone who can take exercising for high volumes each week? 

Some people simply do not have the recovery capacity to do so and will find that they burnout very quickly. 

Others will find that they can go on a low calorie diet without a problem as long as they aren’t exercising for hours on end. 

It’s important that you take the time to learn your body and what it responds best to. This way, you can customize your approach to whatever is best for you. 

So there you have the main factors to take into account.  Generally speaking it’s easier to create the calorie deficit for fat loss through a diet, but if you want to look good as you lose the weight, exercise is key.

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