Diet vs Exercise: Which one is more important? 

When it comes to keeping fit, achieving great health or even weightloss benefits, many people are unsure which is more important: Diet vs Exercise. The truth is, both are equally important for achieving a healthy mind and body, regardless of what you’re specifically trying to achieve. 

Whether it’s losing weight or building muscle, by working on your exercise and diet together, you’ll see the best results in the least amount of time.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of both dieting and training and how to integrate both of them into your fitness plan. 

Dieting and how it can affect your fitness

Dieting is the process of defining and sticking to an exact diet to achieve predefined goals. These goals may be weightloss, building muscle, or feeling generally healthier. 

To make the most out of your dieting, you must understand how to make it work. Most diets involve avoiding junk food, or foods generally high in sugar, salt and saturated fats. Instead, you’re more likely to opt for fresh food like vegetables and fruits, as well as consuming lots of water to stay hydrated. Although all these are great general dieting tips, you may need a more specific diet plan if you’re looking to achieve specific goals, such as building muscle mass. 

Remember dieting is a marathon, not a sprint. Start by making simple changes and progress with improving your diet over a longer time-frame. This will make it easier to maintain over the long term. Likewise, if you’re struggling to figure out which parts of your diet need attention, you can always consult a professional nutritionist, to offer you more specific guidance on a suitable diet plan.

A nutritionist will be able to help you formulate a meal-plan based on which foods you currently consume and which food groups you need to increase or decrease in terms of quantity. For example, if you are following an exercise plan focused on building muscle, you may need to increase the amount of protein as part of a healthy diet. 

Avoid looking for short term ‘novelty’ diets. While you may hear the media discussing what the latest diet trend is, it’s highly probable that these diets are offering a ‘quick fix’ solution with short-term results.

Any diet which may eliminate a major food group, may have some unpleasant, not to mention, unhealthy side-effects. You may see increased levels of fatigue, or even hunger, if you’re depriving your body of key nutrients.

Exercise and how it can affect your fitness

Exercising is the process of engaging your body in activities that are aimed at stretching your muscle fibres to make them stronger, increasing your blood’s circulation rate, and improving your general health.

These may include cardio exercises such as running and cycling, strength training such as bodyweight exercises, or exercises with a greater focus on flexibility such as yoga and pilates. 

In turn, exercising is known to positively impact your metabolism. Age, as well as other genetic factors can often determine how quickly your body can break down food into energy. However, by increasing the amount of exercise you do, an added benefit is that your metabolism may remain high for an additional period post-exercise, burning calories at a quicker rate.

Workout sessions are a major part of staying generally fit and increasing your energy levels. The effects of workout sessions cannot be skipped and replaced by a diet as food simply can’t provide you with the endorphins and health benefits that a good ole’ workout can! 

Don’t be put off by thinking you’ll have to pay large amounts of money on a gym membership to stay fit. Making small changes in your day-to-day life can also help to keep you active. When given the choice, choose the stairs over a lift or escalator. Likewise, ditch your car or the bus and instead walk or cycle to your destination.

Coming up with the perfect workout routine for yourself is instrumental to your success. To make this work, you may want to consider your level of exposure to the subject at hand (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), and consult with a professional trainer.

To sum up 

Both exercise and diet play an equally important role in your fitness journey and achieving excellent health. 

To make the most out of your workout sessions, you must have a healthy diet plan. 

On the other hand, to get the best results from eating healthily, combine your healthy diet with consistent, high-quality workout sessions. 

To get help, you should hire a local personal trainer who will be able to assist you in achieving your fitness and health goals.