What helps you lose weight: food or exercise?

The basis of weight loss is a calorie deficit. You can create it in two ways: increase consumption or decrease receipt. That is, be more physically active and change your diet.

In the “ Yod ” telegram channel we tell you how to take care of your health based on evidence-based medicine.

The ideal situation is when a person who wants to lose weight combines exercise and healthy eating. But sometimes the ability or willpower to do both simply isn’t there. Then you can stop at just one thing.

How to Lose Weight with Diet Changes

Correcting your diet is an effective way to lose weight. But if you lose weight only by reducing the amount of food, if there is a risk that the weight will return as soon as you loosen the restrictions.

Another thing to consider when you go on a diet is that changes in diet can reduce the supply of not only calories, but also essential nutrients. Therefore, it is important to change your diet carefully and carefully.

Consider your individual parameters

There are weight limits that cannot be considered healthy. Doctors do not recommend losing weight for people whose body mass index is below 18.5. To calculate BMI, divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters.

You also need to consider your recommended daily calorie intake. It will depend on age, weight and height, and level of physical activity. To calculate your individual caloric intake, it is better to use a special calculator.

Calculate your calorie intake

Without harm to health, a person who is losing weight can eat 250–750 kcal per day less than the recommended daily intake.

Choose healthy foods

Experts from the British Nutrition Foundation advise:

• Reduce the amount of foods high in fat and sugar. That is, limit sugary drinks, fried foods, cakes, cookies and desserts in your diet.
• Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day. One serving should fit in the palm of your hand or weigh 80 grams.
• Do not fry food, but boil, bake, steam or grill. These are harmless ways to prepare food.
• Choose lean cuts of meat or trim fat and skin from them and, if possible, buy lean minced meat.
• Eating more legumes is a good alternative to meat because they are low in fat but high in fiber and protein.
• Buy whole grain bread and pasta. They can provide extra fiber, which helps you feel fuller longer.
• Choose low-fat or light dairy products.
• Study labels and pay attention to sugar content and calorie content.
• Drink less alcohol – it also contains calories. For example, 0.5 liters of light beer is equivalent in nutritional value to a hamburger. If you drink alcohol frequently, try alternating drinks with a glass of water or choosing low-alcohol cocktails.

Eat slowly

The body needs about 20 minutes to produce the satiety hormone – ghrelin . As long as there is not enough of this substance, the risk of overeating is quite high.

To avoid filling your stomach, try to take your time while eating: cut food into small pieces, chew slowly and thoroughly, and do not be distracted by your phone or TV series.

Contact a specialist

A nutritionist or nutritionist will help you create a balanced nutrition plan for weight loss without harming your health. It is especially important to enlist the help of a specialist for people with diabetes or liver disease.

The doctor will not only tell you what foods you can and cannot eat, but also, if necessary, select vitamins to compensate for their deficiency during weight loss.

How to lose weight through sports

Exercise not only helps you lose weight, but also improves heart and vascular health, reduces stress levels, and reduces the risk of dementia in the future. During exercise, fat mass decreases and muscle mass increases. They do not completely compensate for each other, but because of this, it may seem that weight loss during sports will be slower than during a diet.

Here are a few rules to help increase your calorie expenditure.

Be physically active

Any physical activity matters. Experts from the World Health Organization recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week to stay healthy.

There is no need to torture yourself in the gym. It’s enough to go for walks and choose exercises that suit your level of training.

Don’t be afraid to try new things

If you wanted to go to yoga, but were embarrassed because you would be the only one in the class who couldn’t form an asana, don’t be afraid. Everyone started somewhere, and no one will judge you. The same story with the gym or dancing.

Exercise regularly

Experts at the Mayo Clinic advise breaking up your 150 minutes of exercise per week into several workouts. This way, physical exercise will help you lose weight and reduce the likelihood that the pounds will come back.

It is worth considering that weeks of training to muscle pain will not produce immediate results. And this, of course, can be frustrating. But it is important to understand: the point is not in the ineffectiveness of the sport, but in unrealistic expectations from exercise. And perhaps in an incorrectly distributed load.

Be patient. Create a schedule and go to the gym according to it – this will help you create a routine that you will be comfortable sticking to and keep you motivated.

You can also enlist the support of your environment. Invite someone close to you to go for a run or do exercises together in the morning. And if all your friends have moved away, go on a video call while stretching – this way you will support each other in the desire to be physically active.

What ways to lose weight are harmful to health?

Sometimes you want to lose weight quickly so much that people are ready to take extreme measures. But thanks to some methods, the weight can go away quickly, but the harm to health will be greater than the joy of your own dream figure.

Enemas

The method does not help to reduce weight, and the possible effect that forum users write about is ensured only by the removal of feces. It’s the same as just pooping. And such cleansing can also be harmful to health: they interfere with the normal functioning of the intestines, can damage organs and aggravate existing diseases.

Wrap

Cling film, which is wrapped around to create a greenhouse effect and start sweating, is also unlikely to help. We found no evidence that the method promotes weight loss. But unpleasant effects may occur: due to the reaction to sweat, redness, rash, itching, and tingling will appear.

Vomit

It is also not a good idea to induce vomiting after eating. Even if you vomit almost immediately, half of the calories will already be absorbed, which means you won’t be able to get rid of them completely. But you may develop bulimia, an eating disorder that leads to health problems such as dehydration, weakness, menstrual irregularities, abdominal pain and bloating, constipation, damage to the esophagus, teeth, gums and cheeks, heart disease, kidney disease and glands.

Extreme Diets

When a person eats nothing and only drinks fresh juices, calorie consumption actually decreases. But juice diets are bad for your health. This diet leaves you deficient in nutrients and fiber, which you need to feel full and poop normally. In addition, juices contain a lot of sugar, which is harmful to teeth .

A fruitarian diet, in which it is customary to eat only fruits, is also not the best option. Although they are healthy in themselves, they should be around 25-30% in the diet. And larger amounts can cause weight gain, tooth decay, increased blood sugar levels, deficiencies of vitamins D and B12, calcium, and also provoke the development of an eating disorder.