Kitchener Personal Trainer

As a fitness professional or just someone who is out in the world, I hear about people going on a diet and the results they are getting. They always seem surprised and want to share their new found diet with everyone. But is it really that surprising? When it comes down to it, diets are just all about reducing calories. And when you reduce calories you lose weight. It is really that simple. And people will fight me on this trying to tell me it’s not about the calories! It’s about the carbs or it’s about the fat. Yes they may be a low carb diet or a low fat diet but in the end these diets are all the same. There is a reduction in calories and that is why you are losing weight. So is it really that shocking that you lost weight on Keto or a low fat diet? Not really.

DIETS ARE TEMPORARY

So while it is fantastic that you lost weight on a particular diet(insert any diet out there on the market) how are you going to keep it off? The question always seems to be “how am I going to lose weight”? But the real question is “how am I going to keep it off”? It is pretty well known that most people who go on a diet and lose weight always invariably gain the weight back. Why is that? Why can’t they keep the weight off? Is it because that diet is not sustainable? Think grapefruit diet, Atkins and Nutri System. 

Or is it because the diet was so low in calories and so restrictive that as soon as you ate something out of the norm(for that diet of course) you start to gain weight back. Most of these diets never discuss being active, in fact they usually tout that you don’t need to exercise because of how wonderful and effective the diet is. So do you need to add exercise in? Well you probably know how I am going to answer that question!

EXERCISE AND LIFESTYLE CHANGE

So yes you do need to exercise. In fact you need to exercise at least three times per week if you want to see any kind of change in your body. Unlike going on some fad diet, exercising is really a start to changing your lifestyle instead of just changing how you eat. It is a precipitator of sorts to elicit change in your life. 

In order to support your workouts you need to change not only how you eat but how you sleep and how you deal with stress. It also involves changing your lifestyle to find time for these workouts. There are so many factors that come into play when you decide that an exercise program will enable you to lose weight instead of just a diet. Diets change nothing, exercise changes everything. I know that’s a pretty bold statement but it’s true. Diets are supposed to be temporary and lifestyle changes are supposed to be permanent. See the difference there? So not only will you lose weight by exercising you have a greater chance that you will keep the weight off.

WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVES TO DIETS AND ARE THERE NEGATIVES TO EXERCISE PROGRAMS

The positives to a diet is that you lose weight. You may feel great and have more energy, simply because you have less weight weight to lug around. What are the negatives though? There are most definitely more negatives to dieting than there is positives. First of all there is a high chance you will gain all the weight back and then some. Yes you could end up being even heavier than what you were previous to starting your diet. You will also lose muscle because your body is now in a deficit and you are losing weight. Losing weight isn’t always losing just fat , it involves losing muscle as well. Overtime you lose energy. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to sustain energy levels and that amount is different for everyone. Doing a diet long term will guarantee that you will feel this way. You will also get irritable and your sleep patterns will be affected, which in turn affects your brain function.

Sounds pretty bad right? What about a lifestyle change that involves starting with an exercise program instead of a diet? You will still be losing weight because you are burning calories while in taking less calories due to your lifestyle change but the calorie deficit is not so extreme and not so low. You don’t risk any of these things.

In fact your energy levels go up higher and higher the longer you are doing this type of lifestyle change. You also don’t lose muscle, you just lose fat. Your mood improves due to endorphins being released every time you workout. Your sleep gets better not worse and exercise has shown that it increases brain function. Here is a link from Harvard Medical School if you don’t believe me! https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110

Are there any negatives to changing your lifestyle and starting an exercise program? Well you might be tired in the beginning and sometimes your energy levels spike so much in the beginning that you might have hard time going to sleep. This goes away though. Your friends and family might not be so keen on you going to the gym so often either. I have also heard of people losing friends over it. But were they really your friends in the first place? This is usually fueled by jealousy and one can certainly find friends that will be more supportive and may even want to work out with you!