Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Is it really 80% nutrition

You hear it a lot from me. You hear it a lot from other fitness professionals. Is it true? And what does it really mean?

Let's say you need to lose 50 pounds. You've never been on a diet before and generally (over)eat whatever you want and do little or no exercise. You're given a weight loss program to follow including a reduced calorie intake and increased cardio and strength training. You hate eating healthy, watching portions and counting calories, so you decide to put your all into your workouts.

You do 30 minutes a day and even sometimes go as high as 60 minutes a day if you've really been naughty with your eating. When weigh-in comes, you're up two pounds. What gives!

On the other hand, if you hate exercise and decide to give reduced calories intake a try the results will differ. You've created the necessary calorie deficit and have included little or no exercise at all. Weigh-in comes along and you've dropped two pounds!

Of course, the two go hand in hand. To maximize results of your weight loss, you MUST do both. I mean, REALLY people, there are no short cuts to this.

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