Dieting Alone Won’t Help You Achieve Your Fitness Goals
When you want to lose weight, dieting is probably your go-to action. But dieting alone often isn’t enough to help you achieve your fitness goals.
You aren’t necessarily going to get to the results you’re after by cutting carbs or counting calories.
Are you surprised to hear this? If so, you need to read on.
Dieting Alone Doesn’t Help
Here are a few of the main reasons why dieting alone won’t help you achieve your fitness goals.
You’ll Lose Muscle
If you aren’t exercising, you’re losing muscle. And when you lose weight from cutting calories, you’re losing more than just fat.
Some of the weight you lose will also be muscle. And if you’re carrying a lot of extra weight, you probably think you have more lean body mass than you do.
So if you only lose weight from dieting, there’s a good chance you’re not going to like the results.
It’ll Take Longer
Exercise may not tip the scale in your favor, but that’s only because you’re gaining muscle while you’re losing fat. So if you don’t exercise, you might feel like you’re making more progress, but you’re actually not.
The foundational principle of weight loss is that you must burn more calories than you consume. If you can do this, you’ll lose weight. And there’s a limit to the number of calories you can cut.
But if you cut calories to your healthy limit and add exercise, you can make more out of each day. And you’ll reach your goals faster.
You’re Not Addressing Deeper Issues
If you’re struggling to lose weight while you have a glass (or bottle) of wine each night, this isn’t an accident. There’s no magic diet that’s going to solve your problem.
Those liquid calories are going to continue to be a problem, and curbing your food intake isn’t a healthy solution.
Instead, you need to address the real problem. Search for a treatment directory and get help for problem drinking before you go on a diet.
Muscle Burns Fat
When you have more muscle mass on your body, your body becomes more efficient at burning fat. So when you work out, you’re actually strengthening your body’s ability to bust fat and keep it off.
How To Get More Exercise
At least one study shows that people are likely to slow down when they consume fewer calories. And you probably know this to be true from experience.
When you aren’t eating enough, you probably don’t want to move as much. This is a biological function to help us in times of famine.
But when you’re purposely trying to cut back in order to lose weight, you want to do the opposite of what your instincts are telling you.
So here are some tips for getting more exercise when your body is telling you to slow down.
Work Out Early In The Morning
Try to work out as early in the morning as you can. If you make a habit of an early morning workout, you don’t have as much time to talk yourself out of it.
You also have a lot more energy in the morning – even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Trick Yourself Into Exercising
If you’re not a fan of exercise, the idea may seem overwhelming. But you don’t have to think of exercise as exercise. You have options.
For one, you can choose something fun. Go dancing, play basketball or run to feel the wind in your hair.
You don’t have to go to the gym to get exercise. You can actually have so much fun that you forget you’re exercising. This isn’t meant to be torture.
Another option sits at the polar opposite end of the spectrum. Force yourself to exercise. To do this, you may park at the opposite end of the parking lot, forcing yourself to walk a further distance. Or you may walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator or escalator.
In both cases, you may need to allow some extra time to get where you’re going, but it’ll be worthwhile in the end.
What’s standing in the way of your weight loss journey?