If you are making a choice between exercising on a regular basis or modifying your daily diet to a slightly healthier one with reduced calorie intake, the latter will be the better method to lose weight. At some point in their lives, people feel the need to reach a particular “goal weight” or get a “swimsuit body” because they are currently not satisfied with their respective physical appearances. Society and the media can sometimes put a special emphasis on exercise tools and equipment or sometimes even gym memberships. They almost make it look like it is easy, like anyone can do it in their spare time and get the desirable results they want within only a few weeks. Regular exercise, such as biking or running, is known to assist sleep cycles. It is also known to give people extreme optimism, the feeling like they are ready to take on the day, according to Leslie Goldman, with a master of physical health. While society and the media have a habit of depicting exercise alone as the number one most effective method for weight loss, that is not true. Healthy dieting is actually the most efficient and sustainable way to lose weight. 

Why even eat healthy to begin with? Why should it be valued? The supposed importance of it is proposed to us all of our lives through different commercials every now and again about some random weight loss program no one has ever heard of. The reality is, the three main motives for anyone to eat healthy are: “to provide the necessary nutrients that your body needs to create new cells, clean toxins, and to just function every day; eating healthy now can help prevent future diseases such as diabetes and cancer; you will have more energy and be more alert” (Ransohoff, heading: “3 Main Reasons to Eat Healthy”). Following a healthy diet does not mean all of the tasty treats, such as cake or cheeseburgers, have to go away and never come back. It is important to just consume in moderation. The claim that eating healthy has the ability to reduce the chances of getting diseases must appeal to emotion. People who do not get any beneficial nutrition should make some changes and do it so they can enjoy a long and healthy life with their loved ones.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the main areas of food are: bread, cereal, rice, and pasta…; fruit; vegetables; milk, yogurt, and cheese; meat, poultry, and fish; fats, oils, and sweets” (Ransohoff, heading: “Basic Food Groups”). Any food that is high in carbohydrates is commonly referred to by many as a “carb”. The best carbs to consume while trying to eat better are whole grain carbs or anything close to whole grain. Small changes can have a big impact. A surprisingly impactful place for some people to reduce their sugar-intake is through diet or reduced calorie drinks. “If you want to eat healthy, it is important to make healthy choices in what you eat all the time – meaning: meals and snacks” (Ransohoff, paragraph 3).

No one can really “out-exercise a bad diet” (Wexler). This means anyone can go above and beyond with their exercise habits seven days a week, but it would be useless if none of the proper beneficial dietary changes were made. According to Dr. Shawn M. Talbott, nutritional biochemist, “…weight loss is generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise” (Wexler paragraph 1). He observed the weight losses of people who only dieted versus people who only exercised to support this claim. The dieters on average lost twenty-three pounds over the course of fifteen weeks and the exercisers on average only lost six pounds over twenty-one weeks. Citing Talbott, Wexler even admits that exercise is one of the keys to successful weight loss, but no one will get anywhere with a bad diet.

Aaron E. Carroll, of The New Health Care, is frustrated by the overpowering emphasis that “The Biggest Loser” puts on exercise as a weight loss factor for the show’s participants. What you do and do not eat is more important, but watching people struggle with their new dietary decisions on a daily basis would just not have the exact same appeal that “The Biggest Loser” has with its audiences. People tend to overestimate how many calories exercise consumes (Carroll, paragraph 3). You could attempt to stick to your regular diet and plan on burning off all of the extra calories at the gym if you were willing to put in the extraneous effort and time into it. The thing is though, not many people are willing to do that. Carroll thinks that too many people have the impression that it is easier to schedule time out of the week specifically for the gym instead of taking that exact same amount of time to prepare a nutritious, home-cooked meal. The idea of going to the gym or going for a run seems to appeal to a broader audience then making changes in diet (Carroll, paragraph 15). I know people I follow on my social media post selfies and other pictures of them at the gym just so everyone can know that they went to the gym. They might do it for bragging rights, but if they really wanted to show everyone how committed they were to improving their health they would also document their health for us.

Calorie-count might be the first thing to pop into some people’s heads when someone tells you to watch what you eat. Energy, measured in joules, is necessary for the human body to do any of its normal functions (Gunnars, heading: “What a Calorie is”). Furthermore, “1 calorie equals 4.184 joules” (heading: “What a Calorie is”, sentence 4). Calories are needed just to live and if weight loss is the goal, fasting will not take anyone where they want to go. If the amount of energy, or calories, someone consumes is greater than the energy output of that person, then the rest of it is stored as fat. That is where the problems arise (Gunnars, heading: “’Too Many Calories’ Doesn’t Tell us Much”). There are some myths out there that say too much of a good thing, like vegetables, is actually not a good thing. (Gunnars, heading: “Different Foods Affect Our Hormones in Different Ways”). Nutrition researcher Kris Gunnars disagrees, giving the example that binge eating something like broccoli will make you feel full much quicker than binge eating a decadent delight such as ice cream. Excess eating is generally only harmful when you choose to consume the wrong type of calories.

In a video spot for weight watchers, spokeswoman Oprah Winfrey confesses her love for bread. (Carlson, paragraphs 4-5). She admits that she loves bread and with Weight Watchers’ plans she can have bread every single day. When she turned sixty-two, she posted a picture of her with an excited look on her face while holding one of seven loaves of seven-grain bread that were given to her as a birthday present from a friend. The only hashtag on the post was #ilovebread (paragraphs 2-3). When Oprah reached the end of an excessive weight gain, she realized she needed to make some changes. She told herself there was no way she was going to give up her carbs, such as her beloved bread (paragraph 9). It is not impossible to lose weight while still eating bread, just stick to whole grain and make moderations in other snacks or meals (paragraph 6). Although, according to dietician Keri Glassman, you should designate bread as your only significant carb if you are going to keep it in your diet (Carlson, paragraphs 7-8). Glassman says one slice of whole grain bread a day is ok if and only if the rest of your diet consists of protein, vegetables, and healthy fat.

One easy cheating method of getting around to actually eating vegetables or other healthy snacks, which can be just plain hard for some people, is to change part of their diet to “fat free” or “zero calorie” versions of their favorite snacks (Papazian 12). But two major problems arise when people discover and dive for these products: when some people learn that a food is low or fat free, they will overeat that product not realizing the negative impact it has. Additionally, not only will these foods slow down weight loss, some of them can contain harmful ingredients that are health-damaging (12). Some of these “reduced” snacks contain olestra, a fat based substitute (11). Olestra is great because it adds no calories or fats to anything. But it is capable of causing intestinal cramps and loose stools. For everyone’s safety, the FDA requires every manufacturer that uses olestra in any of its products to advertise it on the label. Also, the manufacturers must compensate for the dangers of olestra by adding vitamins A, D, E, and K. When you take into consideration the dangers of it and the safety precautions that the FDA forces upon the use of it, you realize olestra is pretty extra. These companies that use it have to go above and beyond to put warnings on their product labels…warnings because it is so dangerous. I feel like this should not even be in the products we consume if it can put us at risk for intestinal cramps. Why go through these struggles instead of just eating foods naturally high in vitamins and other nutrients? Make sure to stick to ingredients found in nature as much as possible. 

I personally had misconceptions of weight loss until just a few years ago. I thought I could only eat fruits and vegetables and that I had to do extreme aerobics on a daily basis to get my desirable results. When I was sixteen, I discovered a free app on my iPhone called MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal acts as a calorie diary and calculates what nutrients, such as fat, sodium, sugar, etc., and how much of them I should consume day to day. It is able to do so based on my: age, gender, height, current weight, goal weight, and how many pounds I want to gain or lose per week. I enter what I eat and drink throughout the day into my diary and it deducts those nutrients out of my daily limits and shows me how many calories I can eat the rest of the day. The goal is to meet or stay under my limits every day. I was on the heavier side when I downloaded it and by using this app for the rest of the year, I successfully lost twenty-five pounds. I never made efforts to exercise because I was not too serious about my weight loss at the very beginning. But when I saw the results I was getting without exercising that was reason enough for me to sit back and track what I was eating. The app also gives the option of adding any calories burned through exercise to my diary and it adds that number to the calories I have left for the day. This feature can be good incentive for users to exercise. The calories burned get added to my daily calorie limit for the day and having a bigger number at the end of the day is appealing. Or it can be enough to treat myself to something decadent and not feel the guilt usually associated with “cheating”. MyFitnessPal or really any sort of calorie diary is a great start for people who want to lose weight but are clueless as to how start a weight loss journey.

Eating right is efficient for weight loss, but eating is just one concern. Some people out there would rather make time for the gym instead of cooking a healthy meal at home (Carroll, paragraph 12). Gym memberships are a popular commodity among those seeking getting swole, but it is not the only option. Neither gym memberships nor the purchase of special equipment are required to do some physical activity. Anything that gets your heart beating quickly or sweating until the point of burning calories can pass for sufficient exercise (Goldman, “Amount”). If you do not believe that you are ready for aerobic activities like biking, running, or swimming, then simply walking is a great start. It is efficient because it can consume time while waiting for a task to be finished. While perhaps waiting for a healthy, nutritious, and delicious breakfast sandwich to finish cooking in the microwave, do a few laps around the kitchen to get those steps in. When there is a choice between the stairs and the elevator, take the stairs. If you did have the time and the will power, you could work off all of the excess calories you consume (Goldman, “Benefits”). Aside from weight loss, there are benefits from exercise that are not so commonly associated with healthy dieting. Regular exercise increases energy levels and offers assistance for a better sleeping cycle. Routinely working out also helps prevent some diseases by improving blood flow. Lastly, it has been known to be a mood-booster through the release of endorphins, the reason behind the “runner’s high” some people may experience.

Gym memberships sound great, instead of buying fancy work-out equipment you can simply pay out of pocket to visit a place that has everything anyone would need. But beware of them, most notably in January (Swanson, paragraphs 2-3). All google searches on topics related to gyms and the number of membership purchases sky rocket this one month out of the year. It is the best time for the gym industries to shine bright like a diamond because of all of the people who make any New Years’ resolutions to lead a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, those great plans of having a healthy year fade away after just a matter of weeks. Gyms rely on their potential customers to have what is referred to as the projection bias, assuming that present preferences will not change over time, to attain most of their profit (paragraph 14). Gyms and other exercise facilities pretty much rely on people who intend to work out but do not stick through with their intentions for their own revenue. Avoid the drama, and stick to good nutrition.

At some point in our lives, we reach that point when we get nervous going to the beach or the pool because we do not want to be judged for our “imperfect” bodies. We sometimes compare ourselves to the models we see on television with perfect bodies. What is important is to not compare ourselves to those people because we simply live different life styles. But seeing all these nice bodies in the media will make some of us want to knock out a few rounds on the elliptical or the treadmill. Some of us get desperate for weight loss but remain clueless as to how to reach our goals. People fail to realize how simple and easy it is to have a diet filled with good nutrition. The best method to start is to start tracking calorie and nutrition intake with a journal or other type of calorie diary. MyFitnessPal worked for me when I was a sixteen-year-old not educated on the subject of beneficial nutrition or weight loss so I am pretty sure that it can work for anyone who has a smartphone. Despite what messages are being fed to the public, do not doubt that healthy dieting is in fact the most sustainable weight loss method.
