Bottom Line of What Works to Lose Weight

The following guidelines of which works better, to help you lose weight more effectively (^-^)

Diet vs Exercise

The common question is, which will work, diet or exercise? The answer is both.

If you hate exercise and want to lose weight just by changing your diet, you're setting yourself up to fail, says Dr Chris Tzar, an exercise physiologist from the University of New South Wales. Choose this path and there's a 90% chance you'll regain any lost weight within three years, he says.

That's because dieting without exercise increases the odds you'll lose muscle from your body along with any fat. Since muscle cells burn more energy than fat cells, even when you're not actually doing anything, losing muscle makes it harder to lose weight and keep it off. That's why so-called resistance training, which builds muscle strength, is recommended, along with more aerobic exercise such as walking, swimming or running.

In addition, more muscles increase metabolism. So even when you are sleeping, you can still burn calories!

In contrary, if you love eating yummy foods and cannot change your diet, and you prefer to exercise instead, what you can do is to look at how much exercise it takes to burn off a single slice of apple pie (two hours walking) to realise that for most people, losing anything more than a few kilos through exercise alone will be challenging. It's unlikely you'll be able to work out enough to make up for any significant amounts of eating (let alone past amounts of eating). And like exercise, a good diet makes you healthier on the inside too.

Bottom line: Keep your food intake in check and exercise on regular basis.


Fat Burning Exercises

Okay. Now you hit the gym to start exercising. But which exercise is more effective in helping you to lose weight?

"Is walking more fat-burning than jogging? Well, if you walk for three hours it might be more fat burning than jogging for 15 minutes. One of the most important factors…is whether people are going to sustain the activity long-term" to quote Dr Tzar.

He recommends people try a range of different activities: to find out what they like, to help prevent boredom, and to reduce injuries.

What about those diagrams on exercise machines that suggest the body's 'fat burning zone' occurs at a low level of exertion? Unfortunately these are very misleading.

The body burns three types of fuel, i.e. fats, carbohydrates and protein. As exercise intensity increases, the proportion of the fuel mix coming from fat decreases, however the absolute amount of fat burned remains fairly stable, Tzar says: "It may be a smaller percentage but of a larger quantity."

To maximise your fat burning, high-intensity exercise is almost certainly the better option. In other words, ignore the diagrams and don't restrict your exertion because you think it somehow means you'll burn more fat.

Bottom line: Find one exercise activity that you like, that you can do at greatest intensity for a sustained period of time, is the best way to lose weight.


Best Time of Day to Exercise

Technically, the body's preference for burning fat is slightly higher first thing in the day. However, early morning exercise maybe harder for us to do, because we are generally less alert, our body temperature is low, and joints are stiffer.

Bottom line: The best time of day to exercise is the time of day that allows you keep doing it, preferably on a regular basis.


Counting Kilojoules?

Counting Kilojoules on food that you consume can be quite depressing and time consuming, especially for us who is busy at work.

Many experts also feel it's unnecessary and possibly psychologically unhealthy to count Kilojoules. Even WeightWatchers recently moved to offer an alternative 'no count' weight loss plan for those put off by the prospect of weighing foods and keeping records.

Chris Tzar agrees, "The reality is, if you're having a diet adequate in fibre, low in glycaemic index [that is, the carbohydrates are the type that break down slowly], and you're minimising your saturated fats, it's highly unlikely you're going to be overdosing on calories."

Bottom Line: Following the general principles would be sufficient. You do not have to feel obliged to count the Kilojoules.


How Often to Weigh

One study found that people who concentrated on being healthy, by improving food choices and getting more exercise, weighed less after 12 months than another group who thought more about weight.

Daily weighing is unnecessary at all. The weight loss you see on the scale may not be loss of fat, but most probably is simply loss of water in your body. And sometimes, you may not see any weight loss at all. This is because weight loss isn't linear. It could range from a quarter of a kilo to a kilo per week.

Bottom Line: If you would like to keep track of your weight loss from day to day, you may want to weight on daily basis. However, if you are easily discouraged, weekly or monthly weighing might be better than doing it on daily basis.