Losing weight should never be the sole aim of any diet. Your diet is what sustains you and it is what your body uses to rebuild tissue, flesh and even brain matter. In other words, if you aren’t eating right then you won’t be performing right either. That should be the priority.
Still though, many of us do aim to lose weight with our diets and that’s why it can be very disheartening when it just doesn’t happen for us.
And sometimes it’s genuinely doesn’t. Sometimes, we will work incredibly hard to try and cut calories and eat as sensibly as possible only to end up the same weight that we were to start with.
What’s going on?
Looking Closer
This is something that fitness trainers will see regularly. They write someone a training program, give them a simple diet plan and then watch as… nothing happens.
Meanwhile, someone else might be putting much less effort in and still find that they’re losing a lot more weight! So what’s going on?
The answer is that exercise and diet is only one part of the equation. And in fact, there’s one more crucial element that plays a huge role!
No, I’m not talking about genetics in this instance. Though of course your natural metabolism and various other biological factors will have a big impact. If you don’t believe me, then just ask anyone who suffers with hypothyroidism or who has used steroids. That is the difference that the right hormones make. (And in fact, if you aren’t seeing any progress in your diet, you may want to consider getting checked for these conditions by seeing your doctor.)
What I am talking about is lifestyle. It’s everything that you do in-between your exercise and your diet that really matters. Try wearing a fitness tracker for a while and you’ll see the impact this has. If you are walking 15,000 steps every day to get to and from work then you are burning a heck of a lot more calories than someone who works from home and who rarely commutes.
The difference that aiming to get 10,000 steps a day makes to the way you feel and the weight you lose is huge.
Meanwhile, think as well about your job – is it active? Think about your jobbies – do you dance or do martial arts?
In the wild, we didn’t exercise for one hour a day and spend the rest of the time sitting down. Rather, we were consistently exercising, running and challenging ourselves. That’s how you need to be if you want optimal health and weight loss!