You Can't Out-Exercise A Bad Diet

Many people think exercise is a cure-all to weight loss issues. People beginning a new exercise program will often see good results as it's a shock to their system. They start seeing the pounds melt away and they become convinced that they are one of the "special ones" that don't need to worry about their diet. Then they "hit the wall." The continual progress they were seeing comes to a screeching halt. They may get frustrated, unfairly blame their trainers for getting stuck, and stop exercising altogether. Today I'm going to let you in on a little secret:

You can't out-exercise a bad diet.

Let's take an example to illustrate the point. Say you go to the gym and run on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Next let's assume you burned about 450 calories during your workout. Okay, now that your workout is complete you're feeling virtuous - you're a workout stud muffin. Hey don't you deserve a treat for your hard work? So you stop off at the local smoothie shop - hey smoothies are healthy aren't they? You order a medium (24 oz) smoothie and you effectively wiped out the calorie deficit you just got from exercising. Most medium smoothies run anywhere from 400 calories to over 700 depending on what you put in them.

Here's an entertaining video that also illustrates the point of the impact of diet versus exercise. It's very easy to undo the results of exercise in a few minutes of eating.

While this is over-simplifying the complex issue of weight management, the point I'm trying to get across is how nutrition plays a crucial role. While we often exercise anywhere from 30-60 minutes a day, if you want to continue seeing progress, you need to ask yourself what you're putting in your mouth the rest of the time.