By Muscle Media
When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two necessary ingredients: diet and fitness. While some believe that they are all one thing, nothing could be further from the truth. It is quite possible to have a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits. It is equally possible to be very physically fit with less than savory eating habits.
There’s a clever little line in the Jimmy Buffet song “Fruitcakes” when his ‘lady’ is lamenting: “I treat my body like a temple. You treat yours like a tent.” I can’t help but think of this line whenever I imagine all the people around the world who are going on “garbage in, garbage out” diet plans hoping to achieve the weight loss success.
To be completely honest, it is possible to shed pounds through diet alone. It is difficult but it is possible. It is also possible to be physically fit and have a few extra pounds hanging around. To a large degree, we are what we eat. If we consume a high-fat, low-substance diet, our bodies are going to lack the fuel necessary to burn the fat. At the same time, if we aren’t providing our bodies with the tools it needs to build muscle, it doesn’t matter how many weights we lift.
Diet with Fitness
When it comes to diet and fitness, the best results are achieved when they work together rather than separately. Use your fitness routine to burn excess calories. Use your diet to properly provide your body the nutrients and fuel it needs to build muscle. I’ve heard many times that a pound of muscle weighs less than a pound of fat. While this is not true at all, a pound is a pound regardless; a pound of muscle occupies less space on the body than a pound of fat. Pound for pound, I would much rather mine compose of muscle than fat. Dieting alone does not build muscle. That is something you would do well to remember.
You should also realize that as you are building muscle you may be shedding inches while not showing a great deal of progress on the scale. It is very important that you keep this in mind throughout the weight loss process. Do not measure your progress by the scales alone or you will receive misleading results. Far too many people do just this, get frustrated, and give up when they are actually making progress. Do not allow yourself to be a dreaded “victim of the scales”. Look in the mirror, try on your tight pants, and measure your waistline. Measure your success by how you feel after climbing a flight of stairs, not by how many pounds registered on the scale this week.
By incorporating fitness into your diet routine, you are also enabling your body to burn off any extra calories you may have consumed during the day. This means that if you want to have a small ‘cheat’ during your day, you can make up for it by burning a few more calories than normal in the evening. This isn’t something that should happen often, but an occasional occurrence isn’t going to make or break your diet.
You should also look at dieting and fitness as a ball and glove type of relationship. While you can play ball without the glove, it seems to work so much better if you have both. Diet and fitness when combined can create fantastic weight loss results for those who take them both seriously. The thing to remember is that neither works as well alone. Also, neither will work unless you are willing to do the work. You must make this a priority in your life in order to achieve the best possible results.