I know both exercise and a healthy diet are key to losing weight, but I can't seem to start both at the same time. I'm really good about it for a month or so and then I get overwhelmed and let both slip, ending back at square one.
So my new strategy is picking one of these things first, making it a priority, and developing a habit of sticking with it. And once that's engrained in my routine (about a month or so), I'll work on the other one.
The question is, which one should I start first? How did you guys and gals start your weight-loss? Did you dive in head first with both? Or began with one and then added the other?
By the way, this doesn't mean the thing I don't choose will be neglected entirely. If I'm not focusing on exercise, I still plan on going to the gym regularly and biking and/or swimming often, but I won't be so strict about it. Same with food. If I'm not focusing on it at first, I won't be calorie counting religiously, but instead I will just be making a conscious effort to eat healthy and limit the chocolate, ice cream, and beer that I consume.
I just can't calorie count, plan healthy meals, plan workouts, and stick to them all at once. At least not at first. I've tried and it ends with me quitting everything.
I know that for me, while I want to exercise and be more fit, that if I didn't focus on eating healthier to start that I'd either remain the same weight or go back to gaining weight.
Without monitoring food intake in some way, it can be easy to overeat portions or to feel hungrier from the movement. Clearly exercise is a healthy thing, but it can be difficult to out-exercise overeating.
So, if you want to pick one to start, I'd suggest focusing on how you'd like to eat.
For me, I had to get my diet in order first because I'm a food addict with strong binge tendencies and I knew that any exercise program would likely fail if I didn't get some confidence with my diet first. I started doing some Zumba DVDs, just a couple times per week to get moving a little - but then joined WW online and went headlong into that for about a month before I started a "real" exercise program at the Y. It was a natural progression for me and it boosted my weight loss quite a bit.
I think it's easier to start with the food because you'll need all the energy you can get from good sources once you hit the exercise side of things! I did it this way and have had pretty good success thusfar, but it's ultimately a personal decision.
I'm with Lovely on this. Working on the food plan (cutting calories) will do more for you to lose weight than exercise. I don't even count calories burned when I exercise because frankly, I'm not an Olympic athlete! I'm just not going to burn that many calories.
I started with cutting out the foods that really didn't mean anything to me. I don't like mac and cheese. I don't like sodas. I don't like French fries. But I had been eating them because that's what my family liked and for some reason, it didn't occur to me that I didn't need to eat what they ate. It took me some time (five years), but now I don't do any processed foods or fast food. Over time I cut out unnecessary fats from my diet, sugars, and behaviors like eating when I wasn't hungry. Right now I'm trying to cut back how much I eat because I tend to overeat, even on "holy" organic foods. Overeating is overeating, doesn't matter what you're eating.
Taking everything on all at once is definitely not the way to go. Wise choice on that. All or nothing thinking is the formula for failure. Pick something to add (or delete) from your lifestyle and do that till it's really part of your life.
Losing weight is 80% food related. You can add exercise to burn more but you don't have to. Why don't you start eating right and add some walking? When you are ready bump up your walks or add workouts. Find something you enjoy. Anything works. Frisbee? Dancing? Weights? Walking only?Doesn't matter.
I'd say the food control first. I tried the exercise first thing a few years back. I was careful with my food choices but working out so hard made me really hungry... long story short, an injury happened and all the weight came back with a vengence because of the big appetite I'd gained.
This time around I decided food control first and then add some exercise gradually and it's really worked. Now, even when the workout makes me hungry, I'm in the habit of counting all my caloric intake and staying in range no matter what.
Someone on here says in his signature "Diet to lose weight, Exercise to get fit" and that's the stance I've taken on it.
Good luck in your decision and your journey!
Like you, I didn't want to start both at once because it was too overwhelming. At the very beginning I just focused on stopping the fast food/junk food habit, and it evolved from there. Losing a few pounds gave me the confidence to take baby steps into exercising.
It may have worked just as well the other way, though, but I doubt it would have for me. I think one thing is when you're first starting, you get more immediate results through diet, and that gives you the "yay, this is working- how can I make it work even better?" push.
Regardless, I think it's smart of you to choose one main focus to begin with. It takes a lot of mental energy to start this journey, and harnessing that energy so that you first build, then ride, the momentum, is critical.
Like everyone else has said. Food/diet first. That is what I did. Then I added in exercise about 3-4 weeks later. Just got to get your mind and body prepared first.
I've always started with diet. Exercising is just not fun when I'm carrying 40 or 50 pounds of extra weight. In my previous efforts I never really got to the exercise phase and eventually regained the weight I'd lost. This time around I joined a gym (for the first time in my life at age 55) after losing 50 pounds and I've been going several times a week for the past four months. So far so good.
I would definitely focus on the food part of it then if you only want to prioritize on one thing. I need to be eating healthy and feeling healthy before I have the energy to work out.
I do Weight Watchers and I LOVE to eat so mastering some food intake techniques and restraint at first worked for me. After I started seeing some weight loss results I was motivated to start walking, simply walking and then the pounds really started coming off. I now know what the proper portion sizes are, what meals "fit" into my diet and when I can "afford" to splurge. My workouts are more intense now that I've graduated to strength training - but that just means I can eat more too b/c I feel like I can keep burning those calories off for long after I've stopped working out!
Hope you see something in these posts that works for you. Just don't give up!
Thanks everyone! On previous occasions I had started with exercise because even if I eat normally I still lose weight when moving around, but that clearly hasn't worked for me in the long-term.
So based on your comments, I'm going to try fixing my diet first and going from there. Not only will it help me lose weight, but I think I need to eat better to have more energy for life in general.
What do I start with? Exercise or diet?
