What should you choose? Diet?
For some of you, the immediate response may be “diet”. For some others “sport”. Especially if you intend to lose weight or “to shape” your body for beach holidays, you might want to either choose a good diet or start exercising. However, the best choice should not involve diet or sport but both, diet and sport.
Let’s talk about the diet first.
Have you heard the chemistry law “mass is not created nor destroyed but only transformed”? or a similar one about thermodynamic “energy is not created nor destroyed but only transformed”. Well, this applies to your body too. We could practically describe a person’s daily food intake-burn cycle as a mathematical formula:
Balance = calories intake – calories burned.
As you can imagine, if you overeat compared to what your body burns, your body keeps a remainder. That excess of calories is partially eliminated as waste but in the worst case, it starts to accumulate in your body, and you tend to gain weight. Otherwise, if you burn more than you eat, you tend to lose weight.
There are many reliable information sources that provide statistical averages or recommended values for the daily calories intake. The daily “calories requirements” are calculated to meet your body’s demand of energy. Your body needs energy to operate, even while you sleep. Depending on age, gender, size, body composition (proportion of muscles, tissues, internal organs, bones and fat) and physical condition, an adult body requires between 1800 and 3000 kcal (note that we say simply “calories” but the physical unit is kilocalorie). For reference you can see here the estimated daily calorie requirements from webmed.
I think of my body as a machine with different auto-pilot functions. It can regulate automatically all vital functions and adapts to changes. However, when it comes to the energy balance, a permanent change takes a long time. You can’t add or subtract daily balances arithmetically and expect a final result from one day to the other. This means: if you have on day 1 a balance of -500 kcal you will not be automatically thinner and lighter on day 2. If then, your balance on day 2 is +1200 kcal, you will not be automatically 2 or 3 kg heavier on day 3. Your metabolism will always try to compensate for excesses and shortages in short periods of time and such changes are not really noticeable. However, in the long run, your body “gets used to” the average balance and finds its place in one of the three possible states:
Underweight | Normal weight | Overweight |
As you might remember from one of the articles, this can also be seen when you calculate your BMI (body mass index).
It is important to restate that the human body adjusts itself to different conditions. It will adapt to the energy balance. As time goes by, a diet that made you lose weight very fast, reduces its speed. Even with an initial steady negative balance, after some time, your body might “refuse” to further lose weight like it initially did, because it adapts. Therefore, changing the way you reach a negative balance helps keeping the trend to lose weight.
The yo-yo effect
What is the yo-yo effect?
We will mention once more that the body adapts to different situations. It also has a “memory”. I am sure that you know the expression “yo-yo effect” but for those who don’t, the yo-yo effect is: coming back to the start point or to the weight you had before the diet, like a yo-yo coming back to your hand.
Why is there a yo-yo effect? Because your body is perfect! It tries to keep the “balance” it knows. Your body regulates your intakes and energy consumption to find an equilibrium. if you do a strict diet (with a strong negative balance), your body will not feel comfortable and will try to “protect” you. When you have a horrible feeling of starvation, there will be a natural reaction, it is only a matter of time until the bomb explodes. At that point, some people start “breaking” the diets and have the rush to eat “whatever” that makes them feel better. For those who resist longer and can finish the diet, the situation is similar. Right after the diet and due to the starvation feeling left and the strong desire or “need” to eat what was “forbidden” in the diet, they tend to eat more and go back to the nutrition habits they had before and re-gain the “lost” weight.
This is similar to the situation that some people go through when they try to skip breakfast and lunch. Their goal is to cheat their body and to have a reduced daily intake but… the body is very intelligent…. it will identify “a shortage of food” during the day and will adapt by reducing energy expenditures. In such situation, the person might feel weak and tired. And then, when food is provided, the body will try to “keep” some reserves for the periods of shortages. The metabolism will always “tend” to balance your body to the situation you’ve always had. Besides, when your body has brutal energy shortages, you might experience fatigue or depression. This state of mind will also “command” your body to fight back because the feeling is not good.
Of course, there must be out there some effective restrictive diets which work… at least for some time 
. But, the most efficient way to reach and stay on your target weight is through a “long-term” change in your eating habits and overall energy balance. If you change your habits for good, you can’t have the yo-yo effect simply because you’re not ever returning to the initial condition but having instead a new way of nourishment. This nutrition change or “new diet” doesn’t mean you should punish yourself and eat only low-calorie foods. Rather it means making a better selection of foods and having a little discipline.
The best diet is the one you like, provides the calories you need and has foods of all groups, that means, a balanced diet.
What is a "balanced diet"?
I have a very simple definition. If your daily diet includes the following foods in the right proportion, you have a balanced diet:
- Vegetables and legumes like:
- Spinach, carrots, broccoli, peas, cabbage, zucchini, asparagus, celery, lettuce, etc.
- Grains like:
- Corn, wheat, rice, etc.
- Fruits:
- Strawberries, melon, mango, orange, banana, pineapple, apples, etc.
- Oil:
- Olive oil, butter, nuts like peacan, almond, peanuts, etc.
- Meat, fish, eggs.
- Beef, chicken, tuna, salmon, etc.
- Dairy products:
- Milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.
For more information, you can read the information on the following pages: The eat well guide, Eating pyramid -Harvard university
Food pyramide guide
Every day: Eat many portions of vegetables, legumes and fruits. Eat enough grains. Eat some portions of diary products, moderate amounts of meat and minimal amounts of oil, salt and sugar.
Many experts recommend not only having a balanced diet but also having a “cheat day”. For example, once a week, you can eat whatever you want including pasta, sweets or anything you wish but in moderate amounts. This helps prevent the “punishment feeling” and reduces the wish to desperate eat this kind of products. In this link, you can see a summary of the diet recommended by the world health organization.
I particularly try to do the following:
- Eat fruits frequently. I eat one or two fruits during breakfast and take 2 more seasonal fruits to the office, for example 1 apple and a pear.
- I try to eat little bread and flour. I eat 2 toasts at breakfast and avoid pasta like spaghetti. I might have here an additional advantage, I don’t like spaghetti or anything like that.
- I limit my sugar intake. I only add 2 sugar cubes to my coffee in the office and drink only two cups a day. At home I have only honey. I don’t drink soft drinks or commercial juices because of the sugar content. Occasionally I treat myself with candy or marshmallows but in small amounts, for example watching TV or in the cinema.
- My lunches and dinners always have vegetables. For example, I eat meat or fish accompanied by rice, cooked potatoes (not fried and with little salt) and mixed salad.
- I eat enough but never to the point of feeling over satisfied or sick. So, I don’t fill up ALL the space in my stomach. Overeating is a bad habit that leads only to unnecessary calories intake. I prefer to feel as “I could have still eaten a little more ..”.
Some friends have told me I shouldn’t eat rice or potatoes. They say both contain a lot of carbohydrates and, in the case of potato, starches. But I don’t believe there is a higher rate of overweight in Asia 
and people there eat rice up to three times a day, even for breakfast (in Japan for instance). Potatoes aren’t bad either. Fries might be a little worse because of the oil and salt, but baked or boiled potatoes are perfectly fine. I eat a lot of both and I’m not over weighted.
In my opinion, there are things that cannot be set as absolute rules. I don’t think vegetarians are always healthier than people with a balanced diet. I don’t think people who eat more than 10 portions of fruit a day live longer than people who have a balanced diet and do sports. However, I cannot show you as of today blunt statistics in one direction or the other. What I do know is that all excesses are bad. Vegetarians also need protein and those who only eat meat must meet their daily needs in minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins in some other way. The good news is that there are thousands of options for you to find a healthy way to feed yourself. There are dietary supplements, soy, lentils and other protein replacements. Have you tried Indian food? I like it not only because of its taste, but also because of the huge variety on vegetarian options. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to become a vegetarian if I lived in India. In Germany, vegetarian food is kind of boring.
A balanced diet has food from all groups and provides the right calorie amount. Which of the following might have too many calories?
What about sport?
In the diet section we mentioned that your body, in its different conscious or unconscious processes, consumes (autonomous systems) much of what you ingest. All the vital functions of your body require energy and thus consume calories. Even without sports, all your physical activity (walking, climbing stairs, shopping, carrying and moving objects and even sleeping) requires energy. Since we are all different and our activities are different too, it is difficult to define a perfect formula for calculating the caloric consumption for everybody, in all ages and all physical conditions. Medical, sports and nutrition experts provide guidelines for the calculation of intake and consumption based on a certain average population, gender, age and level of physical activity such as medical news.
Sport is the other side of the coin, the part of the balance formula in charge of “burning calories”. The more you burn, the better the daily balance can get. But remember, the overall balance is as well dependent upon the intake.
A very interesting fact is that muscle tissues need a lot of energy to “sustain”. That means, if you’ve managed to build muscle, your body consumes more energy to maintain and repair it. With more muscle mass, you automatically burn more calories even at rest.
In any case, be careful when using your body weight as the only reference. Muscles weigh more than fat. Therefore, don’t get scared if the scale shows slight changes in your weight after some months of of exercising. The mirror can help you get a better perception of your progress. Fat tends to build up in the abdomen, hips, thighs, etc. This depends on gender and body type but when a large, round belly becomes flat and cellulite drastically disappears , you may feel proud of you and and confirm that you have the right strategy.
To give you a small example of how sport helps achieve your ideal weight, let’s consider a person, for example a, 30 years old man with the following characteristics:
- Overweight but with a goal to lose weight.
- With a height of 178 cm and a weight of 110 kg, his BMI hits 34. He would like to weigh 85 kg.
- His daily caloric intake is calculated as 2068 kcal to maintain his current condition. Refer to calorie calculator.
- He does not exercise and works as a clerk in a normal office where he spends at least 8 hrs sitting on a chair.
What can he do to reach his goal with exercise? Let’s see what he could start doing and how many calories he would burn. You can use if needed the calorie burn calculator.
In some calories calculators you can see that a steady daily negative balance of -400 kcal can help you lose weight after some weeks. Other information sources say that you lose 1 kg every time that you add up -7500 kcal.
If so, by jogging 30 minutes at normal speed you can have -472 kcal/session. If you add walking rounds, dancing and bike tours on the weekend, you can easily increase the calorie burn.
The risk here is that everything you burn with exercise can be recouped by “bad habits” in your nutrition. One chocolate cake slice and two beers give you back ALL the calories you burned when running . There is always a connection between diet and sport since they both appear in the energy balance formula.
Both, diet and sport for the best result.
Diet
A balanced diet with foods of all groups providing the calories you need
Sport
Sport has many advantages. One of them is to support the daily energy balance.
Now, let’s see how diet and sport are related.
In our example of the 30-year-old man, we saw that his caloric intake to maintain his current weight is 2068 kcal. Let’s look take a look at some foods and their calorie value to get an idea on how his diet could be. I used as reference Myfitnesspal.
An example of his daily diet might include:
- Breakfast (pieces and caloric value)
- 2 fried eggs, 242 kcal
- 2 toasts 200 kcal
- 1 slice cheese 41 kcal
- 1 apple 65 kcal
- Lunch
- Beef flank steak, 396 kcal
- White rice, 157 kcal
- Baked potato 120 kcal
- Carrot 39 kcal
- Dinner
- Mixed salad 91 kcal
- Chicken strips (100 gr) 165 kcal
- Boiled egg 70 kcal
- 2 toasts 200 kcal
Total caloric value 1786 kcal
He has already a negative balance with the diet. But, with a total value of 1786 kcal, does this diet look too aggressive or restrictive? You don’t have to starve to hit the values. If the person in the example gets hungry between main meals, he can eat an apple and still stay below 1900 kcal. He simply needs to avoid “bad food” with low nutritional value but high calorie value.
What else would you do in his situation? Are there any other options to better lose weight?
- Avoid diets, eat daily 2068 kcal and walk 30 minutes at low speed. With this, the balance would be – 142 kcal. To lose 1 kg our friend needs to have a deficit of -7500 kcal. It would take approx. 52 days to lose 1 kg. But the weight starts moving in the right direction.
- Only diet, no sport. He eats daily 1800 kcal with a balanced diet. It will take him 28 days to lose 1 kg.
- Diet and sport. He eats daily 1800 kcal and runs 30 min at mid speed 3 times per week. He can lose 1 kg every 2 weeks.
- Similar to 3 but adding bike tours on the weekend and walking the dog every afternoon. He might lose 1 kg every week.
Obviously, there are many more options. If he goes for longer walks or does more sport or increases the speed/intensity of workouts, he will reach his goal faster. The challenge is to get used to the daily intake of less than 2000 kcal and regularly do sport.
The danger of cravings has already been mentioned and should be avoided. If you had an intake of 1800 kcal and ran 30 minutes at medium speed, you could think of a little daily reward: for example, eating a milky- way candy bar. “It is not a big deal and I’m working out” you might think. The problem is that instead of having a deficit in the daily balance to lose weight, you will not only re-eat the burned calories but will be adding to the diet an extra of 396 kcal (-472 Kcal when running + 868 Kcal from the candy bar). So, in the best case, you would practically be maintaining your weight despite of diet and exercise. And if during the day you also drank 2 cokes and 2 x coffee with sugar, etc. you would probably gain weight. That can destroy all your other efforts.
My suggestions:
- Change your nutrition habits for good. A balanced diet should not make you suffer or starve, it is about eating “good” food.
- If you need it, have a cheat day per week. Eat a portion of what you wish the most but only on that day. Try to keep the amount in normal limits.
- Use an app like Myfitnesspal or Noom. They can help you track your daily balance. Myfitnesspal can scan the barcode of commercial products and give back the caloric value. Besides, it can be linked to Google Fit, Polar, Garmin apps and others to help you track the calories burnt too.
- Avoid sweets and junk food. They don’t give you any nutrients but, do give you a calorie bomb.
- Think about the benefits of exercise.
- You burn calories.
- Improve your fitness and metabolism.
- If you develop muscle, you’ll automatically burn more calories even at rest.
- If you get hungry between meals, eat fruit or nuts. Or divide the overall intake in 4 or 5 meals during the day.
- Drink more water and fewer soft drinks with sweeteners and flavorings (which are also a caloric bomb).
- Be patient! Losing weight or running a marathon cannot be achieved in one day or in one week. It is better to find a good pace to reach your goal. One step at a time.
- Keep motivated and celebrate your accomplishments. Every time you lose a kilo or give a better shape to your waist, legs, arms, etc. smile and be proud of yourself. Think you can always achieve more. It’s up to you.
Have a lot of success!
Miguel