Diet Vs Exercise - Which Is More Important?

You have probably heard people in gyms around the world asking the question is diet more important than exercise so today we are going to help you get to the bottom of this popular issue.

It would seem the typical answer you get to this question would vary depending upon who you asked. If you ask somebody who has religiously followed weight loss plans and celebrity culture for a while there is a large chance that they will concur dieting plays the bigger role.

Likewise, however, those with a long background of exercise under their belts will be much more likely to advise you that you need to concentrate more on the fitness aspect of your lifestyle. Many people even go as far as to advise that if you do this effectively, you can pretty much eat whatever you want. So who is correct?

Actually, it's neither.

One of the biggest, yet most common, mistakes is for people to attempt to prioritize one aspect over another. You'll hear things like percentages being used, with people often telling others than exercise is 60 percent of the deal whereas nutrition is the other 40 percent.

At the end of the day you should be applying both factors if you want to see results and maintain them. If you are trying to work out how to lose weight and you only apply the rules of one principle you will tend to fall into one of two categories, both of which can be seen at most gyms and workplaces around the world:

* The person who consistently follows new eating plans, often picked up from celebrity gossip magazines or New Year weight loss plans. They don't combine this with regular exercise, though, and even though they are able to drop some pounds through a healthier lifestyle they don't actually look any healthier at all. They haven't worked out, so their body is no more toned than it was three months ago.

* Those who love training in the gym but hate watching their nutrition. Sure, they may down a protein shake after a tough workout, but that is as far as it goes. When outside the confines of the local gym they will happily consume junk food, takeaway meals and alcohol on a regular basis. While their workout sessions will lead this person to developing some shape and tone to the biggest muscles in their body, they tend to struggle when it comes to toning their abdominal area and achieve a stocky, square look.

If you only pay attention to one factor, or you choose to place way more importance on one over the other, then your destiny is shown in the two stereotypes revealed above. Why would you do this? As somebody trying to build a better body, it simply would not make sense.

It's almost like trying to decide whether fuel is more important than your car. At the end of the day, neither is very useful on their own. The correct approach is to apply both factors to your lifestyle and realize that neither is more important than the other. They are not in competition for your attention, they are two things which are designed to work together. If you are able to apply the basic principles of a good nutritional plan and a healthy workout program you will see positive change and the results will be sustainable, too.

To sum up, listen to bodybuilder Jay Cutler's response when he was recently asked the question is diet more important than exercise or vice versa. Jay advised that placing importance on one over the other is a useless mentality which leads to long term failure and you should be focusing 100 percent on your workout routine as well as 100 percent on your eating habits. Most people aren't trying to become champion bodybuilders, of course, but if you apply a similar mentality to your fitness regime you will notice that discovering how to lose weight isn't rocket science after all.