Diet vs Exercise: Which One Helps Older Adults Lose Weight More?
The health debate that asks whether diet or exercise is the key to effective and lasting weight loss has gone on for several decades. Many of us are looking for the magic bullet answer the squarely place an answer on one effort or the other. Maybe the task of taking on both nutrition and physical activity at the same time feels overwhelming, so we keep searching to find the ideal answer. Like it or not, the truth is that both diet and exercise play a significant and symbiotic role in good health and long-term weight loss for people of all ages, but both are especially essential for those of us who are struggling to lose weight over 50.
If you are ready to tackle your health goals in your fifties, take a few moments to learn more with us.
Eating Healthy for 50 By Itself Isn't the Only Component of Healthy Weight Loss
There are many health benefits to eating a nutritious and well-balanced diet, but it is not enough on its own for your weight loss strategy. The best way to achieve your weight loss goals is to cut calories, do regular physical activity, stay hydrated, decrease stress and get plenty of sleep.
Further, it is challenging to outsmart our body's set point, a weight range within which our brain wants to keep our body. Our respective set point weight varies from person-to-person and from one body type to the next and is determined by a combination of our genes and how we have lived our lives in terms of diet and weight fluctuations. If you start to fight your set point weight with caloric restriction, your body resists and goes into survival mode because it fears that a sudden calorie deficit means you are heading toward starvation.
On top of metabolic changes as we age, metabolism further slows as our body tries to conserve energy, meaning the scale's digital needle will only change with the above-noted multi-pronged effort.
Exercise On Its Own Isn't Enough to Shed Pounds Either
You might have heard the common phrase; you can't outrun a poor diet. Like it or not, it is true at any age. It's probably no surprise that this cruel phenomenon worsens with age as our metabolic rates slow or grind to a sudden stop. None of this means that exercise is not important, but you should modify your diet and focus on getting more sleep and hydration if you had to between diet and exercise.
But even if you exercise intensely several days a week, it doesn't mean you can eat anything you want. It would be best if you found a balance between your food intake and getting in good exercise. Excess calories beyond calories burned will always result in weight gain.
Enjoy the Benefits of Exercise
Physical activity isn't only important for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares that a good fitness program helps you:
Improve brain health and mood
Enjoy improved weight management
Reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease
Strengthen your bones and muscles
Increase your flexibility and balance
Enhance your daily life activities with more endurance, energy and a sense of well-being
Stop Thinking In Terms of Diet vs Exercise: Combine Healthy Eating and an Exercise Program for Optimal Weight Loss Results
The best approach to weight loss is to boost each strategy by implementing and augmenting the other. Don't let yourself feel overwhelmed by the idea, though. It really comes down to improving what you are doing right now, so start by reducing your carbohydrates and eating more nutrient-dense foods while also adding more activity into your day. The problems come into play when people go full-bore while missing the finer points, including reducing stress and improving sleep because they have drastically changed their diet and ramped up exercise too much, too fast and too intensely.
Tips to Help You Get the Results You Want for Healthy Aging and Losing Weight Over 50
You can do many things to get the results you want for losing weight over 50 and achieving a healthy lifestyle. Here are a few of our favorite strategies for shedding pounds and feeling better:
Drink one liter or 34 ounces of water per day for peak hydration and a better chance at weight loss.
Try a low-carb diet by increasing your intake of vegetables, fiber, and protein.
Search for healthy meal ideas on trusted websites.
Learn which moderate intensity exercise burns the most calories without putting you at risk for injury.
Try out the best exercises to lose belly fat and strengthen your core for more stability doing walking and strength training.
Don't ignore the importance of a strong walking fitness program because many weight loss studies are discovering the value of accumulating upwards of 20,000 walking steps per day.
Learn more about weight-bearing exercises like resistance training and invest in a resistance band set, if you cannot go to the gym.
Find ways to relax and ease your mind through activities like yoga or meditation.
Track food, hydration and fitness on a health app for 50 year olds and over like Mighty Health to help you stay focused on your goals.
What Else Can I Do to Improve My Health, Fitness and Weight?
There are many sound strategies that you can take to lose weight and feel and look great as you move into and through your fifties. While we face more challenges as time moves forward, we can take them all on and win to improve our health and quality of life. Try out the Mighty Health app to help you record and track your eating and exercise patterns to see which one helps you reach your ideal weight. We can help you enjoy life-changing results to lose weight and avoid issues like obesity, diabetes and hypertension while helping you live life in good health, strength and happiness.
