Finding the Right Balance Between Food and Exercise

If you've been trying to get back in shape, you've probably realized that figuring out the exact ratio of eating to exercising can feel like a moving target.

Here at Get Fit Over 40, I see guys spinning their wheels all the time. They train hard but eat too much, or they starve themselves, have zero energy for the gym, and eventually crash. To build a sustainable, healthy lifestyle, you have to understand the fundamental relationship between what goes on your plate and what you do in the gym.

Here is how to find the right balance between food and exercise so you can finally see the results you are working toward.

The Golden Rule: Calories In vs. Calories Out

Let’s cut right to the chase and get the absolute truth out of the way first: no matter what you do, what diet you follow, or what supplements you take, you will need to eat less food than you burn to lose weight.

There is simply no way around this biological fact. Your body needs a reason to tap into its stored energy (body fat), and that only happens when you are in a caloric deficit. Depending on your ultimate goal, you have to set realistic calorie intake targets and then offset those calories with your physical activity.

The Great Trade-Off

Finding your balance comes down to understanding the trade-offs you are willing to make on a daily basis. It’s a sliding scale, and you are the one in control of the sliders.

• If you want to eat more food: You are going to have to exercise more. It’s that simple. If you love having larger meals or you don't want to drastically change your eating habits, you have to commit to a higher volume and intensity of exercise to ensure you are still hitting that daily calorie deficit.

• If you want to lose weight faster: You are going to have to attack the problem from both ends. You will need to reduce the calories you consume as much as safely possible, while simultaneously increasing your exercise output as much as you can recover from.

The 3 Questions You Need to Answer

Because we all have different bodies, schedules, and preferences, there is no one-size-fits-all formula. To figure out the right balance for your unique situation, you need to sit down and honestly answer these three questions:

1. How much weight do you want to lose each week? Are you looking for a slow, steady, and easily manageable half-pound a week? Or are you trying to be more aggressive to hit a specific near-term goal? Your timeline dictates how drastic your deficit needs to be.

2. How much time do you actually have each week for exercise? Be completely realistic here. If you only have three hours a week to dedicate to the gym because of family and work commitments, you cannot rely entirely on exercise to burn off excess weight. Your diet is going to have to do the heavy lifting.

3. How much are you willing to restrict your diet? Are you okay with tightly measuring your macros, skipping the late-night snacks, and cutting out the liquid calories? Or do you need more dietary freedom to stay sane? If you want dietary freedom, refer back to the trade-off: you better be ready to put in the work sweating it out.

Your Unique Path

The answers to these questions are going to be completely different for every single person based on your specific goals and lifestyle limitations. What works for a guy with a flexible schedule and a home gym might completely fail for a busy executive traveling three days a week.

Figure out the lifestyle you can actually sustain, do the math on your calories, and put in the work.

Ready to stop guessing and start seeing real results? Watch my Get Fit Now Training Videos Here

Why the Scale Doesn’t Really Mean Anything

I lost 30 pounds approximately in around 3 months during my recent heart health issue. That averages around 10 pounds per month of weight loss.

So if I started out fairly lean before the 30 pounds of weight loss then I must have been totally shredded after losing 30 pounds? Unfortunately that is not how things work.

Let’s get into the math a bit of what happened:

10 Pounds is equal to 35,000 calories as an energy comparison when in fat stores, normally to lose 10 pounds of fat in a month, one would need to be in a 1200 calorie deficit everyday consistently. So if was burning 3000 calories per day via my BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) and combined activity, then I would need to be eating 1800 calories per day to be in a 1200 calorie deficit.

So unless I was in such a deficit every day for those 3 months, how is it possible to lose that much weight so quickly?

I can guarantee I was not in a calorie deficit during this time, there where of course days where I ate very little but other days I ate like a horse and during this time my actively was either zero to not much above zero. Meaning I was most likely only burning around 2000 calories or just above per day. I would need to be eating 800 calories per day to be in a 1200 calorie deceit to lose so much weight!

So what the heck was going on then?

Muscle has a water consistency of around 80% while fat has a water consistency of 20%.

Out of 10 pounds of muscle, 2 pounds is cellular, while out of 10 pounds of fat, 8 pounds is cellular. As you know, water has zero calories so the energy from either muscle or fat has to come from the cellular tissue. This means fat has approximately 4 to 5 times the energy per pound compared to muscle so you should be able to gain 4 to 5 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat while maintaining a neutral calorie input.

Example of what this means:

If I weighed 180 pounds and gain 8 pounds of muscle while losing 2 pounds of fat, I would end up weighing 186 pounds without having to eat in a calorie surplus.

This is one reason why a person can be in a moderate diet (calorie deficit) and actually gain weight at the same time. This can happen when a person is dedicated to weight training at the same time and is able to put on a fair amount of muscle during the diet phase. As a person get’s leaner this does get harder to do as fat stores are not as prevalent and the bodies ability to continue to gain muscle has it’s limitations.

What to do When You Fail Your 2020 Fitness New Year's Resolutions

This is not rocket science, all you need to do is eat less and be more active. That's all you really need to know!

OK - So here are some tips to help achieve this.

Most people simply want to lose fat and get toned. When you lose fat you get toned because it’s the fat covering the muscles that makes it impossible to see the muscle tone under the fat.

Start with taking control of your diet since diet is 80% and exercise is 20% of what it takes to get Healthy and Fit. This way you can avoid the busy gym until February when most of the New Years Resolutioners have given up and left the gym.

Diet Tip:

• Track your food so you are accountable and have a better idea of what the food you eat has in it in terms of Calories and Macros.

• Be a bit more strict with your diet Monday to Friday so you can live a little on the weekend.

• Allow yourself some simple pleasures when you diet. You can have a beer or wine with dinner but will have to be more careful in other areas. You can have an evening dessert but again you will have to make sure everything else you eat during the day is on point. Budget your treats into your daily calories and macros.

• If all of that seems too complicated then keep it simple. Eat more lean meat or high protein non-meats and lots of vegetables, avoid fats and carbs so we are talking about the rice, potatoes, pastas, breads, donuts, muffins pastries, cookies, chocolates… and only stick to low calorie dressings and sauces.

• Keep hydrated with water or zero calorie beverages.

• Pick your eating window times, restricting when you eat means you will generally eat less food as long as when you do eat you stay on track.

Exercise Tips:

• Start slow and build up to a sustainable Health and Fitness program. Start off simply moving around more, lots of walking, hiking, biking, swimming, Yoga, other sports.

• Add in some strength training at least 3 times per week. On those days only focus on the weight training. Be intense and work hard at getting stronger, don’t just move weights around, have a purpose to your workout.

• If you are new to the gym find a workout partner with some experience and or hire a trainer to get you started. Maximize your time in the gym to get the most out of it.

• If weight training is not your thing then find something you really like to do and commit to that several times per week. Like Yoga, Gymnastic, Martial Arts, Team sports…

General Tips:

• Have a goal in mind, a vacation, going out and buying some new clothing when you down size, a fitness show, an event like a wedding, or simply getting in shape for summer.

• If you have a setback it’s not over, simply start back up where you left off. You only fail when you give up completely.

• Don’t just weigh yourself, measure your waist or other trouble areas, the scale can be slow to go down but when the tape measure results decrease this can really help keep you motivated and progressing.

Diet Versus no Diet Which One is Easier?

In this article/video I'm not going to touch upon whether being on a diet or eating whatever you want to is more healthy for you , I’m pretty sure we all know that eating healthy is going to be better for just about everyone!

Food Selection:

Being on a diet will limit your food options which means you will have to plan out your meals more in terms of what you are going to eat, where you are going to eat it and when you are going to eat. Diet food can often be more pricey since much of it is higher quality and less processed.

Eating whatever you want means you can eat what, where, and whenever you want so I guess in this situation Whatever may be better :)

Hunger versus Overindulging:

When on a diet there are times when you may feel hungry or have the urge to walk to the fridge and grab something to eat that may not be on your diet list or regulated time to eat it. This could simply be a habit that you have formed from not having previous restraint when it comes to eating. I find if you plan out your meals and snacks with the times you are most hungry then you can usually limit the amount of hunger you feel during the day.

On a non-diet, we often eat for the sake of eating, sometime out of boredom or habit, we may not even feel hungry, this can lead to being overfull and bloated which is a very uncomfortable feeling that effects our mood and energy level negatively.

I actually think that a diet versus a non-diet will give you a better overall feeling or contentment when it comes to the balance between feeling hungry or overfull.

Enjoyment of Food:

You may think when not on a diet that because you can eat anything you want, including that donut, the bag of chips or that steak dinner, that your enjoyment of food is going to be that much better! But in reality being on a diet keeps you in more of an open state of mind to truly enjoy your foods since every meal feels like you won the lottery! Over time your body learns to really like the taste of the more nutritious and healthy foods you are giving it. Fatty, salty, starchy foods start to taste way to rich and over processed. I like to incorporate a cheat day into my diet plan where I can eat some of the foods within reason that I have been craving. Boy do cheat day meals taste good!

I am sure you have heard the saying, “too much of a good thing”? This totally applies to food, after a while the easy access to any food you want decreases the enjoyment of that food so whether you are having a simple meal at home or a grand night out fine dinning, your desensitization to food will suppress the enjoyment of it to some degree.

In this department I feel that when I am on a diet I truly enjoy my food much more.

Overall Mood or Mindset:

How you feel as a result from the foods you are eating is a big reason to make better food choices and will also determine how hard or easy being on a diet really is.

Yes being on a diet takes work and determination and there are times when a little bit of hunger between meals can get you on edge, but you will feel better overall for so many reasons:

Your body will have the proper nutrients and vitamins to sustain good overall health so your immune system will be improved meaning less time being sick and feeling down and out of commission.

As you lose weight on your diet your energy level will increase and your bodies hormones will return to a more youthful and healthier state. Many diabetics and people with other illnesses actually find they can either reduce or eliminate some of their medications when they get back down to a healthy body weight.

The simple fact that you made a decision to improve your health through proper diet and you are now seeing positive results will make you feel much better about yourself.

Compare the positive benefits of being on a healthy diet to non-dieting where poor eating can lead to even more added body weight, stomach problems, feeling of lethargy and your bodies natural hormones and systems not functioning as they should. You will not feel good about yourself and your body will not allow you to do many of the things you want to do.

So it may seem that being on a restrictive diet is going to limit your life and yes there are times especially in social situations where it can be challenging. But the truth of the matter is that being on a healthy diet will free your life! Your mood will improve, you will feel more energetic, your body will transform into a better version of yourself, food will become more enjoyable, you will spend less time being sick and if you are on medication for your health you may be able to reduce or even eliminate them. Heck throw some fitness into the equation and it only gets better!

Lose Weight and Get Healthy With Intermittent Fasting (IF)

Is Intermittent Fasting (IF) yet another fad diet program, let's find out!

What is Intermittent Fasting, it's the process of scheduling a regular set periods of time (Daily or Weekly) in which you do not eat food, or anything with calories in it.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting (IF): 

• Helps your body burn Fat as fuel instead of Carbs as fuel.
• Helps you learn to control your food instead of your food controlling you.
• Helps restore vital health related hormone levels in your body.
• Let's your body focus on something other than digesting food, like injury repair, the immune system...
• Purges your body of harmful toxins stored in the cells.
• Preserving memory functioning and learning.

Ways you can Intermittently fast:

• Stop eating for a 24 hour period 1 to 2 times per week. (Stop eating at 7pm the day before and eat again after 7pm the next day)
• Only eat within a 6-8 hour window each day which allows your body 16-18 hours of fasting time benefits each day. (Eat from Noon till 6pm)

How is IF (Intermittent Fasting) supposed to work "Quotes from Dr. Mercola":

• Teaches your body how to use FAT as it's primary source of fuel by getting your body into a fat burning state since you need 8 hours from the time you last ate before your body really starts using Fat as fuel instead of stored Carbohydrates as fuel.
• When your body is using stored fat as fuel instead of stored carbs as fuel it helps your body to do the following:
  • Normalize your insulin and leptin sensitivity, which is key for optimal health and to avoid "insulin resistance", which is a primary contributing factor to nearly all chronic disease, such as diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
  • Normalize ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone"
  • Lowering triglyceride levels. (A form of Cholesterol)
  • Reducing inflammation and lessening free radical damage (pro anti-aging benefits).
  • Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production (for protection of cannibalism of muscle tissue), HGH plays an important part in health, fitness and slowing the aging process. Intermittent Fasting boosts HGH levels as much as 1300% in women and 2000% in men. That's huge!

"HGH, commonly referred to as "the fitness hormone" plays an important role in maintaining health, fitness and longevity, including promotion of muscle growth, and boosting fat loss by revving up your metabolism. Other benefits of Intermittent Fasting (IF) are giving your digestive track a break which many people believe allows your body to focus on other things like repairing damaged tissue, fight disease or sickness…"

 What Intermittent fasting is not:

• Not an excuse to eat whatever you want when it's time to eat. This will eliminate the health benefits of Intermittent Fasting (IF). Yes you do need to pack a full days worth of food in a short period of time but make healthy choices.
• Not a substitute for proper nutrition or exercise. On an IF diet it's best to eat complex carbs, moderate amounts of protein and slightly higher than normal "Healthy Fats", since FAT will be your new source of fuel used by your body for energy.
• IF is not a short term plan, Intermittent fasting (IF) is a lifestyle choice.

Perhaps there is a reason why most religions advocate some sort of regular periods of fasting?

Personally I'm not trying the Intermittent fasting diet to "lose weight", I am interested in the other health benefits of IF and perhaps being able to feel a bit less guilty about a cheat meal is a nice bonus :) The increase in HGH Levels, reduced inflammation and normalizing my insulin and leptin sensitivity are all very good reasons for me to give Intermittent Fasting a try.

So Is Intermittent Fasting Yet Another Diet Fad Program? Guess I will find out...

Related Links:

• What the Science Says About Intermittent Fasting
• LeanGains Website