Many of you would have heard the 80/20 ratio of diet being more important for weight loss.

And simplistically speaking, this is somewhat accurate.

It's been proved by countless research studies.

One study compared a group of people put on a year-long lifestyle change program.

The group who changed exercise alone lost 2.4% of their body weight.

And the who changed their diet alone lost 8.5% of their body weight.

That's a difference of 400%!
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However, it is important to recognise that our health is not just a simple maths equation.

There are other factors that come into play that we should always consider.

The importance of exercise

Even though exercise may not play as big a role as diet in weight loss, it has some important health benefits.

It has a strong positive impact on our metabolic processes.

Which in turn reduces the risk of heart attack, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure and osteoporosis.

Those things are well and good for our longevity.

However, something we often overlook is the role of physical activity with our mental health.

Physical exercise can play a big role in changing our mental state on a day-to-day basis.

We experience this in different ways - more energy, confidence, self-esteem.

And these positive emotions usually leads to leaning towards healthy decisions during the rest of your day.

Diet and exercise go hand in hand.

But there are  people who exercise really well and have not yet addressed the diet part of the equation.

And the saying holds true: 'You can't out train a bad diet'.

When you're starting out, the ratio could be as high as 90/10.

If you're at the beginning stages of weight loss and you have more than 15 kg to lose, you can easily lose weight by focusing on diet alone.

The calories you consume are in far greater proportion to what you are able to burn off.

And I recommend you not to completely overhaul your diet in one go.

Rather, start by focusing on one area that can give you the biggest win for the least amount of effort.

And start building healthy eating habits from there.

Client example:

A client of mine had trouble losing weight AND keeping it off.

She went on many diet challenges and seemed to regain her weight as soon as she stopped 'dieting.'

So we ditched the old approach and instead we focused on building one habit at a time.

I asked her what could be easy for you to change, yet still provide big momentum going forward.

She said breakfast would be the easiest habit for her to change.

So we brainstormed a few ideas together and it turns out she was quite open to starting her day off with green smoothies.

She already had a juicer at home and was familiar with making juices.

She lost 3 kg in the first month and her biggest breakthrough was that she realised she didn't need to change her whole lifestyle to get results.

When you're towards the end of your journey, the ratio is more like 50/50

If you are looking to lose the last few kilos, you will need to incorporate some kind of exercise in your lifestyle.

For many older clients (as well as post menopausal women), the need for exercise can come a little earlier.

But either way, exercise is an important habit that you will need to build at some point of your life.

Change your perception of exercise

I like to challenge many people's  outlook on exercise.

For many people, exercise means pain and torture.

However, it doesn't have to be that way.

When I started losing weight, I felt lighter and more energetic.

I WANTED to move my body throughout the day because it felt good.

I hated running by myself or going to the gym.

So instead, I joined team sports that I loved - cricket and indoor cricket.

Recently, I've gotten into badminton and it is currently my favourite way of getting the heart rate up.

Some of my clients have joined dancing and zumba classes because they love it.

They don't feel like the HAVE to do it.

They enjoy moving their body throughout the day because it puts them in a good state for the rest of the day.

That's the way I want you to look at exercise.

Not something that you HAVE to do.

But something that is ENJOYABLE to do.

If you do this, you'll be able to retain that habit for much longer than if you are constantly 'punishing' yourself.

Note: there are some types of exercise that are more effective to weight loss than others. I'll make a separate blog post for this.

Bottom line

How much exercise you need to lose weight varies depending on several factors - your age, gender, hormonal environment.

However, if you're just starting out, the best place to start is by building healthy eating habits gradually.

Over time, you should approach exercise in a way where it becomes an enjoyable part of your lifestyle.