Understanding exercise and fat burning nutrition is vital to achieving and maintaining permanent weight loss and fat reduction. But which one has the most impact on fat burning? Scientific studies have been done to determine the answer.
Weight loss studies
Only a few studies have been done to establish whether exercise or fat-burning nutrition has a greater impact on fat burning. The studies were particularly interesting.
They compared the results of weight loss among people moving from big cities to the suburbs and vice versa. Subjects from cities and suburbs had similar dietary intakes. The results were expected, but fascinating.
Results of weight loss studies
- During the first year of moving from a city to the suburbs, study participants earned, on average, 15 pounds.
- Within the first six to eight months of moving to a city from the suburbs, study subjects lost an average of 15 pounds.
The main conclusion of the studies was the following: subjects who lived in a city walked more than subjects who lived in the suburbs. While subjects living in the suburbs traveled by car to get where they wanted to go (supermarket or school, etc.), subjects from the city often walked there. This was responsible for the weight change.
An expert in the field of applied physiology and nutrition has said that exercise to burn fat has a greater impact on fat loss and permanent weight loss than nutrition. He said exercise accounts for 65% and nutrition 35%.
Most experts agree that in a perfect world, you’d do a recommended fat-burning exercise routine in addition to addressing your nutrition if you want to burn fat and achieve permanent weight reduction. But we don’t live in a perfect world and none of us are perfect.
