In today’s society where we are dictated by how we look and how much we weigh, weight loss has always been a goal that we all strive for whether we admit it or not. We all have that ideal weight that we want to achieve. But how do we successfully reach this “ideal” weight?

In this fast-paced world of ours where we are always on the go, we have very little time to squeeze in some type of exercise. Between work and taking care of our family, who even has time to work out? Which begs the question is exercise really necessary to lose weight? Which is more important in losing weight – diet or exercise?

Some people have this mistaken notion that in order to lose weight successfully, we have to exercise for hours on end. Exercise is however only a very small part of the equation.

In fact, many studies have shown that weight loss programs focused on decreasing your caloric intake make you lose two to three times more weight than a program focused on increasing your physical activity. So what does this mean exactly?

It means that if your goal is just to lose weight, then diet plays a more significant role than exercise. Cutting down on your daily calories will make you lose more weight than just increasing your physical activity. Think about it. You will need to walk for 30 minutes just to burn off 150 calories from a donut. Imagine if you ate a Big Mac, large fries and a large glass of Coke, how many hours do you think it would take to burn off all those calories? If you just watched what you ate, then you would be more successful at losing the excess pounds.

However, this does not mean that you should forget about exercising altogether. If your goal is to be healthy and increase your quality of life, then you need to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. There are studies that show that adding exercise increases your life span. Exercise also reduces your risk of developing medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and some types of cancer particularly colon and breast cancer.

Furthermore, exercise can help improve your mood, reduce depression and anxiety, help you sleep better, improve mental clarity, stall the aging process and give you more energy.

Although dieting by restricting your caloric intake is enough for you to lose weight, working out is crucial for overall physical and mental fitness. A healthy diet and a regular exercise regimen will definitely give you a better quality of life that will allow you to live to the fullest.