Exercise vs Dietary Restraint

Exercise has a huge upside for both brain and body health. By itself, however, exercise may not be the best way to lose weight. Evidence is beginning to accumulate that dietary restraint may be more important than energy expenditure level. When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, what you avoid eating is likely more important than an excessive emphasis on exercise—although exercise can help you reshape your body as you lose weight (e.g., 30 minutes of running or swimming laps might burn off 350 calories or you could achieve the same calorie reduction by eliminating two 16-ounce sodas each day). Years ago, Candace B. Pert, PhD, reported that 20-25 minutes of aerobic exercise before breakfast could turn on fat-burning peptides that would burn for several hours. A study from Northumbria University, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, reported that participants lost 20 percent more fat when they exercised before eating breakfast.