DIETING VS EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS

NYT Dieting vs Weight Loss for Exercise

The never ending debate, is it better to diet or exercise for weight loss?  For most people, exercise does not burn enough calories to lose any significant weight.  I went for a 20 minute run yesterday and my Nike plus app said I only burned 250 calories.  That's about the same amount of calories in a latte.  As I always tell patients, the best way to lose weight is to decrease calories.  The above article from the New York Times health blog discusses a recent study stating that with weight loss there is a subsequent decrease in metabolism.  This means that it's even harder to keep weight off once you lose it due to this decrease in metabolism.  So what's the bottom line on weight loss, decrease caloric intake and increase caloric expenditure through exercise.  And instead of calling it a diet, let's call it a lifestyle change because without changing our eating and exercising habits permanently, weight loss will always be just a temporary thing.