What you eat counts

I seem to have multiple conversations with my friends lately about what workouts are going to yield the most results.  What workouts are going to help you to lose weight the fastest.     The short answer is this:  None of them.   I am not saying that the calorie burn will be the same for yoga as it is for circuit training.   That would be ludicrous.   There is nothing better than diving into a sweat-inducing, butt-kicking workout.   You will feel better, stronger.   Your mood will lift, and hopefully your butt will too!    

Almost every article I read however, tells me that weight loss is about 80/20.  80 percent what you eat, and 20 percent how active you are.   I am using that statistic somewhat lightly, there is not a black and white.  I have read 85/15, 90/10, and even 70/30.   The reason that there is not an exact clear cut answer is because we do not all fit into one mold.    But regardless of which statistic you are, 90/10 or 70/30, the point is staying at a healthy weight, or losing weight is mostly about what you put into your body.

Think about it.  It will take me approximately 2 minutes to eat 3 Samoas (my favorite girl scout cookie).  That is 210 calories.   It would then take me an hour of yoga, 30 minutes of cardio, or 25 minutes of circuit training to then burn off those 3 cookies.  See how much damage 2 minutes can do? 

On top of those astonishing numbers working out makes you hungry, especially when you first start working out.  I have a very dear friend, who has really started to turn her life around, and her biggest problem was that if she did a really great workout... she was starving for the rest of the day.  There is no cushy answer to this problem.  I told her, and I will tell you now.  You have to suck it up.   Change is not always comfortable, but it is good.

Bottom line:   Put the fork down.  And, no sorry but you cannot do an amazingly hard workout and then assume you can eat whatever you want for the rest of the day.