“You lose fat in the kitchen. You get fit in the gym”.
The biggest factor, is how much (and to a far lesser extent; what) you eat.
Being a former fitness nut (and still hoping to return to being one all these years later), I'm surprised I've never heard this saying before. Such a great saying and so true!
I had a friend in his late 40s to early 50s who had at least 100 pounds he needed to lose and he didn't do any exercise, he just went on a keto style diet which also put him in a caloric deficit and he lost all that weight and more without ever setting foot in a gym or even setting aside any time to exercise, EVER. He just went about his normal life and daily routine, it was just his diet alone that he changed.
A few weeks in and he said he felt fantastic, just like he did back in high school. He was shocked! He did maintenance for an apartment building and he kept remarking how he had so much more energy and so much less pain and was able to go up and down all those flights of stairs throughout the entire day and he didn't feel like death afterward as he did before.
As for your second statement, that's another excellent point. It pretty much boils down to this, calories in versus calories out. That's what determines weight loss. It doesn't matter if you're eating healthy food, if you're overeating, you're not going to lose weight.
However, with that said, what you eat has a huge impact on how you
feel! That in turn has a huge impact on your motivation, energy levels, and overall well-being which may be the fuel you need to stick to a diet and exercise plan and have better results than you might otherwise.
So yes, pay attention to calories first, but also replace poor food choices with better ones if you want to actually
feel better and have a greater chance of success in maintaining your new lifestyle. Not saying you disagreed with that, I'm sure you don't, I just wanted to emphasize that for those looking to improve their fitness and health.
I've often recounted a few times in my life when I've had a few epiphanies in my health and fitness journey....
When growing up I always used to eat all kinds of things like ice cream, pastries, sugary cereals, and the like. I was an active kid though so I seemed to tolerate it fine and was never overweight. But I sure had a sweet tooth!
Well, in my late teen years when it became important to me to start building some muscle and getting in shape, I remember following the advice of a particular sports nutritionist doctor who emphasized the importance of good nutrition and making sure you have adequate intake of essential fatty acids. After following his advice for several weeks, my cravings for all that junk food completely went away. I was sitting at my parents during a birthday party and everyone was eating cake and ice cream and normally I'd be right there eating with the rest of them but I had no interest in eating that stuff whatsoever. I just walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a couple pieces of raw kale and started munching away. It didn't take any willpower to resist, it came so easily by giving my body the nutrition it needed. The cravings just disappeared on their own. This had never happened to me ever before in my life that I could remember!
I've repeated that experiment several more times throughout my life and the results still hold true. If I started eating junk food on a regular basis, the cravings would increase. Once I started eating properly again, the cravings just naturally went away on their own. Took almost no willpower to resist the donuts and other things people bring into work because they just aren't as appealing even though you still know they taste good. You just get more satisfaction out of knowing that you're not putting that junk in your body and you feel better because of it.
My final dietary epiphany I'll share is I remember once in my teen years eating three full bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. 45 minutes later I was ravenously hungry and was scratching my head wondering how could I be hungry when I just ate breakfast not even an hour ago! Well, I went and fixed up some eggs, bacon, and toast and ate that and I wasn't hungry the entire rest of the day. It hit me like a ton of bricks, your body just burns through those sugary carbs so fast and it doesn't provide much nutrition so your body's still hungry for nutrition. Providing my body with the fuel it needed in the form of protein and fats, I was satiated for the rest of the day. To this day I still center all my meals around protein and fats (rather than loading up on carbs) and it makes it so much easier to go long periods of time without eating.
A big bonus of the healthier eating is that I can eat a full meal and then start doing physical work right after I'm done eating whereas before, when I would eat junk food, especially if I was drinking a soda during my meal, it probably took me a solid 2 hours after I was done eating before I'd feel well enough to actually tolerate doing some physical work again. I just wanted to sit down after until the digestive distress was over!
So if you're having trouble sticking to a diet yes, you have to pay attention to calories if your goal is weight loss, but picking the right foods, that is healthy choices, eating good proteins and fats and probably lower carbs, will go a long way in making it easier to stick to those weight loss goals.
Sorry for the book, but hope it can be at least a small help and encouragement to those looking to meet their health goals this year.
We got your back fam and will provide the support and encouragement needed along the way!
, but I do NEED to haha.
), but reducing caloric consumption, along with some strength AND cardio training, go a long way to improving your body composition and overall health. 
Oh crap........
