Weight loss supplements v diet and exercise: which is better?

Weight loss supplements v diet and exercise: which is better?

5 min read

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04 Aug 2023

We’re all looking for that magic formula to get the weight shifted and feel more like ourselves again. It all seems too much like hard work to put in the necessary amount of time and effort to reach our goals. We also know how easy it is to give in to temptation and end up back at square one. 

Weight loss pills are available online and in our local pharmacies now as the stigma behind them has gradually faded away. Thorough scientific research has shown that these supplements can help with weight loss by suppressing our appetite and burning surplus fat. 

It seems all too easy just to take a supplement every day rather than watch what we eat, but do diet pills do as good a job as diet and exercise? 

Which one will get you to the finishing line in the shortest space of time? 

Which is the better option?

Diet and exercise

We all know that diet and exercise are the two key areas to focus on if we want to lose weight. We need to watch our diet to make sure that we’re consuming fewer calories than we’re burning off through exercise.

Exercise

When exercise is mentioned, it often gets a knee-jerk reaction in our heads as we think of people sweating it out at the gym for hours on end. This isn’t what we actually mean by exercise when it comes to losing weight. 

Yes, if you exercise for hours every day, you’ll lose a significant amount of calories, but as a result, your body will crave more food as it yearns for more calories to replenish those lost. 

Woman exercising doing a plank

 

To give you a rough idea of the task, one pound of fat is the equivalent to around 3,500 calories.

A much cleverer way is to almost trick your body and brain into thinking that you’ve replenished all the calories by exercising slightly more and eating slightly less. It’s a small tweak to your habits that will go a long way toward weight loss if you keep it up. 

Walking further, running instead of walking,and some tougher cardio and strength training than you’ve been used to are all ways to step things up a notch. 

You don’t have to go from zero to one hundred in one push. Just increase your exercise intensity slightly. 

Diet

Eating healthily is the key, but if you’re not losing weight, then it’s important to eat MORE healthily than you are now. Again, we’re talking about small changes which can go a long way. 

Make sure that even though you’re dropping the calories, you’re consuming all the nutrients your body needs, which should be a healthy mixture of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. The recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000kcal for men and 2,000kcal for women. 

Diet isn’t just about what you eat, it’s getting out of bad habits. Snacking is one of the main culprits, so if you cannot break this habit, try snacking on healthier, lower-calorie treats instead. Controlling your eating habits is an essential part of any weight loss plan.

Weight loss pills

Weight loss pills have seemingly been around forever. In the early days, some were touted as miracle pills allowing you to eat whatever you wanted and still lose weight. 

As many predicted, the claims were too good to be true. Because they were pretty much unregulated, sellers could make extravagant claims without proof that they actually did what they claimed. 

These days it’s very different, as the weight loss industry has gone through upheaval to ensure that no claims can be made that cannot be backed up with scientific proof. 

The pills work in different ways depending on which ones you buy. They can also work differently on different people too. For some, they can work much more speedily than others. 

Some pills are “fat-binders”, designed to wrap up excess fat and expel it from the body. Others are appetite suppressants to reduce hunger cravings, and others are fat-burners, containing active ingredients which speed up your metabolism and reduce the amount of body fat you have.  

Some are available by prescription only, and others can be bought online. Prescription diet pills tend to be prescribed to those who have a significant amount of weight to lose - e.g., a Body Mass Index of 27 or higher.

There are tonnes of different options so it’s hard to make broad stroke claims about weight loss supplements without honing in on one specific type or brand. 

Weight loss supplements vs. diet and exercise: which is better?

So the big question is- which works better? 

Well, here’s the hard truth- if you want to get to your ideal weight quickly, diet, exercise and weight loss pills need to work together. 

Any reputable weight loss pill is designed to work with your body to ensure you get the maximum benefit of exercise and healthy eating in order to get you to your weight loss goal in as short a space of time as possible. 

Weight loss pills can help you lose weight, but if you’re not looking after your health, they’ll struggle to have much effect. For example, if you take a weight loss pill and consume too many calories, it will more than negate the effect of the pill. 

Working with a weight loss pill is much better than working against it. Make sure you are getting in at least 20 minutes of exercise each day, swap high-calorie treats for lower, healthier ones, make sure you’re consuming enough of the healthy nutrients your body needs and keep the calorie count low. 

In doing so, you’ll have a far greater chance of rapid weight loss as you’ll be working in harmony with the diet pill. It’s called a “weight loss journey” for a reason- it takes time, but you can speed up that journey by ticking all the boxes - diet + exercise + weight loss pill.

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