Why exercise alone won't build a healthy lifestyle

The old fitness wisdom goes: ‘you can’t out-run a bad diet’. But why is that? Exercise burns calories and builds muscle – surely if you’re working hard in the gym that should be enough to see progress?

If you’re not getting the results you want, you might need to take a closer look at what you’re doing outside the gym to support your health and fitness goals – and a huge part of that puzzle is your diet.

Snacking and empty calories

Picture this. You’ve just got home after your workout. You’ve showered, maybe even had your post-workout supplement of choice. But now you’re getting settled and starting to feel cravings creep in.

Depending on your level of experience with this situation, you might think a snack is in order. But after you give in to this craving, you do the maths and find that you’ve consumed more calories than you burned.

On top of that, processed snacks are designed to be easy as well. So, along with the calories you’ve consumed, you’ve likely taken in oils, salts, fats, and chemicals that trigger further bingeing habits.

The anatomy of an unhealthy diet

But what constitutes an unhealthy diet? In super general terms, an unhealthy diet regularly includes excessive portions and features plenty of processed foods full of preservatives, artificial flavourings and empty calories.

There’s a lot of bad information out there to wade through (and plenty of common misconceptions) but working to control your portion sizes and avoiding processed foods is a solid rule of thumb to guide your choices.

Eating well for the long run

Let’s look at how to make healthy dietary choices.

A healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint – it’s about developing a way of living that you actually want to maintain. This is why moderation is key, and you want to be careful to avoid any pattern that looks like ‘punishing’ yourself for falling short and eating or drinking the ‘wrong’ things.

Exercise isn’t a magic eraser for our dietary choices, it’s just another part of living well and feeling healthy. Working hard to make better choices with your diet, without falling into the trap of trying to fix a bad diet with exercise is how you make real progress in a moderate and sustainable way.

Eating better and steering clear of ‘diet culture’

Diet culture has a lot to answer for. It has taught us to think in terms of ‘cheat days’ and think of foods in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. But what it really does is negatively impact our relationship with food as a source of nourishment.

Eating better for recovery and overall wellness means understanding that carbs are not the enemy, and that it’s possible to feel fuelled and ready to go while navigating a calorie deficit. Your food and dietary choices can be both healthy and fun.

Go further with personal training at Virgin Active

Every fitness journey is unique, and if you’re looking for help in navigating your way between exercise, diet, accountability and keeping track of progress – you may want to check out Personal Training at Virgin Active.

Our personal trainers can help you with customised programs that ensure you’re on track both at the gym and beyond. Get in touch today.