Is Weight Loss Really 80 Percent Diet and 20 Percent Exercise?

And what does that even mean?

80 percent diet 20 percent exercise


To solve that mystery, we asked experts for their takes on the idea and what it means for your weight-loss plan:

Why Your Meals Are So Important

RELATED: The Diets That Are Proven to Make You GAIN Weight

Here's what that might look like:

Alyssa Zolna

(Kick-start your new, healthy eating with Women's Health's Eat What You Love: The 80/20 Meal Plan for Weight Loss)


“I see this in patients all the time,” says Lofton. “People think, ‘If I run the marathon or start going to boot camp, I’m going to lose weight’ but they’re often disappointed when they don’t.”

You don't need to hit an exact 80/20 ratio to shed pounds, but it is important for people to focus primarily on diet when they're trying to lose weight. "You can lose weight without exercise, but you cannot lose weight if your nutrition counteracts your energy expenditure through exercise," Matheny says.

Find out how almonds can help you lose weight:


Why Sweating Is Still Vital
This doesn't necessarily mean you should trade your 60-minute boot camp class for one hour of meal prepping instead.

Sure, it’s much easier to create a 500-calorie deficit through diet alone than it is to burn 500 calories through exercise, says Lofton. But when you combine a sweat sesh and a healthy diet, you don't have to make many dramatic changes at all. For example, instead of eliminating 500 calories by painstakingly striking all dairy from your diet, you could burn 250 calories at the gym and then cut another 250 calories just by skipping your nightly bowl of ice cream.

“A combination of diet and exercise is best at any stage of weight loss,” says Mathenny. “Exercise should be a mix of strength training and cardiovascular training, not just cardio. Both modes of exercise burn calories and, in turn, lead to stored fat being used as a source of energy.”

Keep in mind that the body tends to resist weight loss when you start eating less, which can lead to a plateau, says Lofton. That's what we call starvation mode—and it happens to everybody who successfully sheds pounds. Though your metabolism might actually start to slow as you lose weight, you can speed it up again by working out—and especially by strength training.

The bottom line: What you eat matters more than how you work it off, but fitness will push you past plateaus and help you achieve your ultimate goals.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From How To Lose Weight