Before advocating any one of the two, just think; are you certain that you are eating healthy enough to avoid any physical activity or exercise? Every week a new diet craze takes people by storm. Omitting carbs and fats completely from your diet is like resorting to a quick fix, which would have only fleeting results on your weight.

But how imagine a life where you can enjoy a glass of wine or a good brownie guilt-free once in a while? Doesn’t that sound more satisfying?

You can’t live a life fearing food or avoiding social gatherings. We need to fuel our body with something that is soothing and nourishing. The body responds to nourishing food hence good health is a result of a well-balanced and nutrition-dense diet.

“You can’t out-exercise a bad diet”

You can exercise for 3 hours in the gym, but if your diet is poor, you won’t benefit. It takes 5 minutes to gobble up a cheeseburger but will take up to 2 hrs in the gym to burn it out (a lot of which also depends on your metabolism).

So, the best thing to do is focus on increasing your metabolism instead of obsessing over your weight and standing on the weighing scale after every bite you take.

How to rev up your metabolism

1. Drink water and lose weight

Well, if it sounds so simple, then maybe it is. Drinking water plays a vital role in augmenting energy expenditure throughout the day.

2. Workout routine

Exercise not only burns fat while you are working out but even post workout. So you reap benefits of workout long after you stop sweating, as the body burns more calories while replenishing the oxygen stores in the muscle.

3. Eat at regular intervals

Skipping meals means slipping away from your weight goals. Interval eating in the right quantity and the right food can amplify your metabolism, therefore leading to weight loss.

4. Superfoods to increase your metabolism

Oranges, cinnamon, lemon, apple, almonds, sprouts, ginger are some of the superfoods that can skyrocket your metabolism.

So what is important for weight loss – diet or exercise?

Weight loss is 70%, the food you eat and 30% is the exercise. Therefore, it’s not possible to eat everything you want and lose weight without working out. There are no shortcuts to long-lasting results. Incorporating a workout schedule not only keeps you fit but boosts your metabolism too. It helps you lose fat and gain muscles.

Having said that, you need not spend 2 hrs in the gym; it will only put your body under stress. Overtraining can start burning muscle for fuel and store more fat, resulting in weight gain. So, avoid overtraining but push yourself a little more than yesterday. Just like a car needs timely fueling, your body needs good nutrients.

But an unused car for long can lead to a dead battery, and so can your body. This makes it imperative to use your body physically to its greatest potential.

(Monisha Ashokan is a clinical nutritionist at Nourish Me, Delhi)