Why diet and exercise need to work together for sustainable weight loss

It is important to balance diet and exercise because, according to Dr Neha Shah, a weight-loss plan that prioritises one over the other can have consequences.

On your weight loss journey, do diet and exercise feel almost mutually exclusive? You focus on one, and the other takes a back seat.

You exercise regularly, but after coming back from the gym, you may struggle to eat healthily and end up ordering food instead. Similarly, you may be meal prepping, but your workouts may not be as intense. For a long time, diet and exercise have felt like an either-or choice. But finding a balance between the two can help you progress sustainably.

How can you balance the two pillars of fitness? Dr Neha Shah, bariatric surgeon and weight loss specialist, and co-founder of TheGoodWeight.com, shared with HT Lifestyle what it takes to break through a plateau and find a balance between diet and exercise.

Why do diet and exercise need to work together?

She said, “The patients who actually keep the weight off — years later, not just for one wedding season — they're almost always doing both. Strength training, two or three times a week.”

What happens when you focus only on exercise?

Cardio does not compensate for overeating.

Regular workouts are part of weight management, but you also need to monitor your eating habits.

If you focus solely on workouts without checking your food intake, your progress will be slower.

Dr Shah described that relying on workouts to burn off all calories is not sustainable.

She said, “One samosa, roughly 250 calories, and that's close to 30 minutes of brisk walking to break even. Now think about an actual dinner — rice, dal, sabzi, something sweet at the end, easily 800 calories, sometimes more, and nobody's counting. To burn that off through exercise alone, you'd need over an hour of moderate activity. Daily. Which, for most working adults juggling commutes and kids and deadlines, is not happening.”

Exercise alone can not compensate if you end up overeating.

The expert also noted that some patients feel hungrier and eat more after a demanding gym session, potentially offsetting the calories burned during exercise. So, a strenuous workout does not mean you can eat without considering portions.

You may have heard people say, “I eat what I want and burn it at the gym.” But this is an incorrect belief!

She added why exercise alone won't cut it: "Exercise still matters enormously, for the heart, for insulin sensitivity, for mood; I'm not disputing any of that. As a solo weight-loss strategy, though? It's just inefficient.”

What happens when you focus only on diet?

Weight loss drugs have a lot of side effects.

Conversely, you may be eating well but overlooking basic strength exercises, such as lifting weights.

The expert flagged the potential consequences: "Patients who diet without lifting anything heavier than groceries do lose weight; the scale moves, but a real chunk of what's disappearing is muscle. Not fat. I've had women in their forties walk in lighter on paper but weaker, softer, resting metabolism actually down from where it started. Bad trade. Muscle is metabolically expensive tissue to keep around, and losing it makes the next round of weight maintenance harder, not easier.”

So, a lower number on the scale is not enough. Muscle preservation is also important. In the market, there are a lot of weight loss medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, which the expert cautioned against.

Dr Shah warned, "Fast pharmacological weight loss without strength training tends to accelerate muscle loss further, so resistance training goes into the plan from week one. Not as an afterthought once someone complains they feel weak.”

What happens when you balance diet and exercise?

Dr Shah recommended structured strength training two or three times a week, adequate protein, and a sustainable calorie deficit to support long-term weight management. “Neither one substitutes for the other, no matter how well either is executed alone,” she added.

She concluded by highlighting some often overlooked factors in weight management: sleep, stress and gut health.

Poor sleep can disrupt the regulation of leptin and ghrelin, potentially making you feel hungrier the next day. The doctor also highlighted the link between chronic stress, cortisol and abdominal fat. She added, "I see it constantly: lawyers, founders, people running on four hours of sleep and back-to-back calls, no time to even think about food, let alone cook it properly.”

Weight loss is therefore multifaceted and not as straightforward as simply eating less or exercising more.

Sustainable weight management requires both healthy eating and regular exercise. Exercise alone may not offset overeating, while dieting without resistance training can contribute to muscle loss.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.