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Originally Posted by SensibleChiefsfan
Okay, I know you are right about the general concept. However, one thing that is lost on many is that by dieting, many times you will lose muscle mass along with fat unless you are exercising.
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Sure, but if you're not exercising to begin with, you're not going to lose muscle mass.
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Additionally, if you maintain a low calorie diet for a long period of time, your body's metabolic rate will drop to adjust, and you will feel sluggish, and you will eventually stop losing weight and may even put weight back on. Even if you are still overweight.
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It only takes one or two cheat meals to shock your system back into gear. Most people do those things naturally, through social occasions, work parties, or just buying a couple of candy bars at the checkout counter. Still, your metabolic rate won't "drop" that far, because your body's metabolic rate is largely determined by your genetics. There's only so low it will go, unless you're literally starving yourself.
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I think it is smarter to encourage excercise, especially, resistance training first to build muscle, to increase metabolism. Then, start to work on a diet. Even then, you want to make sure your diet still has enough protein to avoid the body using mucscle mass as fuel.
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I'm not discouraging exercise. I'm simply saying that it doesn't take a gym to get a six-pack. Obviously, exercise is important, but diet is WAY more important. If you could only do one thing for weight loss, the thing you should do is diet. That's where most of the calories are lost.
You're absolutely right about resistance training, but muscle doesn't really burn THAT many additional calories.