lmost all of us have been in the situation of not feeling completely comfortable in our own body and wanting to lose a few kilos. Since it is not easy for anyone to change their diet from one day to the next or to do without their beloved bar of chocolate or bag of crisps, many people then ask themselves the following question: Is exercise alone enough to lose weight?
To answer this question, we need to take a closer look at how the body works and examine some topics in more detail. In the course of this blog post, we will not only look at the importance of sport, but also of sports nutrition. Of course, we will also provide tips and tricks that will make losing weight easier than you thought possible.
Healthy organic breakfast from Verival
Why is exercise good for the body?
As is well known, sport not only helps you lose weight, but also has a variety of other benefits. It not only helps you to get closer to your ideal figure, but also triggers a series of physiological changes.
Accordingly, you boost your circulation, strengthen your immune system along the way and perform better both during sports and in everyday life. However, what sport alone cannot achieve is weight loss. A certain mechanism of the body is primarily responsible for this – the calorie balance.
How do I calculate my calorie requirement?
Calorie balance is used as the basis for calculating your daily calorie requirement. It is made up of the following components:
- Basal metabolic rate : This is the amount of calories the body needs at rest and is determined by gender, age, height and weight. You can calculate your basal metabolic rate here.
- Active metabolic rate : This is the amount of additional calories burned during everyday life and sports. Depending on how much you move, your daily calorie requirement increases. As a rule of thumb, you can use the following table to add your active metabolic rate to your basal metabolic rate:
| % of basal metabolic rate | Type of movement |
| 10-20% | for little movement |
| 30% | for light exercise |
| 50% | for moderate physical activity |
| 70-100% | for strenuous physical activity |
- Calorie intake: This is the amount of calories you consume through food.
The formula for your daily calorie requirement is as follows:
Basal metabolic rate + active metabolic rate = daily requirement
Now that you know your daily requirement, you just have to compare it with your calorie intake. As long as you are in a calorie deficit – i.e. you consume fewer calories than you need – you will normally lose weight. So much for the theory. In practice, however, this means one thing above all: tracking, tracking, tracking. And doing a bit of calculating.
It is therefore not surprising that only very few people maintain this diet over a longer period of time. It may be that you can better control your calorie intake if you track it regularly – but who wants to spend hours counting calories?
Do you really need to count calories?
We have a question for you: have you ever seen an animal in the wild that was overweight? Probably not, except for the overfed neighbour's cat. There is a simple reason for this. Every living creature – yes, even humans – has a mechanism that sends signals when we are full.
However, many people have forgotten how to perceive the signals their body sends. In the following life hacks, we will explain how you can regain trust in your body and prevent possible cravings:
4 simple tips to prevent cravings
1. Make sure you drink enough
Many people mistakenly confuse hunger with thirst. This may sound unusual, but it is more the rule than the exception. One of the reasons for this is that your stomach cannot distinguish between solid and liquid food. So reaching for water can prevent possible food cravings.
2. Make a conscious effort to take time to eat
If you consciously take your time and savour every single bite of your meal, you can not only take the pace out of your daily routine, but also listen more closely to your body and its signals. Of course, this only works if you can actually enjoy your food.
For breakfast, we particularly recommend our porridges, as they not only keep you full for a long time, but also taste delicious. And isn't it wonderful to start the day with a warm, fruity porridge?
3. Build healthy satiety into your diet
In addition, healthy, high-fibre foods such as oats or various seeds (chia seeds, flax seeds, etc.) can help you feel full despite eating smaller portions. It is particularly easy to incorporate such superfoods into your diet by using them as a topping for your yoghurt or fruit bowl. But our porridges are also high in fibre and help you start the day full of energy.
Fibre and satiety: the effects of oats on satiety. 1
Satiating breakfast from Verival
4. Choose healthy snacks for in between
For many people, snacking while dieting is a no-go – but it doesn't have to be that way! It is important to choose foods with a high nutrient density. Because if you only eat ‘empty’ calories, you will struggle to lose weight. Nuts are particularly suitable as a snack between meals, as they not only provide valuable nutrients but also help you to feel full for longer. At Verival, we not only ensure that our nut mixes have a balanced distribution of nut types, but we also combine them with dried fruits to create a unique taste experience.
Do you already know your BMI?
Use the Verival BMI calculator to quickly and easily calculate your BMI. It doesn't matter whether you want to lose weight, just do something for your health or are currently in the middle of a muscle-building workout. Your body mass index is often the first measurement that shows you whether you have your body weight under control.
Here you can calculate your body mass index in a few seconds and learn more about what this value means.
Discover the BMI calculator & calculate your value
The role of nutrition in weight loss
As we found out earlier, a calorie deficit is essential for successful weight loss. Since the body is now ‘fed’ fewer calories than it consumes throughout the day, it is particularly important to eat nutrient-rich foods.
In particular, foods with a balanced ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats are important during a calorie deficit. But a variety of essential micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.) should also be present in as many of your daily meals as possible.
This is particularly easy with the products from our porridge range. That's because oat porridge is a great source of nutrients – not only because of the almost perfect ratio of macronutrients, but also because it contains many essential vitamins, phytochemicals and other micronutrients, thanks in part to the freeze-dried fruits and berries.
Did you know? A study by the European Food Safety Authority – EFSA – states: ‘Oat beta-glucan has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels. Lowering blood cholesterol levels can reduce the risk of (coronary) heart disease.’ 2
The role of sport in losing weight
Now that we have covered the topic of nutrition in detail, let's get back to the original topic of this blog post – exercise. Even if exercise alone does not lead to weight loss, it can still help us in a variety of ways. Not only do we burn calories during training itself, but we can also increase our daily calorie requirement in the long term. This happens mainly when we convert our adipose tissue into muscle mass.
Regular strength training can work wonders here, as muscle tissue requires more energy than adipose tissue and thus increases the basal metabolic rate. Anyone who wants to build muscle needs a lot of protein. That is why we have included a sufficient amount of pure vegetable protein in our Verival Sport range to support you in your sporting ambitions in the best possible way.
However, if you don't want to spend time or money on a gym membership, you can of course do your body some good without training equipment. Exercising in the fresh air not only strengthens the muscles but also the immune system.
But whether your favourite is jogging, hiking, road biking, climbing or weightlifting, it's best to do what you enjoy. The goal should be to integrate physical activity into your daily routine, because, as we've already established, exercise can not only help you lose weight, but can also have many other positive effects on your body and your life.
Movement in everyday life
However many advantages the above-mentioned sports offer, sometimes it's just too much of a challenge to overcome your inner couch potato. But don't worry, even for ‘anti-athletes’ there are a variety of ways to increase your daily exercise without having to sweat it out in the gym.
For example, you can use the good old stairs as a training tool instead of the escalator. Instead of waiting for the bus, you can simply walk one or two stops. Or on warm spring days, just take the bike instead of the car – this is not only good for the body, but also for the environment!
All these additional everyday activities can significantly increase calorie consumption and thus give you a little more leeway when it comes to nutrition. Of course, you can also reward yourself appropriately for these achievements – how about our berry Crunchy as a dessert, for example? 😉
Discover the VERIVAL Sport range!
- Rebello CJ, O'Neil CE, Greenway FL. Dietary fiber and satiety: the effects of oats on satiety. Nutr Rev . Published online January 2, 2016:131-147. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuv063
- Agostoni C, Bresson J-L. Scientific Opinion on the health claim ‘Beta-glucan related health benefits on blood cholesterol levels and reduction of the risk of heart disease’. European Food Safety Authority - EFSA. Published December 8, 2010. Accessed May 27, 2020. http://www.efsa.europa.eu/de/efsajournal/pub/1885
