In their quest for a healthy body, people must wade through a sea of information and misinformation regarding diet and nutrition.  With new products, books and supplements coming out virtually daily, it is easy to get lost.

The health conscious consumer, armed with a few facts and theories, can decipher many of the diets and ideas floating about in fitness circles.  The information presented today is not intended to be complete or all-inclusive.  Rather, it should serve as a compass to give your search some general direction.  Specific information can be obtained from your doctor, personal or athletic trainer or dietician.

The concept of bioenergetics is central to any discussion of exercise and sports nutrition.  Bioenergetics defines how the body takes in, uses and stores energy.  The key concept to consider when dieting, exercising or training is that any energy (food) taken in must be either used or stored. 

Especially lately, it should be emphasized that just because you eat something does not mean that your body will get the food to the right place.  This concept will be important shortly.

The body has the capacity to store energy, primarily in the form of fat.  So, if your energy output is less than energy input, the excess is stored.  The only way to get rid of stored energy, A.K.A fat, is to convert it to another form of energy.  This is a really important point that is worth repeating:  if your energy output is less than your energy input (over time) you will store energy primarily as fat.

If one’s goal is to lose weight and/or fat, there are three ways to go about this.  Either increase output while keeping input the same, decrease input while keeping output the same or decrease both.  In other words, you can decrease food intake (decrease input), exercise (increase output) or both.  Contrary to popular belief, there are no magical pills, potions or creams that can change this equation.

The best and safest way to maintain a lean body is a combination of a healthy diet and exercise.   If we all had a nickel for every fad diet or pill that promised to make the weight loss process easier, we could all retire.  This is not to say that absolutely none of them work.  In fact, some probably do help you lose weight in the short term. 

There are many problems with fad diets even if they are successful.  The most obvious one is that even if short term successes are realized, the results will be fleeting if the initial diet is not followed up with appropriate lifestyle changes.  Also, many of the fad programs do not take into account the body’s need for balance in the diet.  Everyone, especially athletes and active people, need the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals in their diet everyday.

Many patients are curious about “diet pills” and whether they would benefit from such medicines.  There is quite a lot of controversy in medical circles about the benefits of the various weight loss medicines available.  These are decisions best left to you and your personal physician.  But something that virtually every doctor can agree upon is that the BEST way to achieve your desired weight is to exercise and eat a healthy diet.

Many people are asking about a medicine called Xenical recently.  Xenical is a “fat blocker”.  As the name implies, it keeps a certain portion of fat that you eat from entering your body through the intestine.  This point is brought up not to endorse or criticize Xenical but rather to point out that even this new medicine does not violate the concept of bioenergetics. 

The take home message here is that no matter how hard you try, you can’t cheat mother nature.  If you have specific questions about diet and/or exercise, feel free to talk to your doctor.  He or she will be happy to help you on your way to a fit lifestyle.