Understanding fat burning exercise and nutrition are vital to achieving and maintaining permanent weight loss and fat reduction. But which one has the most impact on fat burning? Scientific studies have been done to determine the answer.

Weight loss studies

Only a few studies have been done to establish whether exercise or fat-burning nutrition has a greater impact on fat burning. The studies were particularly interesting.

They compared the results of weight loss among people moving from big cities to the suburbs and vice versa. Subjects in cities and suburbs had similar dietary intakes. The results were expected, but fascinating.

Results of weight loss studies

• During the first year of moving from a city to the suburbs, study participants earned, on average, 15 pounds.
• Within the first six to eight months of moving to a city from the suburbs, study subjects lost an average of 15 pounds.

The main conclusion of the studies was the following: subjects who lived in a city walked more than subjects who lived in the suburbs. While subjects living in the suburbs traveled in a car to get where they wanted to go (supermarket or school, etc.), subjects from the city often walked there. This was responsible for the weight change.

An expert in the field of applied physiology and nutrition has said that exercise to burn fat has a greater impact on fat loss and permanent weight loss than nutrition. He said exercise accounts for 65% and nutrition 35%.

Most experts agree that, in a perfect world, you would do a recommended fat-burning exercise routine, in addition to addressing your nutrition, if you want to burn fat and achieve permanent weight reduction. But we don’t live in a perfect world and none of us are perfect.