For the longest time I’ve maintained, to attain your ideal body, you need to get into the kitchen and start cooking. It’s 70% diet and 30% exercise…

Those 6 pack abs, don’t come from gyming. No matter how much muscle you build, if you cannot lower your body fat, you’ll never see them.

Many fitness professionals disagree with me. I do low intensity yoga and stretching and enjoy a leisurely walk. But I had no proof, other than my own experience, that the less I do, the better my jeans fit.

So I was ecstatic this week, when I read an article in the Washington Post by Aseem Malhotra, entitled “Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight”.

It was backed by study after study, that exercise alone has almost no effect on weight loss. 

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying there is no benefit from Physical activity. It reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and even cancer — But weight loss is not one of them.

In a study people who simply dieted experienced greater weight loss than those who combined diet and exercise.

How can this be explained? Well I will tell you… I find myself ravenous after a lot of cardio and strength training. I’ll inhale huge volumes of food. I can end up eating way more calories than I burned.

Working out will make you healthier, but if weight loss is your goal, your diet is what really needs to change.

Celebrity Trainer Harley Pasternak …. the man responsible for shaping most of Hollywood’s A list stars, believes that too much exercise can cause you to gain weight. In his books he states how over training stimulates your appetite and cause you to overeat.

But it’s not just the number of calories we’re eating. It’s also how we’re getting them. That is why cooking is key to your success.

Studies show, a poor diet contributes to more deaths than smoking, alcohol and inactivity combined. The bottom line: You can’t outrun a bad diet.

So there is no better time to start “cooking it off”.The time you spent pounding away on treadmill or doing 3,000 squats, can be better spent, shopping for healthy food and cooking your meals.

By using fresh herbs, spices and ingredients from the ground, you ensure your body is getting quality nutrients. No bottles, boxes or packages of food with chemicals I can’t even pronounce. By making the foods I love myself, I am able to add flavor without all the calories.

Eating out is great, but that restaurant salad has 4 times the calories than one from your own kitchen.

I am not talking about starving yourself, juicing or fasting. I don’t believe in limiting entire food groups. In fact, I love dairy, red meat, chocolate, alcohol and bread. But portion size is key. I have a little of everything, but not a lot of everything.

So finally a study has proved what I have always known. It comes down to simple math. Calories in and out. Diet is far more critical and the only way to help you reach your weight loss goals.

My motto has always been “Abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym”. So let’s get cooking, and ditch the calories not the flavor… XXX Chef MM