Health Insider Update

The Biggest Loser’s irresistible fitness trainer Bob Harper sheds some light on the age-old argument: “which is more important, diet or exercise?”

According to Harper, it’s 80% nutrition, 20% fitness.

Harper’s opinion is backed by a 2015 report from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges that found physical activity to reduce a person’s risk of heart disease and other problems, but “does not promote weight loss … This places the blame for our expanding waistlines directly on the type and amount of calories consumed.”

“I really do practice what I preach,” says Harper. “I work out religiously. If I don’t get to work out, then I mean, all hell will break lose … it keeps me sane.”

Harper, who just turned 50, has the body of a 30- or even 20-something athlete. “I feel better than I have ever felt,” he says.

It’s just as hard for men to get older as it is for women, Harper adds. “Turning 40 was really hard, but 50 was completely different. I’m living in the moment. I’m feeling really good about it. I just happen to have a big ass number when it comes to my age,” he jokes.

Harper loves cooking and says he is “obsessed” with food and what’s in the food we eat. People ask him for diet and fitness advice nearly every day, at “airports, grocery stores,” everywhere. “They say, ‘Bob, it is your diet or is it your exercise, what’s more important?'”

“It is all about your nutrition,” he says

Harper’s diet is centered on vegetables. “People get so afraid of fat, when they should be more afraid of those starchy, sugary foods that they are consuming.” My diet is “all protein, it’s all vegetables, there’s no starch whatsoever.”

“In your life, you want to try to find a good balance: a balance of peace, of energy, of excitement. And for me, working out, eating right, and being challenged creatively keeps me balanced.”