5 Reasons Why Exercise is Essential for Weight Loss
Exercise is an essential part of weight loss. You may be able to lose some weight without exercising, but if you expect to reach your goal weight & maintain it regular activity is going to have to be one of your healthy habits that fit into your lifestyle for these five important reasons:
1. Exercise Prevents Muscle Loss
Maintaining (& increasing) your muscle mass is very important. Your muscle is what helps you burn calories while you are at rest. If you lose muscle, your body will not be able to process the calories you
ingest as efficiently. Studies show that unsuccessful dieters tend to lose 25% muscle & 75% fat. If you maintain your muscle & lose 100% fat you will reach your body goals quicker. So strength training exercises that involve resistance with weights or dyna bands at least 1-2 times per week will help you maintain your muscle mass.
2. Exercise Increases Calories Burned
Clearly an overall healthy diet will is one of the main keys to weight loss. However, most of us enjoy having occasional treats. If you are exercising regularly, that piece of pizza, glass of wine or piece of decadent chocolate cake will not have a negative impact on you reaching your weight loss goals. Just be careful not to use exercising as an excuse to eat extra treats!
3. Exercise Helps Control Your Appetite
When you first start an exercise program, you may feel increased hunger because it is a shock to your body. Drink a large glass of water immediately after you exercise & wait 10 minutes to let the feeling subside. If you are still hungry, grab a piece of fruit or drink a protein shake. After the first week, your body will become used to this added activity & will start to used stored glucose & fat for energy which will even out your sugar levels. When your sugar levels are even, you will have less trouble with hunger throughout the day.
4. Exercise Makes You Happy
Exercise releases endorphins in your brain. This is a chemical that makes you feel good. The psychological effects of exercising do a lot towards keeping you motivated. When you feel positive about things, it
makes it easier for you to make the right choices. It also keeps your stress levels lower which reduces your body producing the hormone cortisol – which is a hormone that makes you gain weight.
5. Research Tells Us Exercise Will Help You Lose More Weight & Keep It Off
If you exercise regularly you will lose more weight and keep it off. Research shows that the people that are most successful at losing weight and keeping it off are the ones that have a regular exercise plan as part of their lifestyle. They typically burn about 2500 to 2800 calories per week. This translates into about 6 hours of walking, 3.5 hours of swimming or 9 hours of bike riding weekly.
The best way to stick with an exercise plan is to find something you like to do at a time during the day that it is convenient for you to do it.
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