Why You Must Exercise to Lose Weight

...and why only dieting to lose weight is the wrong approach!

It is absolutely essential that you exercise to lose weight (as well as other strategies of course) rather than just dieting to lose weight if you really want to lose weight and keep it off long term!

In this article we will cover why only dieting to lose weight is not an effective, long term weight-loss strategy. We will also explain the importance of exercise to lose weight and how to select the best exercises to lose weight. Finally, we will provide you with the fastest way to lose weight, which combines a range of nutrition, supplementation and exercises to lose weight in record time!

The consequences of only dieting to lose weight

Metabolism depression
There are many reasons why a diet-only approach to weight loss is not a good option to use. The first, and possibly the most important reason, is the fact that a reduction in your calorie intake in order to induce weight loss, invokes the body to reduce it's metabolism in order to survive on less calories (energy).

This is simply a natural consequence of reducing your food intake. As a result of a depressed metabolism, your body is able to survive on less food. However, this also means that it is much easier to now consume an excess of calories (energy) and if this is done, weight re-gain is inevitable.

Reduced nutrient intake
Eating less food almost always means obtaining less nutrients. If you don't get enough nutrients your body can't function as well as it should. It may also lead to cravings and reduced energy.

Muscle loss
Without using exercise to lose weight and only dieting to lose weight, a reduced calorie (energy) intake results in a substantial loss of muscle, which leads to a further reduction in your metabolic rate. Since muscle is one of the most metabolically-active tissues in your body, it is essential that you do whatever you can to preserve it, especially if your goal is to burn off as much body fat as possible.

The importance of exercise to lose weight

Preserve your muscle mass
Without exercise to lose weight your body will indiscriminately lose both fat and muscle tissue when you reduce you food intake (as previously mentioned). In fact, up to half of the weight you lose can come from muscle, which means a substantial reduction in your metabolic rate. Exercise, particularly resistance training, will force your body to maintain its existing muscle mass as you lose weight. You may still lose some muscle even if you perform resistance exercise to lose weight, however, the loss will be minimised and most of the weight lost will come from fat.

Boost your metabolism
Any type of exercise will boost your metabolism and make your body a more efficient fat burner. Not only does exercise boost your metabolism while you perform the exercise but it also keeps your metabolism elevated for quite some time after the exercise session is completed. The amount your metabolism stays elevated as a result of exercise depends on the intensity and duration of the exercise being performed. Interval training is one form of exercise that can give your metabolism a real boost because it tends to be a high-intensity form of exercise.

Furthermore, resistance training (weight training) is one of the the best forms of exercise to lose weight simply because it has the ability to permanently boost your metabolism by helping to increase your muscle mass and by doing so, permanently speed up your metabolism.

Regulates your appetite
Many people avoid exercise because they have the mistaken belief that exercise will cause their appetite to increase, which means they will put on weight. The truth is however, that exercise helps to regulate your appetite more effectively so you only consume what your body needs. By regulating your appetite, exercise also helps you avoid the conditioned responses to food that may result in consuming too many calories, which results in weight gain.

Physiological adaptations
When you incorporate exercise into your weight loss program it forces your body to make some physiological changes that result in your body becoming a more efficient fat burner. This is discussed in greater detail in the article, Benefits of Regular Exercise.

For example, the number of capillaries surrounding each muscle fibre increases, your heart and lung capacity increases, the number of mitochondria in body cells increases, the number of red blood cells in your body increases, and there is an increase in the oxidative enzymes in the body tissues as well. Most of these adaptation tend to result from aerobic exercise and these adaptations have to do with an improvement in the body's ability to absorb and utilise oxygen more efficiently. This means greater fat burning.

The best exercises to lose weight

There are some criteria that can help you identify that most effective exercises to lose weight fast. These criteria are discussed in more detail in the article, Exercises to Lose Weight Quickly. In summary, the best exercises to lose weight quickly are those that fulfil the following criteria: have a high energy expenditure, are weight bearing, work the large muscle groups of the body, work the muscles through a long range of motion and are aerobic in nature.

By selecting exercises that fulfil these criteria and then, most importantly, incorporating them into your lifestyle long term, you will be able to lose weight quickly and best of all, keep it off.

The fastest way to lose weight

The fastest way to lose weight involves incorporating several principles from the various 'Lifestyle Factors' of nutrition, exercise (both resistance exercise and aerobic exercise) and supplementation into your lifestyle. Not only does this approach use principles in the area of exercise to lose weight, but this strategy also suggests nutritional principles and supplementation principles as well. To find out more about the principles involved in the fastest way to lose weight, read the article, Fastest Way to Lose Weight.

However, to summarise, simply wake up in the morning and take a thermogenic, then perform exercise for at least 30 minutes (preferably weight training followed by aerobic exercise), then wait 20-30 minutes and then have breakfast. It sounds so simply but it is the fastest way to lose weight and as you can see uses exercise to lose weight rather than just dieting to lose weight!

If you make an effort to use this approach every day you will be absolutely amazed at the weight-loss results you can achieve.

Overall, it should now be clear that exercise to lose weight is extremely important and if you don't perform some form of exercise to lose weight then it is highly likely that your results from any other approach are likely to be very limited and short term.

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