Why Exercise Should be a Part of Your Weight Loss Plan

If you’re five pounds overweight, you may need to cut back on the rich desserts, or the salty snacks or that second helping at dinner that’s become a habit. You’re not hungry when you eat those desserts or snacks or second helpings; you enjoy the sensations those foods evoke.

Cutting back is just a matter of breaking a habit.

If you are twenty pounds overweight, though, you need to change your diet and just as importantly, you need to burn off the fat. You need to exercise.

It’s not enough to reduce your calories when your excess weight has caused your body to physically change shape. You need to burn off the fat to excise the fat cells that have taken up residence in your body.

A sensible diet includes a variety of foods. Your body needs fiber and protein, fats and nutrients. A sensible diet includes grains, fruits and vegetables, and protein foods such as lean meats, legumes and beans. You also need a little dairy such as low-fat cheese and fat-free milk.

Following a sensible diet is the foundation for your weight loss plan, but without exercise, your body may continue to store the excess fat. You won’t gain weight, and you may even lose a few pounds. The fat already stored isn’t going to leave your body, however, simply because you stop feeding it. It isn’t like a stray cat that goes away when the food supply runs out.

Your body, through evolution, is trained to store fat against the possibility of extreme hunger and starvation, and to provide nutrients should you fall ill. When you go on a diet, your body thinks less food is available, and won’t let go of the fat. It thinks you might need it soon because the food is running out.

Exercise bypasses this evolutionary trait and essentially tells the body it's okay to burn the fat, it's okay to send the excess to the liver for processing. The combination of exertion and less food tells your body that not only is the food supply safe but you are active and healthy. You don’t need the fat to safeguard against sickness and starvation.

Your weight loss plan should include thirty minutes of exercise every day. Develop a routine that includes a variety of exercises. Just as your diet needs a varied selection of foods, your body needs diversity of movement. Include activities such as walking, yoga, and strength training exercises.

You needn’t confine your exercise to an exercise routine. Consider taking up golfing or bowling. Join a basketball league or just play touch football once a week with your friends.

If you need to lose weight, follow a sensible food plan and exercise to burn the fat. Diet and exercise work as a team. So get in the game and lose that weight.