Diet and Exercise

by: Mary Watson

Diet and exercise are the perfect combination for consistent weight loss.

If you have ever tried to lose weight and couldn’t understand why it was so difficult, you may have been neglecting to combine diet with exercise. No matter how little you eat, there is no substitute for exercise. If you wish to achieve consistent weight loss, you have to understand how weight loss and exercise tie in together.

Losing Weight without Exercise

Some of the fad diets in existence today promise that you can lose weight without exercise, and though you may experience some small amount of loss, it will not be consistent nor have any great impact. Any weight you may lose will be short-lived if you are not exercising in order to build lean muscle mass and boost the rate at which your body burns calories.

The Impact of Exercise on Weight Loss

In spite of what some diet programs may tell you, there is a definite connection between weight loss and exercise. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. Although normal daily activities such as walking, cleaning house, and even sleeping burn some calories, these activities do not burn enough to make any impact on weight loss. It is necessary to perform aerobic exercise such as walking, bicycling, swimming, and skiing in order to boost the rate your metabolism burns calories in order to experience faster and more consistent weight loss. The addition of resistance exercises such as weight lifting will build lean muscle mass which burns calories at a faster rate. Thus, the perfect exercise routine for weight loss is a combination of both types of exercise.

Choosing the Right Foods

In addition to exercise, you must choose foods that will stimulate weight loss. In order to do this it’s necessary to consume low fat proteins and minimize the simple carbohydrates you eat. Simple carbohydrates include almost everything in the starchy category and not just sweets. That doesn’t mean you cannot eat carbohydrates at all because you need the energy. Contrary to what we were taught during instruction in food groups, there is no difference between eating a candy bar or a piece of white bread—both will turn to sugar when consumed. The difference lies in eating whole grains such as wheat bread, wheat flour, brown rice, and whole grain cereals such as oats, barley, and wheat.

Not only are whole grain starches in the low-glycemic index category, they provide the fibre that is necessary for a healthy colon. By consuming lean meats such as poultry, veal and fish instead of beef and pork, we limit the amount of fats that are entering our bodies. This not only helps with weight loss but also has a positive impact on the heart as well. By concentrating on eating healthy foods and snacks we give our body the opportunity to undo any damage we have done with our poor eating and lack of exercise.

Lifestyle Changes

Although diets are intended as a means to lose weight, the best diets incorporate weight loss into lifestyle changes. No matter how well you do on your weight loss program, if you don’t change the way you eat and live, your weight loss will not be permanent. You must learn how to eat healthy and exercise all the time and not just when you are attempting to lose weight. You also need to substitute soft drinks and sugary fruit juices for water and natural fruit juices containing no additional sugar. That doesn’t mean you cannot have some of those sweets, but you must learn how to limit them in order to prevent gaining all the weight back that you lost.