What influence does the physical activity have on weight loss program for people who are overweight?
The answer is not difficult: the number of calories you burn up during the day must be higher than the number you consume in your meals.
If you burn as many calories as you eat, your weight will be maintained. If you eat more than you burn up, you will put on weight. The recipe itself is simple. But converting it into a program of diet and exercise that will show results is difficult.
For many years it was assumed that physical activity played hardly any role in weight loss program. The amount of physical exercise necessary to lose even one pound of weight seemed to be unreal for an ordinary person to work into a daily schedule of commitments.
Hence, diet seemed to be more important; and as the diet had to reduce calories, most people understood it as a greater degree of hunger. Many weight loss diets consisted only of reducing the amount of food consumed. The result was starvation only, instead of weight loss. However, most people quickly give it up, because nobody wants to starve for a prolonged period of time.
Today we know that nobody has to starve in order to lose weight. Overweight people have to restrain their eating and adjust food they consume to include the right foods and combine the proper kind of physical activity to accelerate weight loss.
What is the role of physical activity in the weight loss process? If you want to lose one pound you have no choice but to burn 3,500 calories.
This seems to be an overwhelming task, especially when you take into account that to burn up 100 calories you must walk vigorously or run one and a half kilometers. Of course, when running, you’ll burn up the calories more quickly. So, if it were for exercise alone, you might quickly come to conclusion that there are more relevant and more pleasant things in life than doing this exercise.
Now, take under consideration what will happen if you combine an exercise program with a low calorie, non-starvation diet. It should be an enjoyable kind of diet and exercise plan leading to 2-3 pound weight loss a week.
Now, if you count your weight loss in a month’s time, you can easily lose 8 to 12 pounds in a very easy way.
Look what happens when you combine physical activity and non-starvation diet.
When you cut down on calories, your body’s first reaction is to suppose (we’ll assume your body can "think" at the moment) that you are going to starve. So, it decreases its metabolism automatically and as a result you begin to burn less amount of calories.
But when you start to exercise, your metabolic rate accelerates again. Your muscles activate again and help burn more calories. Your body starts “thinking” that you are not starving. Therefore, a lot of physical activity along with fewer calories eaten means greater weight loss.
You will probably ask what are those low-calorie foods to consume to make you lose weight. Use your common sense.
Avoid fat, fried foods, as well as sweets. And when you finally get your desired weight, you can eat your favorite food again, of course in moderation.
With regards to what type of exercise you can do to help activate some more your metabolism and burn more calories, you have to do exercises stimulating your muscles, like strength training and aerobic. Should you have any further questions about weight loss, do not hesitate and visit me in my fitness center.
