Five Reasons Why You Need To Exercise
One question that many new dieters have is “Do I need to exercise to lose weight?”
The answer is that, while it is possible to lose weight without doing any exercise, you’ll lose weight more safely and effectively if you exercise too. Plus, being active doesn’t just boost your weight loss efforts – it has a host of other physical (and mental) benefits.
Here’s why you need to exercise:
1. Exercise Burns Up Calories
Just like burning fuel to drive a car, your body burns fuel (the food you eat) when it’s moving. For example, if you walk for half an hour, you’ll burn around 150 calories (the exact figure depends on your weight).
Many dieters find this a huge help – someone on a 1,200 calorie/day plan, for instance, who does an hour’s moderate exercise and burns 300 calories, gets an extra 25% of their plan’s calories to eat. This can help keep hunger at bay, give you a guilt-free treat like a glass of wine or a small chocolate bar, and also ensures you can eat enough to get all the nutrients you need.
You can use the handy Activity Calculator to find out exactly how many calories you’re burning through different forms of exercise.
Don’t fall into the trap of just seeing exercise as a way to “earn” more calories though; it’s important to enjoy exercise for its own sake, and for the other health and diet benefits it offers…
2. Exercise Helps Regulate Your Appetite
Contrary to popular “wisdom”, exercise doesn’t always make you hungrier – it can actually help to regulate your appetite (see Exercise suppresses appetite by affecting appetite hormones for more details.)
When you do get hungry due to exercise, you’ll find that your body naturally craves good-for-you foods: filling wholegrain carbs with lean protein will seem like a much more appetising option than candy bars!
If you have a tendency to snack when you’re bored, a brisk half-hour walk or a cycle ride can get you away from the fridge – and by the time you’ve returned home, the craving will have gone.
3. Exercise Builds Calorie-Hungry Muscles
The muscles you develop in the gym will burn calories even when you’re lying in bed. Muscle tissue is calorie-hungry (some experts think that every extra pound of muscle burns up to an extra 50 calories per day).
In order to build up muscle, you need to do weight-bearing exercise: that might mean pumping iron, or going to an exercise class which uses your body weight as a source of resistance.
Cardio exercise, such as jogging, cross-training or cycling, also has some muscle-building effect.
4. Exercise Tones Your Body
If you exercise regularly, you’ll get more toned. Areas of your body which were previously rather flabby and undefined will gradually become firmer. Even if you don’t lose much weight, this toning effect will improve your appearance, and your body confidence.
If you’re a woman, don’t worry about “bulking up” when you do resistance exercises: the female body responds differently to weight-training than the male body. The scary female bodybuilders you see in photos have achieved their look by taking steroids.
So if you want Michelle Obama’s arms, just hit the weights…
5. Exercise Keeps You Happy
Exercise has been shown time and time again to be great for your mind. Doctors are increasingly prescribing exercise for patients with mild to moderate depression, and all of us who occasionally feel a bit blue can benefit from regular exercise.
When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which, according to Men’s Total Fitness, are “powerful hormone-like substances produced in the brain that function as the body’s own natural painkillers”.
The endorphin release often creates a feeling of well-being and general happiness. Many exercisers report feeling relaxed and unstressed after a workout. If you’re tempted to reach for a chocolate bar when you feel down, reach for your gym kit instead.
Written by Ali HaleRelated posts:
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