Importance of Exercise for Weight Loss

Most people believe that they will be able to lose a lot of weight by simply dieting and/or skipping meals. However, many experts agree that dieting alone is not an effective way to lose weight. In order to lose weight more effectively, you will need to get some exercise. Exercise will allow you to lose weight more quickly and shed those excess fats that you cannot remove through dieting. If you are not convinced that you need exercise in order to lose weight, then check out this article. Here, you will learn about the importance of exercise for weight loss and how exercise can help you lose weight faster.

Exercise Boosts Your Metabolism

One of the reasons why exercise is important for weight loss is that it boosts your metabolism. Many people fail to lose weight because their metabolism is too slow due to many years of unhealthy and lazy habits. If your metabolism is slow, your body also becomes slow at burning fat. This means that even if you start following a proper diet, you may still fail to lose weight because of your slow metabolism. Exercise can help boost your metabolism, allowing you to burn fat faster. Exercising sends a signal to your brain that your body has excess energy, so your body burns more calories and fats than normal.

Exercise Allows You to Eat More

Since weight gain is caused by excess calories and fats, many people believe that they can lose weight by fasting and/or avoiding foods that contain fats. However, this is actually unhealthy because you are depriving your body of the important nutrients that it needs in order to stay healthy. Also, fasting and improper dieting can slow down weight loss because your body stores fat for energy use when it is not getting enough nourishment. Exercise will allow you to eat more because it helps burn off the excess calories and fat that you consumed during the day. This means that your body gets enough nutrients and you can keep eating some of your favorite foods as long as you monitor your daily caloric intake and exercise regularly.

Exercise Relieves Stress

Stress will not only make losing weight more difficult, but also make you gain weight. According to experts, stress makes your body produce more glycogen, a carbohydrate that is stored in your liver and muscles to be used as an energy source. In prehistoric times, cavemen used the additional energy from glycogen to fight off or run away from the source of their stress. In modern times, you can’t fight off or run away from most sources of your stress, such as your work or life problems. As a result, the glycogen produced by your body is not used and stored into your fats instead. Over time, the excess glycogen will make you gain weight and prevent you from losing weight. Stress can also cause food cravings that result in weight gain. Exercise is great way to relieve stress. Exercise makes your brain produce endorphins, chemicals that act as mood enhancers and painkillers. You can burn fat and relieve stress at the same time by exercising regularly.

Exercise has many other benefits that aid in weight loss. Exercise can also help prevent various health problems that can cause weight gain. If you are not losing weight even though you are following a weight loss diet plan, try making time in your schedule for exercise. According to health experts, the average person needs at least 150 minutes of exercise per week (30 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week). The best exercises for weight loss are cardio exercises such as walking, running, swimming, and jogging.