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Weight Loss: The Simple Formula
The key to weight control is keeping your energy intake (food) and energy
output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories
as your body needs, your weight will usually remain constant. If you take
in more calories than your body needs, you will gain weight. You will
burn excess fat if you expend more energy than you take in. This simple
formula is the basis of a proper weight loss program.
Exercise is a key factor in weight control by increasing your energy output
and using up stored calories. Recent studies show that not only does exercise
increase metabolism during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to
stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to
burn even more calories.
One pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. A medium-sized adult
would have to walk 30 miles to burn 3,500 calories. Although that may
seem like a lot, you don’t have to walk 30 miles all at once. If
you walked one mile a day for a month would achieve the same result, as
long as you do not increase your food intake to negate the effects of
walking. Now one mile a day does not seem so overwhelming. That’s
12 pounds in one year!
If you consume 100 more calories a day than your body needs, you will
gain approximately 10 pounds in a year. You could keep it off, or take
it off, by doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day. You can see that
the combination of diet and exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy
weight.
Since muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue, and exercise develops
muscle to a certain degree, your scale may not be a good indication if
you are overweight. Well muscled individuals may appear overweight on
standard weight charts. If you are doing a regular program of weight training
(which is highly recommended), your muscles will increase in weight, and
possibly your overall weight will increase. Body composition (% body fat/muscle
mass) is a better gauge than body weight when determining if you are overweight.
Lack of physical activity causes muscles to get soft, and if food intake
is not decreased, added body weight is almost always fat. Once-active
people, who continue to eat as they always have after settling into sedentary
lifestyles, tend to suffer from "creeping obesity."
Just remember to exercise at least three times a week, even if you need
to split your 30 minutes a day into three intervals.
Remember, you shouldn’t try to lose more than 1 pound per week. That’s
only a 500 calorie a day deficit. Losing more than 1 pound per week is
an indication that you are eating too little or exercising too much, or
both. You may like the quick results, but you won’t be able to maintain
this lifestyle for an extended period of time, and you will most likely
regain a portion of the weight you lost. Fast weight loss isn’t usually
permanent weight loss. "Crash diets" often send dieters into
a cycle of fast weight loss, followed by a "rebound" weight
gain once normal eating resumes, and even more difficulty reducing when
the next diet is attempted. Re-adjust your diet or exercise routine if
this is happening.
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Xenical