So there’s a need for you to shed a few pounds. The dilemma however is how you are going to go about it. If you are like the majority, you too are probably thinking of going to the gym. But surprisingly, this can also be the reason that keeps you from losing that extra weight.
In the case of weight loss, it is very important to understand that you cannot just spend all your time exercising. Diet plays a crucial part in the entire process- although physical movement is considered to be the leverage agent that can optimize health and fitness.
In fact, it has been proven that exercise is far more effective than other drug treatments available for some of the most common health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Thus, exercise indeed plays a role in optimal health but it’s not the central key for weight loss.
For instance, you can’t over eat and consume junk food (processed foods) and exercise your way to a slimmer body. Eating less and knowing the right time to eat is useful in kick starting your metabolism on to the right track.
How does your Daily Activity affect your Weight?
Some research looked into the number of calories burned by doing some activities- such as sitting versus standing up when trying to lose weight. In this case, standing did not really have a significant effect.
On the other hand, walking has some modest effect as long as you do not sabotage it with poor diet. Researchers also found out that:
Sitting burns about 20 calories/15 mins
Standing up burns about 22 calories/15 mins
Walking burns nearly 3x more calories than sitting or standing, with an hour of walking resulting in an additional 130 calories being burned each day
While standing can have a negligible impact on the calories burned, it increases the likelihood of moving in general. Standing for 90 seconds can activate the muscular and cellular systems that process blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol — which are mediated by insulin. These cellular mechanisms are also responsible for pushing fuel into your cells and, if done regularly, will radically decrease your risk of diabetes.
In addition, research also confirmed that diet and exercise actually complement each other. When adding exercise to a healthier diet, one will be rewarded with a more sustained weight loss.
Dietary Changes to Lose Weight
While there’s no one-size-fits-all option, the following generalizations will normally work for the majority of people. At its most fundamental, healthy eating can be summed up as eating real food. This means eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Choosing complex carbohydrates and lean sources of protein. And if you’re serious about dropping weight and optimizing your health, you should work on creating eating habits around these types of food. Also, be wise to exert some effort to learn a few of these finer details.
Among the keys to long-lasting weight management is healthy metabolism and mitochondrial function. Unfortunately, numerous diet plans actually intensify the dysfunction instead of correcting it. Nurturing and supporting your mitochondria (the little power stations in your cells) is also a core concept for ideal health and illness prevention.
To improve your mitochondrial function through diet, the key is to eat in such a way that your body is able to burn fat as its primary fuel instead of sugars.
Moreover, avoiding late-night eating is likewise important, as feeding your body at a time when it requires the least amount of energy will merely result in cellular damage due to the excess production of free radicals. For this reason, it’s best to limit your eating to breakfast and lunch– an intermittent fasting technique that enables you to fast for 16 or more hours each day. If you are trying to gain muscle tone, adding some lean protein and complex carbs for dinner is an option.
Achieving Weight Loss and Health Goals
As many people often say, it’s so much easier to gain weight than losing it. And when you start to gain that unwanted weight, that’s when you start to worry. For sure you have read or heard so many exercise and diet techniques out there. But the bottom line is, whatever it is that you think would be effective for you, just bear in mind that balance is most important. You can never have too much of something or too less of it. Combing the right amount of exercise with choosing the right kind of food will do the trick to achieve your weight loss goal.