Is Exercise Necessary for Fat Loss?

If you require quick, permanent results in terms of fat loss and all the health benefits that come with exercise then exercise is necessary. In my opinion exercise is not just necessary; it is vital and should be a must in everyone’s life. You will eventually hit a plateau if you try to diet the fat of with no exercise and this will force you to cut more calories (reduce food intake). A large reduction in calories will send your body into starvation mode which slows your metabolism down to cater for the minimal food intake and you will find yourself hitting another plateau, not to mention the cravings you will have which will force you to binge and eventually come of the diet. Now that you are of the diet and lost  a few pounds, keeping that weight of is going to be impossible because you now have a slower metabolism than before and putting that weight back on and more is going to be a whole lot easier.  This is the reason why people go on and off these kind of fat loss programs which is also known as the YOYO diet.

The best way to lose fat is to burn it off and not starve it off. By introducing exercise into your program you can achieve fast and permanent fat loss results. Exercise should become a part of your lifestyle and should be performed even when not on a fat loss program. Apart from having numerous health benefits, exercise is also known for extending one’s lifespan.

Aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise requires energy and this energy comes primarily from stored body fat (This process is called the OXIDATIVE PATHWAY). Aerobic exercise also strengthens the heart and increases the lung capacity thus alleviating numerous health problems.

Anaerobic (weight) exercise also plays an important role in Fat loss. Weight training helps you put on muscle and the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is. Muscle is your body’s metabolic furnace; it requires energy all day long even while you sleeping, thus burning more calories and promoting fat loss. Having strong healthy muscles also puts less stress on joints and bones thus reducing the risk of joint injury and bone disease (osteoporosis).

The combination of a proper eating plan, aerobic exercise and weight training will boost fat loss tremendously and keep it off, Alleviate numerous health problems and prolong life. 

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What Are Calories and How Does it Affect Our Lives?

Let me start by explaining the definition of a Calorie. What is a calorie? A calorie is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius, in another words a calorie is a measure of heat energy.

 When food is burned, it releases a certain amount of heat (energy), depending on the type of food, for example; Fat has more calories (9 calories per gram) than Carbohydrates (4 calories per gram) and Protein (4 calories per gram). The more calories that are in the food, the more energy will be released when it is burned and whatever surplus energy that is not used by the body will get stored as adipose tissue (body fat).

All foods that have a high fat content will be considered high calorie foods. There are some fats that are good and essential for the body (Unsaturated Fats) which need to be consumed in the right quantities like your omega 3 and omega 6, also known as your healthy fats. Although fats are high calorie foods and should be limited, there are also some lower calorie foods which are just as, if not more destructive to one’s health. What foods am I talking about? I am talking about the processed carbohydrates that are so readily available today, like your sugary foods. Any food that is not in its most natural form is considered harmful when over consumed, even though it has lower calorie content than your fatty foods. These foods cause a huge glucose (blood sugar) spike in the blood stream and continuous glucose spikes could lead to diabetes. These large spikes also means surplus glucose and whatever glucose is not used for energy will be stored has body fat (adipose tissue).

Most people do not worry about calories until they decide to go on a diet or weight loss program and even then they don’t know what a calorie really is or how much to consume. The first place to start for anybody who is looking at losing weight, gaining weight or even maintaining weight, is to first find out how many calories per day they require for maintenance and then adjust their calorie consumption accordingly. 

Estimating your calorie consumption by the food you eat on a daily basis and then dropping your calories by eating less for weight loss does not have a very positive effect. If you cut your calories by too much which you will eventually do because every time you hit a plateau, you lower your calories even further to see results and that will send your body into starvation mode which will lower metabolism and a lower metabolism will make it much easier for you to put the weight that you lost back on and even more. 

Therefore it is important to count calories when going on a weight loss program. This way you can monitor your weight loss and make small adjustments accordingly without lowering you metabolism and jeopardizing your health. 

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