Exercise is an important factor in losing weight. In order to lose weight permanently, it is not enough just to eat less or to starve. Sport has to be part of it. Many dieters believe that eating is all about it. Unfortunately, when the pounds disappear after a few weeks and the joy is great, the spiral often moves in the other direction again. This frustrates many and so you slide from diet to diet. Unfortunately, the success is often not permanent.
We’ll give you tips on how to be successful over the long term and how to find a healthier lifestyle.
Start and move
Especially for beginners, it is not crucial to reach the athletic limits immediately. It is important to start and get exercise in everyday life. You can read our tips on how to get more exercise in everyday life here. For example, start running, short runs with breaks are ideal for getting started. 30 minutes are enough to provide the body with the first stimuli. It is best to repeat this at least three to four times a week and run at a comfortable pace. You will quickly notice that you can run through 30 minutes and you have taken the first step towards a healthier life. Gradually increase the distance and the training time.
Diet remains an important factor in losing weight
Keyword calorie balance! Whoever wants to lose weight has to consume fewer calories than he/she burns. Often many people also overestimate the calorie consumption during exercise and, unfortunately, simply eat too much. When running (medium pace), a person who weighs 60 kg and is on the road for an hour consumes just 600 calories. That’s the bottom line of a bar of chocolate, so an hour of exercise doesn’t mean you can eat more. It is also important that the diet is healthy and balanced.
Increasing the intensity of exercise increases fat burning
If you run regularly for a few weeks now, you can start increasing the intensity. With running intervals you can effectively boost fat burning in a short time. With interval training, also known as a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) unit, you alternate between extremely high and low intensity. For example, this means that you incorporate sprints into your running session. Initially only 20-30 seconds (can be increased later) and a 30-60 second break from walking or slow trotting. You should run this alternately at least 6-8 times. Don’t forget to run in and out before and after.
Bet on muscles
Those who only rely on diet to lose weight will unfortunately be disappointed. The pounds will drop, but without exercise, the body first breaks down muscles instead of fat. By the way, our muscles are a real fat burner and the more you have of them, the higher your basal metabolic rate. The basal metabolic rate is the energy requirement that your body consumes in complete rest (e.g. during sleep).
Your body builds muscles through regular strength training on machines or with your own body weight. The muscle experiences training stimuli during training or stress. In the regeneration phase afterwards, your body restores the initial state, this is called supercompensation. You are well prepared for the next training session and your body’s performance is higher than the initial level. However, it is important that you keep certain recovery phases, otherwise this principle will not work and your performance will decrease or you will end up overtraining.
Exercise is not just for the sake of losing weight
Losing weight shouldn’t be the only reason for you to exercise. You will quickly notice that the initial motivation drops and it is more and more difficult for you to stick with it. You will have to struggle especially during times of stagnation in weight loss. It is therefore important that you also have other reasons for your new passion for sports. Sport must not become an obligation! For example, look for like-minded people and train together with others. Sport should always be a personal break, in which you can find distance from everyday life, reduce stress and sort your thoughts.
In conclusion, if you want to lose weight permanently, you also have to move. That’s the only way it works.