Exercise Melts Body Fat
Saturday, September 10, 2011
, Posted by Immel at 3:42 AM
If you want to
reduce your body fat, focus on increasing the amount of exercise you get rather
than decreasing your food intake. A
recent national study was done using two groups of sedentary men, one group in
their 20's and the other over age 65. A
lot was learned from this accumulated data and it is interesting to note that
there was a significant relationship between lack of physical activity and
fat. Not surprisingly, the most
sedentary men had the most body fat.
These studies
have also indicated that the governments current recomended daily allowance for
calories does not correlate with the body's actual energy needs. For example, although 2400 calories have been
calculated for older men, they in fact burned an average of 2800 calories
daily.
The leading
experts now recommend that people who want to lose weight start increasing their
physical activity. Just being more
active in general (such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator,
moving around instead of sitting still, sitting up instead of lying down as
well as showing some excitement and enthusiasm instead of boredom), are things
that more effec tively burns calories and reduces body fat. Everyone seems to have lost sight of the
value of being active. Consider this, a
half-hour aerobic workout accounts for far less energy expenditure than our
minute-to-minute movement in the office or at home.
Millions of
Americans are trying to lose weight, spending approximate§ly $30 billion a year
on diet programs and products, often they do lose some weight. But, if you check with the same people five
years later, you will find that nearly all have regained whatever weight they
lost. A national panel recently sought
data to determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term
success. Not a single program could do
so.
Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity
predisposes individuals to a number of diseases and serious health problems,
and it's now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, some of the
excess frequently is saturated fat.
People who
diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while
dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as
fat. To avoid getting fatter over time,
increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.
Walking is one
of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the
leg muscles, maintaining good posture and improving positive self-concept.
To lose weight,
it's more important to walk for time than speed. Walking at a moderate pace yields longer
workouts with less soreness - leading t more miles and more fat worked off on a
regular basis. High intensity walks on
alternate days help condition one's system.
But in a walking, weight-loss program, you are not requried to walk an
hour every day as some people would have you believe.
