Weight loss and exercise
Exercise is perhaps the most effective way to diet and reduce weight. More than reducing food intake and carbohydrates consumption like some diet programs profess, people who want to lose weight should also commit to a daily exercise routine.
Although there are some people who really did lose weight without the benefit of exercise, this is not recommended because the skin needs to firm up along with the loss of fats. Exercising allows for the toning of the muscles. Besides, dieting without the benefit of exercise to maintain will only result in the rapid gaining of weight. Weight loss diet and exercise is still the best combination.
In fact, some studies suggest that overeating is actually not the culprit in the rapid rise of cases of obesity in the country.
However, studying the per capita caloric consumption in recent years, it was found that people nowadays actually eat less but still they weigh more. This suggests that there is really no problem with the way people eat, the amount they consume and the foods that they eat, the problem lies on the fact that people nowadays are less active due to the innovations that technology provides.
Cars reduce the need for people to walk while elevators do not necessitate climbing the stairs anymore. This is why some buildings ask people to use the stairs when they are going to the first and second floors.
In the United States, increase in the number of obesity cases seems to be parallel with the decrease in the use of energy and overall daily work. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the number of people who engage in vigorous activities, whether they are adults, adolescents or children, has decreased in the past decades.
In fact, only about 15 percent of adults regularly do physical activities during the leisure time with the word “regular” meaning 20 minutes everyday, three times a week. Only about 22 percent of people do sustained physical activities, which consist of a scheduled routine five times a week, 30 minutes each day.
But what makes exercising work?
Exercise allows the body to burn up calories that we get from the food that we eat everyday. These calories are converted to energy, which we need for our daily work. If we exercise, we burn up more calories that people who do not exercise burn in each day through metabolism. Exercise also aids in the improvement of the circulatory system, speeding up the transfer of nutrients to other parts of the body. It also speeds up the functions of the different organs in the body.
One of the most effective forms of exercise is strength training as this works off the muscles, which are better able to remove blood sugars and calories. Working off the muscles does not necessarily mean that you have to go to the gym or buy work-out equipment. Anything that your body does, cleaning the house, sweeping the yard, walking the dog is more than enough exercise in one day.
This is perhaps the reason why Americans have come to perceive exercise as some sort of “work” that they have to do instead of a leisure activity that they can enjoy. Americans must understand that exercise is something that they can do even without the gym equipment the fitness instructors. They can even do it in their own backyard.
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