You’ve heard the ratios: weight loss is 75% diet, it’s 80% diet, it’s 90% DIET!!
Well if diet is so important to weight loss, why exercise at all?!
It turns out that while exercise alone will not help you lose much weight, it does play a critical role in the process.
A Case for Exercise and Weight Loss
In this article, I am going to share three critical reasons why if you are going to try to lose weight, you MUST include exercise...and specifically, strength training.
Here are the top three reasons you must work out if you want to lose weight:
1) Exercise is a Keystone Habit
What is a keystone habit, you ask? It is a habit that positively affects everything else you do.
That is why, when you start an exercise routine, you find it easier to make other good health choices as well. You find that you:
- Eat better
- Get more sleep
- Drink less
- Have fewer cravings
All of this because your exercise routine promotes other positive choices in a way that just dieting does not!
2) Avoid Muscle Loss
Look at any research study on weight loss and exercise and you will find that when you compare dieting alone to diet and exercise, people lose the same amount of weight.
But not all weight loss is created equal! If you diet only, you will lose both fat and muscle. When you diet and exercise, you lose almost all fat.
Why does this matter?
Because when you lose muscle, you kill your metabolism, which means that you are almost guaranteed to gain all your weight back. Your muscle is your metabolism, so the more you have, the easier it is to maintain your weight loss.
3) Boost Your Mind
There is nothing more powerful when it comes to your health and fitness than your mind. Your mind will control whether you stick with your plan.
Your mind will control your mood, your will power, your energy, and your attention.
When your mind is running well, life gets a lot easier.
You don’t need me to tell you how challenging diet changes can be, so our Los Gatos personal trainers want to do everything possible to support your mind.
What Exercise Should You Do?
If you are thinking about starting a weight loss plan, it would be smart to FIRST start on an exercise program. But what exactly should you do?
Everyone is different, which is why we have a 28-Day Kickstart Program where you will get the exact exercises you need to start losing weight and feeling better.
In this program you will get:
- Full fitness and goals assessment
- Personalized fitness coaching to teach you the exact exercises you need to safely and effectively move better and build stamina
- A simple meal plan to help you decrease inflammation
- 1-on-1 success coaching to help guide you as you work to change your diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits
You can lose weight, get stronger, and have more energy, you just need a program that can show you what is right for you.
Click here to learn more and take back control of your health and fitness today!
Mint Condition Fitness empowers people to take control of their fitness and fully enjoy the life they have built.