Summer is right around the corner. As the weather gets warmer and clothes get lighter, many put on those clothes for the first time this season and realize that they may have gained a few pounds over the winter. Although this is not unusual, it is upsetting and most want to get this weight off-as soon as possible.
More people begin exercise programs to lose weight than to improve health, though. While improving health is a benefit of working out regularly, more people are interested in the vanity aspect than improving their health.
Here is the unfortunate reality, though. Exercise is the best way to maintain weight, but it is diet that is the best way to lose weight. Exercise is an important part of the weight-loss equation but, without dietary changes too, do not expect to lose a significant amount of weight through exercise alone. In order to achieve true and long lasting success, you have to address both diet and activity. You can out-eat any exercise program.
Think about yourself or your friends who are regular exercisers. Are they constantly shrinking in size? Most likely, the regular exercisers you know are the same size now as they have been for the majority of the time they have been working out. Considering the average American gains one to three pounds per year or 10-30 pounds over a decade, maintaining a weight over the course of that same decade is an admirable feat that takes work and dedication.
We all know that not everyone who exercises regularly is the ideal size. Several people who work out daily still want/need to lose 10 or 20 pounds. So why don't they lose it? What's the point of exercising? Because not gaining is losing.
Most people who exercise on a regular basis maintain their weight, even if it's not the perfect weight. Don't ever think that maintaining your weight is failing; it's winning in a big way. "Creeping obesity," or gaining those one to three pounds per year, is the biggest health problem in the U.S. today. If you can stop this from happening, you will add years to your life by avoiding the debilitating and fatal diseases associated with obesity.
Most people who work out do so in a moderate fashion-30-60 minutes of aerobic or strength training per workout. This moderate, regular exercise burns about the same amount of calories that we all use to burn just living our lives. As our society has become more advanced, the amount of daily physical work has dropped markedly. We drive instead of walk, use the elevator instead of the stairs, we don't chop wood for the fire or haul water. It has been estimated that in the year 1900, the average female burned the calories equivalent to walking between three to five miles per day, and the average male burned the calories equivalent to walking between four to seven miles per day, just getting through their daily tasks.
If working out on a regular, moderate basis is only getting us to where we were back in 1900 in regards to caloric expenditure, then we have to look elsewhere when it comes to losing significant amounts of weight. Exercising more is not the answer. Once you start exercising above and beyond moderate exercise, you will most likely increase the amount of food you eat. This is a natural response. Again, for proof of this, look to anyone that you know who has trained for a marathon or triathlon. Has he/she lost a significant amount of weight during their training? I bet the answer is "no." While some people do lose some weight at the beginning of their training, their weight usually returns to normal as they adapt to the new training mileage.
I wish I could tell you that you would lose lots and lots of weight just by beginning an exercise program, but I would be lying. You have to reduce your caloric intake consistently if you want to successfully lose and keep weight off. Think of exercise and diet as a team in the battle against obesity; you need them both to succeed. Good luck.