August 21st, 2010 
RJS KOCHHAR 
EXERCISE AND DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Getting fit and losing weight really do go hand in hand. Studies have shown that both people who diet but do not exercise and people who exercise but do not diet find it much harder to lose weight.
If you only diet, and by that we mean you reduce the total calories that you consume each day, your metabolism slows down. This means that you burn less of the energy that you are consuming so that your energy deficit is reduced back to zero.
If you only exercise you become more efficient at exercising which means that you burn less energy. Also, many people who just exercise to help lose weight underestimate the amount that they are eating and consume far more calories than they need to sustain themselves. Extra calories turn to fat.
WHAT ARE THE BEST TYPES OF EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
There are many ways to exercise but few people make the best use of their time. Gentle cardio, such as slow swimming or jogging, is actually the least efficient way to lose weight. To lose weight with exercise you need to be able to achieve two goals:
- You need to burn as many calories as possible while you are exercising
- You have to increase the resting metabolic rate so that you carry on burning calories after you exercise
To achieve both of these you need to perform two main types of exercise:
- Intensive cardio exercises
- Weight training
ITENSIVE CARDIO EXERCISES:
Intensive cardio training is simply performing an exercise to maximum intensity. You cannot sustain intensity for long, so you need to perform “interval training” which involves working out at a very high intensity (maximum effort) and then taking time to recover before repeating the intense interval. These forms of training raise your heart rate and help you burn excess fat and make you fitter. Increasing your fitness is vital as this means you can work harder and this burns more energy.
WEIGHT TRAINING:
Weight training is how we build muscle. Although you do build some muscle while doing cardio workouts, it is not as effective as performing specific exercises to aid muscle growth. You do not need expensive weight training equipment to workout as bodyweight training is a very effective way to build muscle.
WHY BUILD MUSCLE?
Well, muscle has a high energy demand, so not only do you burn fat while exercising, you burn fat while your muscles are recovering and your muscles require more energy which increases your resting metabolic rate. You burn more energy when you sleep!
WHAT IS THE BEST DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
Diet is an essential part of losing weight. A healthy weight loss diet must provide you with fewer calories than you need to sustain yourself each day, that is to say it must create an energy deficit. A diet must also provide you with all the nutrition you need for healthy growth and development. Exercise and muscle growth is very demanding and you need to have a well balanced diet to ensure that your body recovers quickly.
The reason most people put on weight is because they are consuming too much energy in the form of sugar (mostly refined carbohydrates). So to lose weight the best diet is a low sugar diet and the easiest way to maintain a low sugar diet is to follow a low GI diet. The Glycemic Index provides an indication of the amount of sugar in a particular type of food. The main diet rules therefore are:
- Reduce refined sugar
- Reduce refined carbohydrates
- Cut out junk food, candy, soda, chocolate, alcohol
- Eat more healthy proteins
- Eat low GI foods which also have high fiber content
- Drink plenty of water
Apart from low sugar intake you should also strive to reduce saturated fat. It is important to eat plenty of lean proteins and healthy fat as these are both required for muscle growth and physical development.
It is worth reminding you that no diet system or weight loss plan can guarantee results. A weight loss plan is only as good as the person that is doing it. If you are serious about losing weight it is vital that you do not cheat and follow a plan carefully. If takes a very small amount of food to stop weight loss.
LET’S DISCUSS THE BEST WAY TO MAINTAIN HEALTHY WEIGHT:
How do you keep yourself healthy and fit and maintain a healthy weight? Here we have discussed the best way to shed excess weight and to have a healthy weight is to combine the right exercise with the right diet. Do you agree or you disagree? Both way do cite reasons in support of your comment and let us know how do you achieve the desired weight loss and maintain a healthy weight. Let’s debate!!
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The above post is written by Jon Wade who started training in martial arts in 1992 and then developed a keen interest in fitness and health. He writes for several fitness blogs providing advice on how to lose weight.
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Everyone is concerned about his or her health and to really make it worthwhile one needs to have a good dieting plan in place. I used to be quite obese but after rigorously following a dieting plan, I am feeling more energetic and slim. So, yes, diet plan is really helpful if one wants to reduce weight.
Proper and balanced diet along with regular exercises is very essential for maintaining a healthy weight.
What a great infromation I was looking for, thank you.
You are welcome, my pleasure.