Exercise Helps to Maintain Muscle Mass

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By making smarter food choices, like opting for low-calorie, high-volume foods, you can shed those extra pounds. But, by taking full control of your weight, you can find the right balance of food intake, exercise and sleep to keep the weight off. Your body needs a balance of nutrients to stay healthy and energized. Instead of focusing on calories, aim for a varied diet. Additionally, calorie counting can sometimes lead to avoiding nutritious foods because of their calorie content.

Contrary to popular belief, low-fat diets are not necessarily the key to a healthy weight and good health. Despite a decrease in the percentage of calories from fat in people's diets over the past 30 years, obesity rates have skyrocketed. While conventional wisdom advises consuming fewer calories and increasing exercise for weight control, emerging research suggests that certain foods and eating patterns make it easier to regulate calorie intake and overeating.

Track Food and Exercise for Weight Control

While a scale may be the most accessible tool, it only shows your overall weight and not the composition of that weight. Tracking food and exercise lets you make more informed decisions. Benefits of tracking food and exercise habits include:

1) Increased self-awareness – Research suggests that people who weigh themselves every day have more success with improved self-awareness compared to those who weigh in weekly.

2) Monitor your habits – Studies suggest monitoring your habits makes it easier to repeat new behaviors and stay motivated to stick to your goals for living healthy without conceding to cravings.

3) Improve accountability – Improve accountability by keeping track of how you are progressing on your journey towards healthy living. Progress keeps you motivated when pursuing your goals.

4) Reflect on changes needed – Journaling can be especially useful for those who struggle with weight management. Reflecting on changes that are routinely can be a key to achieving long-term success.

Exercise Boosts Your Daily Calorie Burn

Calories are the fuel for your body's energy needs, and they come from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. However, if you consume more calories than your body needs, they will be stored as fat. Both aerobics and strength training help burn body fat. It's recommended that adults try to be active every day and aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise. This can include activities like cycling, walking, or housework. In addition, you can slowly add strength training to retain muscle mass.

Exercise also helps you maintain and increase lean body mass, which boosts your daily calorie burn. The more muscle you have, the better your metabolism. To keep weight off, it's important to have a routine rather than going all out. Remember, calories are not the only factor in your health and well-being. Your body also needs vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Don't solely focus on calories as exercise has numerous benefits when combined with healthy eating.