How many calories you consume has a big impact on fat loss or gain. If you eat more calories than your body is able to burn will result in weight gain. The best thing about exercise is that the more you do the less you have to worry about calories and you are able to stimulate fat loss.

By burning 500 calories a day you can lose 1 pound of body fat in one week. By combining exercise with a reduction in calories you are able to make it easier to attain a calorie deficit. By riding a stationary bike for a half hour and reducing 200 calories from your daily caloric intake you can create the 500 calorie deficit without having to starve yourself or exercise yourself to exhaustion.

Another advantage of exercise is that after you exercise your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is elevated for several hours. Weight training has a longer effect on your RMR than aerobic exercise. Recent studies have shown that the raise in the resting metabolic rate from weight training can last up to 36 hours depending on the intensity of the weight training session.

Exercise helps preserve muscle tissue, which when trying to lose weight is a dieters advantage. Lean body mass (muscle) burns more calories per day than fat tissue. This is why building muscle mass is important when trying to lose weight. The more muscle that you build the more calories you will burn resulting in greater fat loss.

Calories burned during weight training plus a raised resting metabolic rate and increasing lean muscle mass resulting in a higher metabolism can help you shed pounds faster than just dieting and doing aerobic exercise alone.

Losing weight does not necessarily mean that you have to cut calories. Strength training at high levels of intensity and eating quality nutritious low fat foods will take care of the extra fat you are carrying on your body. Research has shown that people who begin a weight training program need 15 percent more calories to just maintain their current body weight.

Aerobic Exercise Benefits

Aerobic activity is any exercise that helps you use oxygen more efficiently. It gets your heart pumping faster, makes you sweat and quickens your breath. When you raise your heart rate your body begins to burn stored carbohydrates an fatty acids for energy.

Aerobic activity is very effective in controlling your weight and is an ideal way to burn calories. Research shows that a regular aerobic routine, combined with healthy eating habits is the best way to maintain a healthy body.

Did you know that the heart is a muscle? That means you can make your heart stronger and more efficient. A regular aerobic routine will give your heart the kind of workout that will help it do a better job of delivering oxygen to all your organs.

Exercise doesn't have to be expensive to be effective. Any activity that raises the heart rate and is maintained for at least 20 minutes is considered aerobic. It can be different types of exercise like jogging, biking, rowing, swimming, dancing or even brisk walking.

Aerobic exercise helps burn fat calories, increases your metabolism and if done on an empty stomach forces your body to recruit energy from stored fat cells. When you have finished your workout routine your metabolism will remain elevated for about 30 minutes. That means you continue to burn calories after you finish exercising.

If your goal is to control your weight, exercise your heart, strengthen your muscles or just feel healthier, a low-fat diet and regular aerobic activity will help you achieve and maintain a well toned and fit body. When you exercise the brain releases endorphins that put you in a better mood and make you feel happy.

It is important to combine exercise and a healthy diet so that boredom or the feeling of being deprived does not ruin your weight loss goals. Also to remember not to eat the same exact things day after day and do the same exercises all the time. After 12 weeks the body learns to adjust to things, and with exercise this means that the body gets more efficient at not using so much energy to be able to do the activity. Change your exercise routine every 2 months so as to keep your body guessing and burning fat. A change in routine can be as much as doing the exercises in different orders, changing intensity, adding new exercises, or just doing a whole new routine.

By Gary Gresham & Josie Anderson

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