Essential Exercise Habits for Weight Loss

If you’re serious about losing weight, it is important that you not only make changes to your diet; but that you also introduce exercise into your routine. Often, weight gain is the result of eating too much junk food and not doing enough exercise to burn off the excess calories. Thus to redress the balance, you have to start consuming fewer calories whilst making an effort to burn more. The most important thing is to make exercise a regular part of your life. There is no point joining a gym, using it once or twice, then quitting, as this will not be of any benefit to you.

Consequently, you need to find some activities you can do if not every day, then at least every other day. Walking is always a good activity to start with, especially if you’re not very fit, because it is a low-impact activity and doesn’t require any training or specialist equipment. You obviously want to feel comfortable whilst walking, so it may be worth investing in a decent pair of trainers and choosing loose-fitting clothes, but other than that, walking should be an activity that you can easily slot into your day. Of course, the further you walk and the faster you move; the more calories you burn.

There are plenty of other activities you can do. You may enjoy swimming or prefer a team sport, such as football, rugby, netball or cricket. You might decide to take up running, as this is a very effective way to burn calories. It is a lot more intensive than walking and can put quite a lot of strain on your joints, which can be tough if you’re carrying extra weight, but it may be worth persevering with. If running takes too much out of you, then cycling is a good option, as it is another low-impact sport and is also an effective way to burn calories.

It may be advisable to start lifting weights, as well, since building muscle in place of fat can help to increase your metabolism and thus burn more calories. Whatever sport or activity you decide to do, the main thing is that you do it regularly, preferably five days a week, for at least half an hour, and so that you’re left feeling out of breath. Clearly, if you want to improve your fitness, you have to push yourself, which may not be comfortable at first, but will ultimately yield more results than simply plodding along. When your main aim is losing weight, though, you should be careful not to consume more calories because you feel you deserve an extra ‘treat’ for working so hard, as this may undermine your weight-loss success.