The benefits of exercise are well-documented, but one of the most common questions people ask is whether exercise can help them lose weight faster. The answer is yes, but it is important to understand how exercise affects weight loss.
The purpose of this post is to answer the question, “Does exercise help you lose weight faster?” We’ll do that by explaining the benefits of exercising when dieting and how regular physical activity can help you drop pounds faster.
The key to losing weight is always the same, burning more calories than you consume. There’s three ways to get your self into a calorie deficit:
- Simply reduce the amount of calories you consume each day until you reach your desired weight.
- Continue consumming the same amount of calories and exercise more until you reach the point of a calorie deficit.
- Reduce calorie consumption while adding regular exercise to your dieting regime. This is by far the best way to lose weight.
Does Exercise Help You Lose Weight Faster?
So, you can now see that either cutting down on calories or using exercise to burn more calories than you eat will cause a calorie deficit.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the options above, and see which one will produce the fastest results:
- One option is to drastically cut back on what you eat to the point of starvation, or a “starvation diet to lose weight.” This is dangerous to health and life both short term and long term and sets you up for eating disorder addictions.
- Another choice is to continue eating the items that contributed to your weight gain and start working out. The issue with this is that most people would need to engage in an extremely rigorous exercise regimen that last for hours each day to burn off the calories consumed.
- You will undoubtedly lose weight more quickly if you reduce your calorie intake and work out for 30 to 60 minutes on most days of the week. Your body will start utilising fat reserves as fuel as a result, and you’ll quickly discover many more advantages to consistent exercise.
5 Ways Exercise Helps You Lose Weight Faster
The more you can change the ratio of calories consumed to calories used, the faster you’ll reach your weight loss goals. And exercise is the way to turn up the volume.
1. Exercise Burns Calories
When you are dieting for weight loss, exercise is one of the most important things you can do to speed up the process. Here’s why:
When you work out, your body burns calories to fuel your muscles. In addition, regular exercise can also help to raise your metabolism, which means that your body will continue to burn calories even after you’ve finished working out.
If you’re wondering how much exercise to lose weight, there’s no real answer to that. It’s generally considered that by reducing your calories by diet or exercise by 500 calories a day, you could lose about a pound a day.
2. Exercise Tones Your Body
It’s possible, and likely, that when you lose weight without exercise you will lose fat in various places of your body. However, this oftens leads to having sagging skin which doesn’t benefit your appearance.
Toning your body means that you will lose excess fat around your body, and reduce rat around muscles that hide definition and shape.
See also: Toning your body
Cardio exercises like running and swimming help to burn calories and promote weight loss, while strength-training exercises like lifting weights help to build muscle mass and tone your body.
By including both types of exercises in your routine, you can lose weight while also achieving the toned look you desire.
3. Exercise Speeds Up Metabolism
Metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. When you’re metabolic rate is low, your body body tends to store more food as fat than it uses for energy.
On the other hand, when you can increase your metabolsim, your body uses more food for energy. This can result in using up all your latest meal intake, and causing your body to resort to using stored fat for energy.
Exercise speeds up the metabolism process, causing more calories to be used long after your workout has ended, turning you into a fat-burning machine.
4. Exercise Increases Muscle Mass to Improve Metabolism
Muscle mass is often associated with physical strength and fitness, but it also plays an important role in metabolism. In fact, muscle tissue is one of the body’s most metabolically active tissues, meaning that it burns more calories than other tissues, even when at rest.
The more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolism.
See also: Increasing Muscle Mass
Muscle cells are more efficient than fat cells at using calories for energy, so increasing muscle mass can help boost your overall metabolism. And, as you get older, you naturally lose muscle mass, so maintaining a healthy level of muscle mass is essential for keeping your metabolism up.
5. Exercise Curbs Your Appetite
Exercise helps to reduce your appetite, which can lead to eating fewer calories and the unhealthy carbs you crave. These effects combine to create a powerful tool for weight loss.
When you think about appetite, you might not automatically think of exercise. However, there is a strong link between the two. Numerous studies have shown that exercise can lead to a reduced appetite, which can cause you to eat less and automatically cut calories.
But how does this happen?
- One theory is that exercise increases levels of certain hormones, such as leptin and peptide YY, which are known to suppress appetite.
- Strenuous exercise can cause temporary changes in gut hormones that also help to reduce hunger.
Whatever the mechanism, the result is clear: regular exercise can help to control weight by reducing appetite.
The importance of creating a calorie deficit
For anyone trying to lose weight, creating a calorie deficit is essential. This means consuming fewer calories than your body burns in a day. Creating a calorie deficit forces your body to start burning stored fat for energy, leading to weight loss.
The bigger the calorie deficit, the faster the weight loss. However, it’s important to create a deficit that is sustainable over the long term.
If the deficit is too large, it can lead to unhealthy levels of weight loss, fatigue, and other negative side effects.
For most people, a deficit of 500–1000 calories per day is a good starting point. By making small changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can easily create a calorie deficit and start losing weight quickly.
The impact of exercise on weight loss over time
Exercise is often touted as a key ingredient in any weight loss plan. And while it is certainly true that exercise can help to speed up calories burned and promote faster weight loss, the impact of exercise on weight loss is often overstated.
In reality, the role of exercise in weight loss is more complicated than simply burning calories. In order to lose weight, individuals need to create a calorie deficit, meaning they must burn more calories than they consume.
For some people, this can be accomplished through diet alone. However, exercise can play an important role in weight loss by helping to increase metabolism and reduce appetite for fast weight loss.
Additionally, exercise can help to build muscle, which helps to burn more calories even at rest.
6 Tips for Losing Weight Faster
1. Count calories to create a calorie deficit
By keeping track of the number of calories you eat each day, you can make sure that you are consuming fewer calories than your body needs.
There are a number of ways to count calories. You can use a food diary or an app on your phone. You can also look up the calories in foods online.
Once you know how many calories you need to consume each day, you can make sure that you are eating less than that.
2. Exercise regularly
One of the most important aspects of faster weight loss is exercising regularly. Exercise helps to burn calories and boost your metabolism, making it easier to lose weight. In addition, regular exercise can help to reduce stress and improve your overall health, both of which can contribute to weight loss.
3. Eat healthy foods
There are a lot of fad diets and quick fixes out there when it comes to losing weight. However, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to make sustainable changes to your diet. That means eating foods that are healthy and filling, so you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy junk food. Here are some healthy foods that can help you speed up weight loss:
- Whole grains: Whole grains are high in fiber, which helps to keep you feeling full longer. Choose whole-grain breads, pasta, and cereals over their refined counterparts.
- Lean proteins: Protein helps to build muscle, which in turn burns calories more efficiently. Choose lean proteins such as grilled chicken or fish, tofu, legumes, and eggs.
- Healthy fats: Contrary to popular belief, not all fat is bad for you. Healthy fats such as avocados and olive oil can help you lose weight. The key is to choose healthy fats in moderation.
- Fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re also low in calories and high in fiber, making them ideal for weight loss. Aim for at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day.
4. Drink plenty of water
By keeping yourself hydrated, you can actually speed up your metabolism and burn more calories. When your body is properly hydrated, all of its systems—including the metabolism—function more efficiently.
As a result, you’ll burn more calories throughout the day, even when you’re not exercising. So if you’re looking to drop a few pounds, make sure to drink plenty of water each day.
5. Avoid processed foods
One important change you can make is to avoid processed foods. These foods are usually high in calories, unhealthy fats, and added sugar, all of which can sabotage your weight loss efforts.
In addition, processed foods are often low in fiber and nutrients, making them unhealthier overall.
By avoiding processed foods, you can help to jumpstart your weight loss and improve your overall health.
Instead, focus on consuming whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains. These foods will help to fill you up without adding extra calories to your diet. Plus, they’re packed with the nutrients your body needs to function at its best.
6. Avoid sugary drink
One of the worst things you can do if you’re trying to lose weight is to drink sugary beverages such as soda, juice, or sweetened coffee or tea. These drinks are high in calories and and useless carbs, which can contribute to weight gain.
Conclusion
No doubt, we all want to lose weight faster. But, get real, your body didn’t accumulate all that fat overnight, and it’s going to take a while to get it off.
All health information indicates that 1-2 pounds a week is the way to lose it and maintain or even improve your health. However, without an exercise program to help with calorie burn, it can seem like weight loss isn’t happening at all.
Add exercise to your daily routine while eating healthy and ditching unhealthy foods and you will quickly see that exercise does help you lose weight faster.