Is Your Waistline Not Getting Smaller No Matter How Hard You Work Out?

Exercise May NOT Speed Up Metabolism (but it’s still good for you)

 

Wonder why your waistline isn’t getting smaller, no matter how hard you work out?

The truth is…

Exercise alone doesn’t keep you thin. Studies conducted by the International Association for the Study of Obesity show that after starting an exercise regime, people experience little if any weight loss as a result.

To explore this idea further, anthropologists traveled to Tanzania to conduct a study on the Hadza tribe, a group of hunter-gatherers.

Using the latest in field study equipment, the anthropologists fitted the willing Hadza members with GPS units. The scientists could then track the total distances walked as the tribe searched for food. The volunteers were also asked to drink “doubly labeled” water. In this liquid, tracers replace the normal hydrogen and oxygen molecules found in typical water. The scientists can later determine total energy expenditure and metabolic rate by studying the tracers when they later appear in the urine.

The experiment lasted a total of 11 days. In that time, the anthropologists calculated typical daily physical activity, energy expenditure and resting metabolic rates of the tribe. They later compared these results with those of the average Westerner.

As expected, the anthropologists found that the hunter-gatherers were considerably more physically active than the typical American. But what was interesting was that they weren’t burning more calories. The metabolic rates for both groups remained about the same.

The conclusion? Given a typical western diet, a hunter-gatherer would also struggle with weight. Exercise alone won’t keep the pounds off. And because almost all the people of the Hadza tribe were thin, the scientists determined it was their diet, not their amount of exercise, that keeps them slim.

Does this mean you should quit exercising?

No way! Exercise has a whole list of health benefits, which can indirectly influence your weight:

1. Exercise Helps Mood – Exercise releases chemicals in the brain, which lowers stress and keeps you calm. Since stress often causes weight gain, lowering the amount of stress you experience can help shrink your waistline.
2. Exercise Gives You Energy – Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your muscles to keep your cardiovascular system running smoothly. Exercise also increases your endurance and strength and keeps your body fit.
3. Exercise Helps You Sleep – Exercise helps you fall and stay asleep. If you’re familiar with the Gabriel Method, you know how important proper sleep is to regulating weight – most often, the less you sleep, the heavier you are. Try to avoid working out right before bed, as you’ll be too stimulated to fall asleep right away.

Which is More Important: Diet or Exercise?
While exercise is essential for overall health, diet remains priority. As the study in Tanzania demonstrates, exercise alone won’t keep your weight where it needs to be.

The average Western diet which is full of unhealthy fat, sugar and carbs negatively affects your weight and overall health. No amount of exercise can offset the damage done by poor food choices, therefore skipping your exercise routine every once and awhile will affect you less than continually indulging in junk food.

The Perfect Combo
So, while diet may have a more immediate effect on your health and waistline, adding exercise into your weekly routine will keep you stress-free, well-rested and happy – three key factors in achieving your ideal weight!

For more information go to: The Gabriel Method

REFERENCES
(1) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22681398
(2) www.well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/?ref=health
(3) www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
(4) www.cisionwire.com/the-investor-relations-group/r/diet-more-important-than-exercise-for-optimal-health–experts-say,c9226805

Finding the Best Exercise for Weight Loss

Finding the best exercise for weight loss can be tough if you are a beginner. Certainly, you have to do a lot of research when you want to start on a weight loss program. Effective fat burning and weight loss process involves a lot of passion and determination that you should put on as it is a very lengthy process. Alongside effective exercise plans, you also need to have proper diet plans to achieve the best results.  Workouts and diets are connected to each other that ensure proper weight loss where you should have a certain goal that you want to achieve at a specific period of time.

However, as a beginner you should start slow and from the basics. The first thing is to understand what type of exercises suits you the most with the amount of stamina and energy you possess. If you like walking, then start off with walking for 45-60 minutes a day. Walk and get involved in physical activities whenever you see the opportunity. For example, take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to the grocery store instead of taking the car and so on.

After few days, you should start doing cardio exercises when you have developed good adaptation to regular physical movements. You can do cardio exercises in many forms like jogging at a park or with the treadmill alongside cycling and skipping or perhaps aerobic exercises. Cardio exercises of about thirty to forty minutes are ideal here depending on your stamina and how much intensity you can put on in the exercise. In the process, you should slowly develop and increase both the time spent and the intensity of your exercise. The main aim here is to move out of your comfort zones as soon as your body starts adapting to the regular exercise routines.

It is important to constantly change your exercise routine as if the body get accustomed to the regular exercises, you will see lesser results. Moreover, making creative changes to your workout routines will also help you to stay motivated in the weight loss program avoiding the boredom that is involved in doing the same exercises again and again. Your exercise routines therefore should consist of several sets of push-ups, chin-ups, bench dips, crunches, leg raises, side bends, squats, jumping jacks, planks, lunges and so on.

Make exercise plans by scheduling them on which day you will be doing what exercises. Make sure you do proper stretching and warm ups before starting your regular exercises as it helps your muscle joints to get flexible and help you with the exercises conveniently with less risks of injuries. Involve exercises of the different body parts separately in your routine to hit the different areas of your body individually which would help you to develop proper body shape.

You can also hit the gym and start lifting light weights. This is another effective way of burning fat, building muscle and developing a great body shape with small waist and broader shoulders.
A well-organized workout and diet plan with its proper utilization would help you not only to get a great body shape but also make you healthy both mentally and physically. The whole process will change your life completely allowing you stay stress and disease free all the time with full of confidence and a better active lifestyle. 

Source: I feel light