Getting and staying fit requires that you follow a sensible diet, but there’s more to it than that. Most people who try to lose weight or get in better condition by solely focusing on their diet usually fail. There’s a simple reason for this. In order to be healthy, your body needs a certain amount of exercise. If you want to lose weight, you must burn up more calories than you take in. That’s why diet alone is not going to enable you to reach your fitness goals.
Why Dieting Isn’t Enough
While some diets are better than others, none can provide you with perfect health on their own. Some diets simply have you restrict your intake of calories, sometimes to an extreme degree. These type of diets are not healthy, and they cause people to lose weight in the short run only to gain it back later. Since depriving the body of vital nutrients also depletes you of energy, it’s also difficult to exercise much on such a diet. This is another reason why many fad diets are not healthy.
Even diets that focus on good nutrition are only going to do so much for you if you don’t also exercise. Movement, or the lack of movement, has a powerful effect on your metabolism. No matter what you eat, if you are living a sedentary lifestyle, your metabolism is going to be sluggish. This makes it almost impossible to lose weight or maintain an optimal level of fitness.
The Benefits of Exercise
Exercise accomplishes many important things. The most obvious benefit is that it burns calories. Some exercises do this more efficiently than others, but any type of movement is preferable to none. Aerobic type exercise such as running, bicycling or even walking briskly will burn up calories. Strength training is also important, because it keeps the joints and muscles strong and also stimulates the metabolism to speed up.
Exercise also gives you more energy, whether it’s for work, leisure activities or to exercise more! That’s why people who are sedentary get caught in a downward spiral. They lack energy because they don’t exercise enough, so they are not motivated to start. The only solution is to push yourself to move around more. Then you’ll find that you gradually feel more energetic and inspired to do even more. A program such as Fit4Zip is a good place to start if you want to improve your overall level of fitness.
Diet and Exercise: Both Are Essential
Although we’ve focused here on the importance of exercise, your diet is also important. They are both crucial, as your diet provides you with the fuel your body uses when exercising. If you leave out either side of the equation, your results will be disappointing.