Losing weight is much easier. Keeping it off is the harder part. Fad diets, intensive exercise, cutting calories, all these contribute to immediate weight loss when done consistently. However, your body is a mechanism on its own. Sometimes, it doesn’t understand what you’re doing. The more you want to lose those excess fats, the more your body will try to store every bit of fat it can hold on to.
This is because the cells in your body are wired for survival since time immemorial. As your body starts to sense it is losing fats at a tremendous pace, it will shift to survival mode and works hard toward hoarding fats. Regardless of the weight loss plan you implement, your body will continue to resist the changes that are taking place.
If you’re obese, weight cycling might be a common occurrence. You may lose weight but regain it over time. This is what makes weight loss a bit complicated. In the real sense, it takes a good combination of the right nutrition, portion sizes, and exercise to lasting weight loss.
For now, we will focus on the type of exercises that you should be doing consistently to lose weight and maintain it without feeling bored in the process. These are simple exercises. But the key ingredient is consistency. Do them often, for a month, a year. Do them every day of your life until they no longer serve as a means to lose weight but as part of a healthy lifestyle, you can’t live without.
I. Aerobics exercises
Aerobics or cardio exercises are the best exercises for starters. Aerobics help stimulate your heart rate and breathing for a sustained exercise session. This exercise enables oxygenated blood to flow from the heart throughout the body. The best aerobic exercises for beginners are walking, hiking, running, dancing, and swimming.
Walking
Walking is so simple you can do it around your home if you have a huge backyard, around the block or the park. When it comes to walking, the opportunities are limitless. You can also walk your way to work if the distance is reasonable. To add more fun, you can have your dog as your walking buddy.
With walking, all you need to have is a good and comfortable pair of sneakers. Start at a slow pace and when you’re already comfortable with it after a few days or weeks, you can begin brisk walking. Walking at a much faster pace not only helps manage your weight but also helps strengthen your heart as well as your bones and muscles.
Hiking
If you love the outdoors, hiking comes easy to you. Power walking uphill helps you burn more calories and increase your metabolism, which is necessary for effective weight loss. A 10 to 15-minute walk uphill and another 10 to 15-minute walk downhill are enough to give you a decent weight loss workout.
But of course, you have to be mindful of the terrain to prevent foot injuries. Aside from shedding extra pounds, a morning hike can give you a good glimpse of the breathtaking sunrise and a dose of vitamin D too.
Running
Running is a weight-bearing exercise, making it the best exercise for weight loss. Even if you’ve already lost weight, you don’t have to stop running because it’s also the best exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Running helps you build strong bones and muscles. It’s also a good exercise for the heart to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Dancing
Dancing is a cardio exercise fit for obese people who love fun and socialization. This form of exercise slows down your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, burns fat, and helps maintain a healthy weight.
If you don’t love the outdoors, you can dance your way to a healthy weight. Aside from these benefits, dancing has also been found to increase life span. Older people who dance regularly were found to be less likely to die from all causes. Dancing enables most of your muscles to move, making it the perfect weight loss regimen for you. Weight loss does not only work in burning fats but in building muscles too.
Swimming
For obese people who love water, swimming can be a good weight loss exercise. And this is not a woo woo kind of thing. Splashing is a serious fat burner according to experts as this exercise helps tone and slim your whole body. What makes swimming extra special from the rest of the cardio exercises is that the water can create resistance and this forces you to use your muscles more.
Swimming is a full-body workout that engages your core and tones both your lower and upper body. The different strokes also work your arms, shoulders, chest, back, abs, and quads. Because this exercise uses more muscles, you’re burning more calories in the process.
From the above aerobic exercises, choose what works best for you and start from there. But for best results, try to incorporate all these exercises into your weight loss plan. Doing more routines not only prevents boredom but also enables all your body muscles to be working, providing you with the best shape. In the end, you will not only lose weight but look great as well.
II. Strength training
If your goal is to build muscles while losing weight, then you should try strength training. Strength or weight training uses fats as fuel, making it one of the best alternatives for weight loss. This exercise helps tone your arms, legs, and body and makes you stronger while reducing your waistline.
Another good thing with strength training is that you don’t have to be a gym member to build muscles. You can exercise at home using your body weight. But if you feel working out in the gym with lots of buddies can help you stay consistent, the better.
III. Yoga
Yoga is one example of strength training. This exercise works to strengthen your body and makes you flexible. And the benefits of yoga go beyond the physical. Yoga strengthens your mind and body connection because of the flow and stability you feel for each pose. This ancient practice, especially the yoga asanas, helps get rid of stubborn fats, which make it an effective tool for long term weight loss.
Despite the complexity revolving around weight loss, shedding those extra pounds is very much doable. All you need is to start no matter how small. Don’t focus too much on the result but the journey because weight loss is not about the number on the scale, it’s about a healthy lifestyle that you can achieve through the valleys and plateaus in the process.
