Beginner's Fitness Programs

When people want to lose weight, the first thing they do is go on a diet; they reduce the intake calories, and after several agonizing weeks, voila! they reach their target weight. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there, — it’s really just the beginning. Immediately after people stop dieting, they gain all the weight back, and sometimes gain even more!

This weight gain is natural, since with the persistent hunger that comes with a lower-calorie diet, most people cannot ignore the physiological hunger signals, and they end up over-eating. Further, a restricted calorie intake lowers the body’s metabolism, and your body needs fewer calories to maintain basic function; so, your body ends up storing even more of those calories as fat. Worse, while losing weight, you lose both muscle tissue and body fat, but you gain mainly body fat when you regain weight by over-eating. The means that people can end up in worse shape than they were in before dieting!

So is there no hope for us to lose weight and stay in shape? Have no fear: there is still a way.

Researchers of The University of Colorado Denver found that if you work out while on a diet and after finishing the diet, your metabolism is “surprised” by the workout, and your body uses more body fat. According to their experiment using rats, they found that comparing rats who work out to “couch potato” rats, the rats who exercised:

• regained less weight after the dieting period
• maintained a lower body weight
• burned more body fat in the early part of the day, and burned carbohydrates later in the day
• accumulated fewer fat cells
• did not over-eat

The key is the level of carbohydrates in the blood stream. If you regularly work out, your body mainly uses body fat as an energy source during the day, and carbohydrates are available all day long. The existence of the carbohydrates in the body sends a signal to the brain saying that there is enough “food” in the body, so the brain sends back a signal saying that you do not need to eat any more. This way, you don’t feel hungry, and you don’t gain as much weight as you might otherwise have gained.

Therefore, the key to maintaining a healthy weight loss is to keep working out during and after dieting. Enjoy your workout!

Source: American Physiological Society (2009, September). Exercise Minimizes Weight Regain By Reducing Appetite And Burning Fat

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