Exercise to Prevent Weight Gain
Exercise helps prevent weight gain. This topic is so important. Most people have a difficult time fitting exercise into their lifestyle. Many people also don’t enjoy exercise. If you are concerned about your weight exercise needs to be on your radar. If it is difficult to find the time start small. Can you get in a few minutes here and there during the week? What if you really don’t enjoy exercise? There has to be some activity you enjoy. Have fun trying new things. Join a group or some friends that can participate with you to make the experience more fun!
People act as if exercise is purely a cosmetic, elective activity. That it is not really necessary for good health. The fact is that exercise is something that we all have to do consistently. I will explain to you why.
Just like on the page titled, You Must Eat, exercise is vital to keeping your metabolism going. Have you ever wondered why it is harder to keep your weight down as we get older? Did you know that after age 35 we start losing muscle at a rate of 5% every ten years! Do you see the connection? Let me explain a bit more…
Let’s look at an example of a woman who doesn’t exercise. When she is 35 she is 5’5” and weighs 135 lbs. She has an average body fat percentage of 25%. This means that she has about 34 pounds of fat in her body. She feels pretty good at this point. When she is 45 she will have lost 5% of her muscle which has turned into fat. She is now 30% fat without doing anything. In order to keep her weight the same she will have to eat 150-450 fewer calories a day to maintain her weight. Most people are not aware of this. They continue to eat the same and therefore gain weight over those ten years and wonder why.
Muscle is what burns calories. You need to keep your calorie burners going. The less muscle you have the less you can eat and your metabolism will continue to go down. This will continue to spiral. There is no way around it.
Building muscle is what will keep you in shape and feeling young and strong!