Combine exercise with a healthy diet if you want a physically fit body. While such methods as diet pills and crash diets may seem tempting, try focusing on fitness training for healthy weight loss. If you're consistent, this method can help you lose weight and keep it off. Plan your workouts so they mesh well with your schedule. Design a fitness training plan you know you'll enjoy to increase your odds of success.
Benefits
Regular physical activity of any type can help you sleep better, improve your mood and boost your energy level, according to MayoClinic.com. It also can reduce your risk of such chronic diseases as osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes. Following a fitness plan will help you lose or maintain your weight. Physical activities will help you burn calories and create a healthier, trimmer body.
Considerations
A complete exercise plan for weight loss should include components of strength training, aerobic activity, and stretching or flexibility, according to ClevelandClinic.org. While strength training doesn't always burn many calories on its own, it does build muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than body fat does at a resting heart rate. To burn calories, try such exercises as basketball, jogging, rollerblading, high-impact aerobics, tennis or swimming. Such exercises burn more than 500 calories an hour for a 160-pound person, according to MayoClinic.com. Heavier people will naturally burn more calories by performing the same activities.
Diet
It's important to include a healthy, reduced-calorie diet as part of your fitness training plan. Generally, it's best to eat foods that are fresh and unprocessed, or minimally processed, because they contain the most nutrients and the fewest calories. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits while reducing the amount of meat in your diet. To round out your plan, include low-fat or non-fat dairy products, fish, beans, legumes, nuts and whole grains.
Guidelines
The American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM, sets out minimum guidelines to help healthy adults achieve physical fitness. The ACSM recommends doing at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 60 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. It also recommends including two weekly strength training sessions of eight to 10 exercises each. To stimulate weight loss and burn off extra calories and fat, you may need to exceed the guidelines.
Tips
Starting a fitness plan that's too intense or has too many changes can lead to burnout and a loss of motivation. For consistent results, choose a plan that starts out slowly and progresses gradually. People who lose weight at a rate of a pound or two a week may be more successful at keeping that weight off than people who lose weight more rapidly, according to CDC.gov.
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