Obesity is common in the United States. Meanwhile, fad diets and questionable weight loss methods are proliferating. The basic principles of weight loss are quite simple, however. Although it is possible to lose a lot of weight without exercising, it is easier to do so with a regular exercise regimen.
Caloric Balance
The basic principle of weight loss is simple--you gain weight when you take in more calories than you burn, and you lose weight when you burn more calories than you take in. Some people concentrate on minimizing the number of calories they take in, while others focus on maximizing their calorie expenditure. Combining both approaches is probably the most effective long-term approach for most people.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercises are exercises like jogging or playing tennis, that increase your heart and respiration rates and thereby exercise your heart and increase your lung capacity. The American Heart Association recommends that you engage in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at moderate intensity most of the days of the week. If you exercise more than the recommended minimums, you will lose more weight. Consult your doctor, however, before beginning a strenuous exercise program.
Intensity
Moderate intensity exercise is exercise that causes your heart to beat at 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Your approximate maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age, as long as you are in reasonably good health. Moderate intensity exercises include brisk walking, casual biking and light snow shoveling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High intensity exercise includes jogging, competitive sports, cross-country skiing and jumping rope.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercises train and strengthen muscles, but typically do not stress your heart or significantly increase your respiration rates. Weightlifting, for example, is not necessarily an aerobic exercise--you may or may not lose your breath, depending on how quickly you work. Weightlifting, however, can help you to lose weight indirectly, says the Weight Control Information Network. This is because it builds muscle, and muscle burns more calories, per pound, than fat. In addition, you may find your body looking leaner even if you don't lose weight, if your body replaces lost fat with an equal weight of muscle tissue.
Warning
In order to lose 1 lb. within a given length of time, you must burn 3,500 more calories more than you take in. Since jogging at 5 mph burns about 600 calories per hour if you weight 154 lbs., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you would need to jog for more than four hours to lose a pound. The more you weigh, the more calories you will burn per hour. Nevertheless, if you jog for an hour, feel hungry as a result, and stop for a pizza that you otherwise wouldn't have eaten, your exercise session may have left you with a net calorie gain. You must carefully monitor your caloric intake to make sure that you don't eat more as a result of exercising--otherwise you might find yourself fitter but no thinner even after weeks of intense exercise.
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