Tips to fight weight with exercise

Losing a pound requires burning 3500 more calories than you consume. Any combination of eating less and being more physically active that adds up to 500 more calories used than eaten per day results in losing one pound per week. This article offers weight loss help on the physical activity side.

If at all possible, join a gym and work with a certified personal trainer. Your trainer will  help you determine the kinds of exercises that will most efficiently help you meet your weight loss goals.

Whether you join a gym or not, home exercise will help meet your weight loss goals. Many people love to walk, jog, run, ride a bicycle, or swim. Tennis, golf, or other sports offer other ways to exercise.

Lots of people buy exercise equipment like treadmills and stationary bicycles and then never really use it. The gym will have sturdier machines with more features, and also specialized weight machines that you could never get on your own.

On the other hand, you might want to purchase some smaller equipment such as a stability ball, BOSU®, resistance bands, or dumbbells--once you're sure you will actually use them. I have another Hub to help you select home equipment.

Exercise equipment at home is not strictly necessary. You can do lunges, squats, calisthenics, etc. without equipment. You can put sand in empty milk cartons to make your own weights.

In the absence of a certified personal trainer, or to keep working out on days you do not go to the gym, you might find some kind of workout video will help. Unfortunately, it is hard to tell the difference between the best and the worst. Find a web site where users rate various weight loss products. Chances are that products that a lot of other people like will be good for you and products others generally dislike will be of no help to you, either.

Weight loss exercises generally fall into one of two categories: aerobics (or cardio) and strength training (or weight training). Try to do some kind of aerobic exercises every day. Do not perform strength training exercises on the same muscle groups on consecutive days. In strength training, you actually tear muscle tissue. Your body needs a day off to repair it, making it a little stronger in the process.

Build physical activity into your daily life. Prefer stairs to elevators or escalators. Walk more than you have before. Perhaps be less efficient in house work or yard work. Making several trips up and down the stairs or out to the shed instead of just one burns more calories.

Some time before any formal or informal exercise activity, eat some food high in complex carbohydrates. That is, avoid white flour or white sugar. Whole grains or fruits will give you energy. Some time afterward, eat some food high in protein, which your body needs to repair worn out muscle tissue.

Choose a variety of activities and find a partner for as many of them as possible. What may seem drudgery and an unwelcome chore alone can become fun with a friend. Two people can motivate each other.

These tips are very general. You will need to consult your doctor, and if possible a physical therapist or certified personal trainer, in order to devise a workable plan for yourself. The best weight loss help comes from the best combination of information and motivation you can put together for yourself.