Many people who start an exercise regimen without changing their dietary habits with the goal of losing weight may be disappointed to discover that the effects are usually minimal.
Exercise alone doesn’t cause lasting weight loss.
That’s not to say that there isn’t a specific type of exercise that helps support long-term weight loss. (Read on to find out which type!)
Don’t Make Weight Loss Your Main Goal
If you exercise for weight loss and don’t see the scales dropping like you’d like to, you’re more likely to give up.
However, if you continue to focus on the non-appearance-related benefits of exercise, you’ll be more motivated to continue moving your body.
When you exercise purely for weight loss, it can lead to low self-esteem, poorer body image, depressive symptoms, and it can also demotivate you and cause a negative relationship with exercise.
Other Benefits of Exercise
Exercise has so many incredible benefits that go far beyond weight loss. These include reduced stress, increased energy, improved sleep, improved brain function, improved self-esteem, improved blood pressure, and reduced risk of depression.
Beyond that, exercise has been credited with a reduction in the risk of developing multiple life-limiting diseases such as dementia, heart disease, osteoporosis, and even some cancers.
The Best Exercise For Long-Term Weight Control
Resistance training has shown to be the most effective when it comes to long-term weight control. This is because muscle size plays a major role in determining how many calories our body burns at rest. Increasing muscle size through resistance training increases the amount of calories we burn at rest, thereby increasing or sustaining fat loss over time.
Combining resistance training with a healthy diet will only further increase the loss of excess body fat – and may also provide other positive health benefits.
Overall a healthy balanced diet plus resistance training (that incorporates progressive overload) is the most effective combination for long-term weight loss.
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