Exercise to Lose Fat, Not Weight

!±8± Exercise to Lose Fat, Not Weight

Did you just say "huh?" when you read that headline?

Most people equate losing fat and losing weight. My goal is to change that common misperception.

The truth is, you can lose weight and still not lose much fat. Weight loss can come from water loss (at the beginning of a diet, for instance), followed by loss of lean muscle and other vital body tissue, as well as--or instead of--loss of fat.

If your body is not what you would like it to be and you want to lose weight, your aim should be to burn fat without losing muscle. And beyond simply preventing muscle loss, you would do well to concentrate on growing more muscle.

There are three basic ways to lose weight:

1. Dieting (with no change in physical activity level).

2. Exercise (with no change in eating habits).

3. Dieting and exercise.

Naturally, No. 3 is the best choice if your goal is to reach your target weight in the quickest amount of time. But even exercising by itself is better than dieting by itself, if your goal is to lose weight through taking off fat.

Dieting without exercise can certainly take off pounds, but it can leave you weaker and make it harder to lose weight or keep it off in the future.

Exercising--done correctly and consistently--burns off the right pounds: fat pounds. Exercise can also maintain or increase your muscle strength and size even as you lose weight.

In the context of a weight-loss program, exercising provides these benefits:

1. It burns calories.

2. It increases the body's metabolic rate so you burn calories faster.

3. It keeps the body from going into starvation mode.

4. It builds muscle mass

5. It helps suppress appetite (in some people).

6. It elevates mood and combats depression, one of the causes of overeating for many people.

7. It reduces chronic tiredness, thereby reducing the temptation to "veg out" in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream or potato chips.

Suffice it to say that regular exercise is good for your body and your mind.

So, what kind of exercise should you do to lose fat? The answer is: almost any kind that you enjoy enough to keep at it, and that can be incorporated easily into your lifestyle.

Personally, I like to see people take up a regular cardiovascular exercise. This can be as strenuous as a 30-minute workout on a treadmill every day, or as "light" as a daily walk around the neighborhood.

If you choose the latter, don't merely stroll! Walk briskly every step of the way. Take a pedometer or drive your neighborhood's streets in advance and jot down how far it is from one point (such as an intersection) to another. Plan a route that will have you walking at least a mile. Gradually increase the distance as you build up endurance, and if you have the time.

Studies show that you can lose more calories by performing moderate exercise daily than by intensively exercising three times a week. Keep that in mind if your long-term goal includes steady but gradual weight loss.

Besides cardiovascular exercise, I highly recommend working out with weights two or three times a week. If you have access to a gym, great! If not, you can purchase inexpensive dumbbells at places such as WalMart and Target, and these will serve you well until you are able to step up to barbells and weight machines. There are many good books available that illustrate dumbbell workout routines you can do at home.

Weight training will prevent your body from losing muscle as you lose fat. The key is to not overdo it, if weight loss is your goal. You don't want to gain so much muscle that you end up putting on pounds! A good rule of thumb is to do two sets of each exercise in your weight workout routine, not four, five or more as a hard-core bodybuilder might.