Can You Actually Lose Weight With Exercise?

Are you wondering if you should add workouts to your busy schedule or to just skip dessert?  
 
Well... here’s the scoop on the unsung benefit of exercise for weight loss
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Exercise turns you into a lean, mean fat burning machine

Exercise, especially resistance training, makes your body want healthier foods. It makes dietary changes more tolerable and sets you up for significant weight loss that can be maintained over time. 

In addition, when your muscles have been worked, consumed calories go towards helping them recover instead of being stored as fat.
 
The idea is to focus on exercise first and ultimately it will be easier to make better food choices. It's not that you can eat crap and exercise it off. Sorry about that… 
 
BUT
 
Your body will develop more gorgeous toned muscles and lose fat. So there’s that!
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It’s not about the calories burned during a workout!

Cue my husband “Are you a personal trainer writing an article to put people off exercise?” 
 
Nah. But let’s consider this-

“You can easily eat hundreds of calories in minutes, but depending on the activity, it can take hours or more to burn these calories". Noom

Or more specifically - “A single slice of pizza, for example, could undo the benefit of an hour's workout. So could a cafe mocha or an ice cream cone.” Vox

Do you feel justified in the extra calories? I don’t know about you but if I don’t make a conscious effort to think about whether I NEED the calories there’s no stopping me!​​​
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Exercise can reduce overeating

Good food habits are essential to weight loss but giving up the comfort of overeating is hard.  Corrine Crabtree says it best. She says we eat or drink, particularly in the evening because we want to stop thinking about our day.

Exercise can help you stop thinking about your day and give up the habit of turning to food for comfort.

​Overeating and being active don’t usually go hand in hand.  As long as you’re not using food as a reward, you probably don’t want to undo all your hard work by overeating afterwards - or during.
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Exercise helps you keep weight off PERMANENTLY!

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver
 
I’m guessing, like me, you don't want to backtrack when you've worked hard on something. Maintaining weight loss is easier than losing it so let’s get there and stay there. 
 
Showing up for yourself daily by working out keeps weight loss front of mind for long term success regardless of whether that’s walking or hard workouts.

“Ninety percent of people who lose significant weight and keep it off exercise at least one hour a day, on average.” David Prologo 

General activities like walking, gardening and being active count too towards that hour.
 
​As an awesome bonus, you may have the positive influence of other people at the gym or your trainer which, if you’re exercising daily may influence your food choices. Win win.

Summary

1. Exercise turns you into a lean, mean fat burning machine!
2. It’s not about the calories burned during a workout!
3. Exercise can reduce overeating
4. Exercise helps you keep weight off PERMANENTLY!

Are you tempted to start working out consistently and don’t know where to start? 
Check out 12 weeks to fit & Fabulous my signature program for women. Online live 1:1 personal training.