Exercise vs. Diet (Page 1 of 2)

The only way to safely and permanently remove fat is to burn it off by exercising and reducing calories, particularly fat calories. Keeping fat off requires that you balance caloric intake (food) with caloric expenditure (exercise). The following facts will help you make gradual changes in your behavior.

• Exercise is necessary to create and maintain lean muscle tissue. This is important because lean muscle tissue burns 95% of fat calories. Thus, the more lean muscle tissue you have, the higher your metabolic rate. If you lose lean muscle tissue by dieting without exercise, you will have to cut calories forever. It's better to have a balance of exercise and diet than to spend the rest of your life on low-caloric fad diets.
• Exercise neutralizes the effects of dieting on your metabolism. The body's metabolism is designed for survival. When you eat less food your body will slow down accordingly. Exercising counteracts this tendency and keeps your metabolism active.
• Exercise is an appetite suppresser. Most people believe that the more you exercise, the more you will want to eat. They conclude that exercising will cause them to gain weight. The opposite is true. Although active people eat more and weigh less than fat people, they do not eat more than they burn off. The result is that they maintain a stable weight.

Continue to Page 2>>