Can you lose weight by exercising?

Can you lose weight by exercising?

Can you lose weight by exercising? Nowadays, maintaining a ‘fitness’ body is a boom that has revolutionized young people and even some older adults. If you want to know how to lose weight by exercising in a week, or longer-term, here I will explain how to do it:

To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. When you want to lose weight by exercising, it is essential to increase caloric expenditure. If you want to burn more calories without risk to your health, it is advisable to do aerobic and resistance exercises 3 to 5 times a week. (Reliable sources 1*2*3*)

We all want to keep in shape for aesthetic and health purposes.

On many occasions, we do not measure the amount of food we eat, to the point that we become overweight, which is, of course, harmful to our health. There are many ways to lose weight, some easier than others, but none are impossible.

There are ways to lose weight faster by exercising and losing weight without physical activity is not necessarily recommended. To lose weight with exercises you have to know which are the best for you and then combine them with a good diet. This article will explain what activities you should do and combine them with to lose weight faster.

Table of Contents

Why do we lose more weight when we exercise?

When we exercise, our body consumes more calories. If we burn calories and do not replenish them, our body enters a negative energy balance. When we enter this state, our body uses its energy reserves (fat) and loses weight faster.

Also, when we exercise, it has been proven that we lose weight because we transform solid compounds into gaseous ones.

By solid and gaseous compounds, we mean that we transform sugars and fats into carbon dioxide and water vapor. When we exercise, we need more energy, and we lose more weight because we work more with our bodies.

How to lose weight faster by exercising

combine diet with exercise

Combine exercise with a healthy diet

To lose weight faster, you must combine exercise with a good diet. Slimming by doing sports and eating healthy is always the best option.

If you are looking to lose weight faster by exercising, it is best to combine it with a good diet. A lot of physical activity achieves nothing if you eat everything that passes in front of your eyes.

The reality is that eating and exercising are the perfect complements to lose weight faster; they go hand in hand. I will provide the best tips on what to eat when exercising.

Find your "fat-burning zone"

The body's "fat-burning zone" is achieved when we perform physical activity, and we reach around 60% of our maximum heart rate. For fitness enthusiasts, this is the most optimal way to burn fat without losing muscle mass.

Eat a healthy breakfast

To lose weight fast by exercising, eat a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is the meal you cannot overlook. It is the most important meal of the whole day, especially if you want to lose weight. Eating carbohydrates and healthy foods before starting the day or training allows you to last longer and train with greater intensity.

If you do your exercise routine in the morning, it is best to get up much earlier to have a good healthy breakfast. If you don't start your day with a good meal, you may feel sluggish, and you may even suffer from dizziness while doing physical activity. But if you plan to exercise an hour after breakfast, it is best to eat something light with a good energy drink.

The best options for breakfast are:

  • Cereal or whole wheat bread, which provides your body with a lot of fiber.
  • Drink a glass of low-fat milk or eat plain yogurt.
  • Eating bananas will provide you with a high potassium content; it is the best option to keep you strong. The best companion of all will be a big glass of green juice.

Important tip: If you are one of those who usually drink a lot of coffee, a cup will be fine in the morning, but do not drink too much. When you are going to try something new for breakfast, be careful with your stomach.

Be careful with portions

To lose weight, you must measure the size of the portion you eat. The size of your meals plays a significant role in losing weight. The best thing to do is to be careful not to overdo it when serving your food. Be cautious with the amount you eat before training.

  • If you are going to have a big meal: If for some reason you have an event or that day you want to eat something big, it is best to eat 4 hours before training. By doing this, you will avoid any indigestion at the time of training.
  • If you are going to eat a small meal: When you measure the portions that you are going to eat, you will not have any indigestion problems. However, it is best to avoid eating and immediately go to training. Wait at least one hour before going to train.

Important tip: You should be very aware of this: By overeating, you can get indigestion while training, and you may feel sluggish. Eating a tiny amount of food may make you feel like you don't have enough energy to train.

Before exercising, have a healthy snack

Most people are in the habit of eating a snack to give them enough energy before working out. You should try and see what makes you feel better during your workout. By eating a snack before training, you will feel that you have more energy, and you can avoid the feeling of hunger that it gives you.

To lose weight, you must consume something that gives you more energy before training. This way, you will perform a more intense exercise routine, as you will have more power.

Some healthy pre-workout snack options:

  • A banana before training will provide you with a large amount of potassium which is vital when training.
  • An energy bar will give you fiber and the energy to sustain a more intense workout.
  • Green juices. A glass of green juices will give you a sense of well-being and strength to help you in your training.
  • Natural yogurt is one of the best options due to the vitamins and minerals it contains.

Important tip: When you exercise to lose weight, a snack is essential. Especially if you are going to train hours after eating, you will need energy.

To lose weight, eat healthy after exercise 

When we want to lose weight fast by exercising, we cannot stop eating healthily. Not eating healthily and frequently will slow down our metabolism. When we have a slow metabolism, it isn't easy to lose weight, even with physical activity.

When we exercise, our muscles lose strength and energy. They need to replenish, partly through food. We need to eat foods containing carbohydrates and lots of protein after exercising. This step is crucial; your body needs it to lose weight.

The best foods after training: 

  • Banana. You can eat a banana, and you will feel that you will recover a lot of strength.
  • Natural yogurt. You can eat a natural yogurt; it will lift your spirits and make you forget about tiredness.
  • Oatmeal. You can eat an oatmeal cookie that has a high fiber content.
  • Fruit. You can eat a piece of fruit such as orange that will provide you with many vitamins.

If you want to lose weight, it is vital to drink plenty of water

Water is vital for our life and our body, and much more so if we seek to lose weight faster when training. We need fluids before, during, and after physical activity. Dehydration is never good and can sometimes cause serious health problems.

Experts recommend that we consume at least 2 liters of water per day to stay hydrated. If you practice any physical activity to lose weight, you should drink much more water.

When you do any physical activity, you should consume at least 2 glasses of water per hour. If the area you are in is scorching, it is advisable to drink a glass of water every 15 minutes. When there is a lot of heat, fluid loss is usually much more significant.

After physical activity, you should consume at least 2 glasses of water. This way, your body will stay hydrated and will be able to recover a little of the fluid loss. Water is the best and most efficient and healthy way to recover the liquids lost in training; water is life; it is vital.

Important tip: If you are doing an exercise routine that exceeds 60 minutes in length to lose weight, it is best to include a sports drink that provides energy. Sports drinks contain carbohydrates, and these will prevent you from fainting or feeling sick during your workout. But the best way to lose weight is never to stop drinking water during and after your workout.

What is the best way to lose weight by exercising at home?

To facilitate weight loss by exercising at home, we must first moderate our caloric intake and replace soft drinks, juices, and sugary drinks with water. To lose weight at home quickly, you should do a series of aerobic or resistance exercises for 30 minutes at least 3 days a week.

I have also provided you with a full-body workout routine to do at home in this video from buildyourbody.org.

The best exercises to lose weight faster

Exercising is the best way to lose weight faster, when you combine it with food, as we explained above. But if you want to know how to lose weight by exercising, it is also essential to take into account which exercises make us lose weight as quickly as possible, here I will tell you.

To lose weight, do weight training exercises

When you are looking to lose weight quickly by exercising, muscle-building exercises are among the best options for you. Muscle-building activities are designed to increase your muscle mass, give you endurance, strength, and incredible flexibility.

They are unique for weight loss because the more significant the muscle mass, the greater the ability to burn calories at rest. In this way, it significantly promotes weight loss with incredible speed. But you have to combine the workouts with a good diet, as healthy as possible.

Important tip: The calories you can lose in a muscle workout are between 300 to 600 calories per hour. But muscle-building exercises are specially designed to gain muscle mass, so you continue to lose calories up to 48 hours after finishing.

You have to keep in mind that the number of calories you can lose depends on several factors that influence you at times. The factors that influence the number of calories are; the intensity of the exercises, your physical condition, your weight, and even genetics.

To lose weight fast, practice Zumba

To lose weight by exercising at home, effortlessly dancing is one of the best techniques. It also helps to tone and strengthen muscles. Dancing is something that also allows us to relax. It frees us from daily stress, increases flexibility and weight loss.

Perhaps this might be surprising, but dancing is one of the best therapies for losing weight in a fun way. It is also one of the best ways to improve your posture.

The number of calories you can burn dancing varies with the time you practice and the style of dance you choose. But when you decide to do Zumba, you can lose 350 to 700 calories per hour on average. The best thing to do is intensely practice Zumba. It will be fun and practical to lose weight fast.

To lose weight fast, do CrossFit

CrossFit is exceptionally effective to lose weight, but they are still very intense exercises and require great cardiorespiratory capacity. It is a very intense exercise because it is performed in a very high-intensity circuit and minimal rest time between workouts.

This is one of the most effective exercises to acquire endurance, strength, muscle mass, and weight loss; it requires a good diet. CrossFit uses jump ropes, boxes, weights, rubber bands, and other things and must be undertaken outdoors.

The number of calories you can burn practicing CrossFit is between 700 and 800 calories per hour of exercise. But it is not an exercise that you can do alone. It must be done with a professional, as the exercises require a lot of intensity and can be dangerous if you are not an expert. If you don't perform the exercises correctly, you may get a bad injury.

To lose weight fast, practice swimming

To lose weight quickly by exercising, one of the best things you can do is to take up swimming. It is one of the most complete exercises since it promotes the physical condition you want to achieve.

Swimming is also an exceptional exercise because it strengthens your muscles and promotes caloric expenditure significantly. You may not see this exercise as challenging to lose weight, but it is, in swimming, you maintain a constant effort.

The number of calories you can burn by swimming varies between 350 and 500 calories by keeping the rhythm for at least 40 minutes.

Conclusion

In summary, to lose weight fast by exercising you must take into account a good healthy diet. Exercises make us lose weight, but all effort will be null if we do not control our meals.

In addition to food, you must consider which are the most effective exercises for the loss of calories. Combine good exercise and a good diet.

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