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Weight Loss Exercise

What Calories Really Are and How Understanding Them Will Help You Lose Weight


If you’ve been on a diet before, then you’ve probably heard people talk about calories. So what are calories? Why are they so important in weight loss? Without knowing these crucial terms, it’s hard to understand the science behind weight loss.

So What Are Calories?

When defined in nutrition, calories are a measure of the energy in food. The more calories a particular food has, the more energy it contains. Energy is good, right? In the right amounts, it is. Unfortunately, many of us eat too many calories on a daily basis, and that’s what makes us overweight in the first place. Excess calories in the body turn into fat, and that’s why you should only eat as much as your body needs.

How Calories Fit Into Weight Loss

So, what role do calories play in weight loss? It’s simple. When you take in or consume fewer calories than your body needs, you lose weight. When you eat too many calories compared to what your body needs, then you gain weight. Your body needs calories to expend as it carries out its basic functions (circulation, excretion, digestion, and so on) as well as to allow you to carry out other activities throughout your day. This is also where exercise fits in; since exercising helps your body burn more calories, it helps you lose weight as well.

In simple words, to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit so that your body burns fat to make up for the missing calories. This means you either need to eat less, exercise more, or do a combination of the two (the third option works best).

As a general rule, a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day usually helps you lose one pound of weight in a week. If the calorie deficit is 1000 calories, you lose two pounds. Medical professionals recommend maintaining weight loss in the healthy zone, which is around one to two pounds a week, and not more. However, if you are very obese, you may find yourself losing much more weight in the initial few weeks after you lower your calorie count.

Hopefully this post has helped you understand the link between calories and weight loss better. In a nutshell, maintain a caloric deficit, and you will lose weight. How do you maintain this deficit? It’s easy; make healthier low-calorie food choices, cut out unnecessary empty calories from sugary items and alcohol, start being more active throughout the day, and maintain a positive attitude and strong willpower. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it!


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6 Reasons Why You’re Gaining Weight While Working Out


Are you concerned because you’re working out and gaining weight at the same time? Many people work out and diet in order to lose excess pounds, but sometimes they gain weight instead. Before you start to panic or have doubts about your weight-loss program, let’s find out why you’re putting on more pounds.

Why Weight Gain While Working Out

Muscle is Denser Than Fat – If your workout routine is focused on strength training, you may have noticed an improvement in your muscle tone. Strength training builds stronger and bigger muscles, and this is actually a good thing for both men and women. Men want to have big biceps and washboard abs. Toned muscles on women flatter the figure.

When your body starts to replace fat with muscles from working out, you may experience a weight gain. Working out and gaining weight can happen because muscle tissues are denser than fat. As you develop more muscles, you may get heavier but your body will become sleek and trim. You may gain weight, but your figure will look great.

6 Reasons Why Youre Gaining Weight While Working Out

Can Workouts Lead to Weight Gain?

Too Many Calories – Just because you are working out is no excuse to eat more than you should. Sometimes, people consume more calories without knowing it. If your goal is to lose weight, dieting and exercise should go together. In order to lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn in a day.

Eat foods that are rich in nutrients, including lean protein. Proteins provide amino acids required by the body to build muscles. You want to lose fat and gain muscles, because muscle tissues burn more calories compared to fat. Building more muscles will increase your metabolism, allowing you to burn extra calories even while resting.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
burn the fat feed the muscle is an exercise and diet program. My review of Burn the Fat shows that it is designed and written by an ex-pro natural bodybuilder but is a system that was written for regular guys and gals. Teaching you how to workout and eat to lose weight.

Not Enough Cardio Exercise – If you want to lose weight faster, incorporate cardio or aerobic exercise into your workout program. You need at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise for your body to get into a “fat-burning” stage. Perform cardio workouts at least three days a week to get the best results.

Not Getting Enough Sleep – You may be surprised to learn that lack of sleep can be the reason why you’re gaining weight while working out. Lack of sleep puts extra stress on your body, and it will cope by storing fat more efficiently. Besides, your body won’t be able to function properly if it’s not well rested. You’ll have low energy levels and will not feel like working out.

Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night. Keep in mind that regular exercise will help you sleep better.

Medical Condition – If you’re working out regularly but still gaining weight, you may want to consult a doctor and check for medical conditions that could be causing the weight gain. Hypothyroidism is a common medical condition that affects the metabolism and causes weight gain.

Medications – Certain medications and prescription drugs can make you gain weight, including steroids, diabetes medications, antidepressants, high blood pressure medications, and oral contraceptives. Some drugs cause fluid retention, which appears on the scales as weight gain.

When it comes to weight gain as a side effect of medication, you’ll have to balance the increase in weight against the health benefits offered by the medication.


6 Reasons Why You’re Gaining Weight While Working Out, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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Fruit Will Make you Beautiful

beautiful fruit

1. Eat small meals: If you currently eat two or there large meals, split them into five or six smaller meals. Eat each of these small meals every two or three hours.

2.  Exercise religiously: It takes hard work to gain anything in life and exercising is the hard work you need to do to lose weight. There is no second opinion about it; if you don’t exercise regularly, you wouldn’t achieve permanent weight loss, no matter what diet program you follow.

Exercises not only help you burn fat during the workout session but also after it. Besides, exercises build muscles for you, and muscles help you burn fat even when you are resting. As such, you don’t need to depend on your diet program alone for weight loss. Even if you quit dieting at some point of time, you still won’t gain weight if you eat right and workout regularly.

3. Eat right fats and carbs: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the right and wrong carbs and fats. The wrong fats and carbs are contained in junk and fast foods; these “bad” carbs and “bad” fats are what made you overweight. Instead of consuming them, try to have natural fruits and vegetables for carbs, and fishes and olive oil for fats. You would be happier that way.

4. Increase your protein intake: When you increase your protein intake and combine that with regular workout, you would build more lean muscles than you would without protein. Keep in mind that muscles not only strengthen your body but also help you burn fat; therefore, you should make sure to build lean muscles on a continuous basis.

5. Increase your water intake: To ensure that your muscular tissues don’t become weak at any point of time through dehydration, you should drink adequate water daily. An adult needs to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day. Water keeps you hydrated, strengthens your muscle tissues, detoxifies your body and also boosts your metabolic rate. A boost in metabolic rate would in turn accelerate the weight loss process for you.

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