Why You Should Exercise to Lose Weight!

So far after reading this, you may be saying...

"Why should I even worry about exercising to lose weight when I can just eat less calories each day like John did and still lose weight just as easily?"

Well you don’t have to exercise to lose weight, but exercising smarter is one of the keys to maximizing your weight loss efforts. The main reason that exercise is so important to maximize weight loss is that smart exercise helps build and maintain the muscles in our bodies.

Now why is building and maintaining muscle so important when you’re trying to lose weight?

Well, just 1lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day compared to a pound of fat that burns less than 3 calories a day. Again, 1lb of muscle burns 50 calories a day, 24hours a day/ 7 days a week/ 365 days a year!

Think about it, 3500 calories are stored in a pound of fat & it would take a pound of muscle 70 days to burn off a pound of fat. That’s 5lbs of body fat a year that just 1lb of muscle would burn!

(70days x 1lb of muscle burning 50calories = 3500 calories or 1lb fat)

If you gained 5lbs of muscle you would burn 250extra calories a day or lose a pound of fat every 2 weeks.

(14days x 5lb of muscle burning 250calories = 3500 calories or 1lb fat)

Muscle fights FAT!!

Remember, muscle works around the clock burning fat even while you’re sleeping. Now would you rather be lazy & only cut calories to lose weight or would you prefer to be even lazier and lose weight in your sleep by building muscle?

If you go off a weight loss program where exercise was involved it’ll be harder to gain the weight back because you still have the muscle you gained by exercising, working around the clock, burning fat for you.

Anytime we add muscle to our bodies we automatically increase our metabolism. Your metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories to keep you functioning properly.

The higher your metabolism is the more weight you’ll lose at rest. A high metabolism also allows you to eat more without gaining any weight. The muscles in your body account for a large majority of your metabolism.

When you gain a pound of muscle your metabolism burns 50 more calories (1lb of muscle burns 50 calories) and when you lose muscle your metabolism decrease or slows down by 50 calories.

When people go on all of these crazy diets and lose a lot of muscle they only make it easier to gain back all of the weight they lost by slowing down their metabolism. Adding extra pounds of body fat by overeating does nothing to increase your metabolism and only makes you look fatter.

Gaining weight to lose weight

Don’t even worry about the fact that when you gain muscle that you’ll actually be gaining weight. Let’s say for example that you go on a 6-week weight loss program where you only exercise to lose weight. At the end of your 6-week weight loss program you lose 8lbs of ugly body fat and you gain 2lbs of muscle. Your total or net weight loss would be 6lbs.

8lbs of fat lost – 2lbs muscle gained = 6 total pounds lost)

There are 3reasons why you shouldn’t worry about the 2lbs of muscle you gained

You lost 6lbs. Hooray!

The 2lbs of muscle burns 100 extra calories a day meaning you’ll eventually lose back the 2lbs you gained in 70 days.

(70days x 2lb of muscle burning 100calories = 7000calories burned or 2lbs of fat)
The muscle you gain helps you look better.

The Fat will not come back!

With the 2lbs of muscle you gained after your 6 week weight loss program it’ll be harder for you to gain any weight (body fat) back you lost because you still have the muscle you gained by exercising, working around the clock burning fat for you.

This not only means that you have a better chance of maintaining your weight while you’re off a weight loss program but you’ll also lose weight while you’re off a weight loss program.

If you go off a weight loss program where no exercise is involved, you have no defense against eating extra calories (overeating) since you didn’t build any muscle to burn those extra calories and you’ll probably gain the weight back quicker!

Exercise makes you look better!

Now Read that 3rd reason again. You will look better if you gain muscle. Whenever you only cut calories to lose weight you can expect to see most of your results on a bathroom scale, which is a good thing, but when you exercise you’ll notice more of a physical change in your appearance.

People will complement you on things like how trim your waistline is and how much firmer your arms and legs look. Adding more muscle to our bodies gives us that slim and toned look that we all desire. Pound for pound muscle is more dense than fat and takes up way less space. When you put on 2lbs of muscle for example it’ll make you look 2-4lbs slimmer.

You’ll just love the way look after you start exercising smarter!

Every time you gain muscle you certainly will not lose any weight, but you will lose inches. This means all of your clothes will start to fit better. All you women can start wearing smaller dress sizes, and all of you guys may have to start wearing belts to keep your old pants on after the muscle you gained has trimmed your waistline.

Feel the AfterBurn!

Not only do you burn calories while you’re actually exercising, your body continues to burn even more calories for up to 4 hours after you finish exercising. This is another case were you can do absolutely nothing and burn calories!

Picture this-After you finish your 30-minute workout, while you’re drinking your water, and resting on your couch in front of the TV you’ll still be burning calories for up to 4 hours!

Exercise itself also raises your metabolism. The more intense your exercise is the longer your metabolism stays elevated. If you went for a brisk 45-minute walk you would burn calories during that activity and you may continue to burn calories for up to an hour after your brisk walk.

On the other hand if you were to do a 30-minute jog at a moderate pace your metabolism may stay elevated for at least 3-4 hours after you finish jogging.

Exercise Prevents Diseases

Lower risk of diabetes

Lower risk of heart attack
Lower risk of High blood pressure
Lower risk of cancer

Lowers Cholesterol
Reduces Stress
Prevents osteoporosis

Cutting calories is a good way to lose weight but you only burn the amount of calories you cut. When compared to exercising alone you:

Burn calories while you’re exercising

Burn calories for up to 4 hours after exercising
Every 1lb of muscle you gain will burn 50 calories
You’ll lose weight quicker

You’ll look better

Let us further illustrate the importance of muscle with the chart below that features 2 people of the same height, weight, but different amounts of muscle weight.

Person A: 5’9 180 lbs.		Person B: 5’9 180 lbs.
Water Weight	108 lbs.	Water Weight	108 lbs.
Muscle Weight	54 lbs.	Muscle Weight	27 lbs.
Fat Weight	18 lbs.	Fat Weight	45 lbs.

Keep in mind that both person A & B weigh exactly the same and are both the same heights. The only difference is the amounts of fat and muscle weight both have.

Since person A has more muscle and less fat than person B they:

Look much better physically

Have a much higher metabolism that allows them to eat much more without gaining weight
Will more than likely live a longer healthier life due to their low amount of body fat

Since person B has more body fat and less muscle than person A they:

Look flabby, fat, and unattractive

Have a slow metabolism making it easier for them to gain weight
Will more than likely live a shorter unhealthier life due to the associated health risk of having too much body fat

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