Fitness tips

                                                                     FITNESS TIPS                                                                                                    

After all, that's what weight loss experts recommend, right?

Not necessarily. Focus on healthy eating at the beginning of your diet, and then start exercising once you've adjusted to the calorie reduction.

How Much Do You Need to Exercise to Lose Weight?

Why Non-Exercise Activity Matters

While you should ease into exercise, you don't want to discount your usual daily activities, either. Instead of trying to change everything all at once, try easing into a weight loss plan one step at a time. Stay busy with NEAT, otherwise known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

NEAT is all the physical activity you do throughout the day that isn't vigorous enough to count as exercise. If you put all of your energy into following a healthy, calorie-controlled diet at the start of your weight loss program, you set yourself up for long-term success.

As you start to lose weight at a steady rate of about 1–2 pounds per week, the results will only motivate you to add the challenge of exercise in the weeks to come. Have you set a goal to lose weight? If so, you might be ready to start a diet and exercise program for weight loss. Taking a sustainable and methodical approach can yield weight loss results that last.

When Should You Start Exercising?

When you first start a diet, it's not always necessary to exercise at the very beginning, especially if you are cutting far more calories than you used to. Follow these tips to set up a smarter weight loss program that works for you. You can walk the dog, take the stairs to your office, carry groceries home from the store, or take a short walk during your coffee break to burn calories through non-exercise activity.

One easy way to measure NEAT is to count your daily steps with a pedometer or activity monitor. While you could try natural methods to boost your energy, you may find that you are still too tired to exercise.​

Focus all of your attention on the diet component instead. Then increase your goal to 15,000 or even 20,000 as you build endurance. Reducing calories can cause fatigue when you first change your diet. Start by trying to reach 10,000 steps per day. In some cases, starting a diet and exercise program at the same time can set you up for failure. While both diet and exercise matter when you want to lose weight, the nutrition aspect is crucial during the early stages. You'll find that when you change up your workouts, you also start to change your body. You might save another day for flexibility training to round out your schedule. If you usually lift weights or walk, learn how to do a circuit workout. While you want to try to do workouts that you enjoy, you might also need to step our of your comfort zone at times to shake things up. Try different styles of workouts to help you stay engaged.

If you like to run, give spinning a try. If you're into yoga, try Pilates. Variety is the spice of life—even when it comes to exercise. Instead, focus on different workouts throughout the week, such as aerobic exercise three days a week and strength training two days a week. If you start to feel like your workout routine is falling into a rut and you're not getting the weight loss results that you want, it's time to mix things up and try something else.

It's best to avoid doing the same workout day after day. Weight loss and fitness experts often recommend cardiovascular or aerobic exercise to burn calories. Just remember that you don't need to go to the weight room to build strength. Spinning is an aerobic workout, brisk walking can be an aerobic workout, and stair climbing machines provide an aerobic workout. But building muscle matters, too.

Strong muscles burn more calories throughout the day, which boosts your metabolism. In fact, some of the most effective strength training exercises use bodyweight only. Follow a balanced diet and establish a regular workout habit that you can stick to for life to stay active, healthy, and strong. By committing to an exercise program that you can gradually build on, you can slowly increase your exercise minutes each week to meet your goals.

Remember, exercise is important for weight loss, but it's also important for longevity and healthy aging.

If you stay active as you age, you'll stay fit and healthy, too. Your diet and nutrition should be the focus of your weight loss program in the early stages, but exercise matters more for long-term weight maintenance. Sure, your time on the treadmill may seem like a great time to catch up on the news and your favorite sitcom, but doing so might make your cardio session less effective. (Cue the groans!) According to a Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology study, fast-paced, motivational music that includes phrases like "push it," "I believe," and "work it" can help you move faster and subconsciously motivate you to keep at it, which will supercharge your weight loss progress.