The 6 M’s of Exercise! (Health and Weight Benefits of Exercise)

In my last blog, I spoke about diet versus exercise for weight loss. While exercise all by itself does not work well for weight loss (we need to eat healthfully too), exercise IS critical for health, and healthy weight loss.  How?  Let us count the ways:  

1. Metabolism: exercise helps keep our basal metabolism strong while we lose weight.  If we cut calories, and do not exercise, our metabolism SLOWS down. Exercise can help compensate for this.

2. Muscles: exercise helps make sure we lose FAT, not excess MUSCLE while we lose weight.  If we don’t exercise while cut calories, our body burns up too much muscle for fuel.  Exercise help us burn the fat, save the muscle.

3. Mood: exercise helps keep us in a good mood, and serotonin levels high.  Some studies suggest exercise can work as well as prescription antidepressants for our mood!

4. Motivation: exercise  helps us feel good - physically and mentally.  And when we feel good, we feel more motivated to make healthy food choices, too!  Exercise helps us feel energized, healthy, strong, and capable!  

5. Maintenance:  94% of people who successfully lose weight - and KEEP it off - report that they exercise almost every day (these are the ‘super-losers’ who are part of the National Weight Control Registry study.) So while exercise  is helpful during weight loss, it is  CRITICAL to help us MAINTAIN weight loss.  Might as well get started with exercise during the weight loss process, since we’re going to need it later to keep weight off!

6. Medical:  there are numerous medical benefits that come with regular exercise - cardiac health, control of blood sugar/insulin resistance, improvement in blood pressure, bone health, lower cancer rate, improved mental health and mood, anxiety control, improved sleep quality, and more.  Exercise can help us ‘shrink belly fat’ - which helps control metabolic syndrome and inflammation that arises from excess belly fat stores!

Remember to start gradually, and build up gradually.  Of course check with your primary care provider (or us at a visit) to help you choose the best exercise for you, given your health, preferences, and lifestyle.  

http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-and-depression-report-excerpt

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2012/niddk-15.htm

http://www.nwcr.ws/research/published%20research.htm

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/05/11/new-guidelines-for-using-exercise-as-an-antidepressant/54728.html

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414357

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/12/using-weights-to-target-belly-fat/

http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2777731/