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When people decide to lose weight the first thing they tend to think of is their diet, without giving much consideration to how much exercise they do. Losing weight, however, requires you to burn more calories than you consume, and exercise provides you with the perfect opportunity to work off some of that extra energy and to increase the amount of weight you lose. It is easy to make excuses about why you are can't exercise regularly, from claiming that it costs too much to join a gym, even though you don't need a gym to exercise, to simply not being able to find the time. If you are serious about weight loss and keeping the weight, off, though, exercise has to become a regular feature of your lifestyle.

For a start, exercise can help you to prevent muscle loss, which is always a danger when you embark on a weight-loss programme. Muscle actually helps you to burn calories even when you are not engaged in activity, and so is vital for helping you to lose weight. Maintaining or gaining muscle will help you to improve how efficiently your body processes the calories you consume. Exercise can also help you to become more toned, which can often be an important consideration if you have a lot of weight to lose and want to avoid loose-hanging skin once the weight has gone.

Exercise is an excellent way to increase the number of calories you burn. Strength training will help you to build muscle which improves how efficiently calories are burned, whilst cardiovascular exercise helps you to burn calories quicker as your heart rate increase and your body has to work harder. Exercise can also help steady your blood sugar levels, which can prevent you from developing diabetes, whilst also helping to control your appetite.

When you're attempting to lose weight you might feel pessimistic and just want to give up, making it more likely that you reach for comfort food, thus undermining all your efforts. However, exercise can help boost your self-esteem and make you feel more positive, as exercise stimulates the brain to release endorphins, a chemical which makes you feel good. If you generally feel upbeat you are more likely to stick to your weight-loss programme and to remain motivated, thus helping you to achieve your weight-loss goals. Plus, if you do occasionally have a slip-up, where you eat something you shouldn't, at least you know that a bit of extra exercise will make you feel better.

Exercise is therefore essential for successful weight loss and maintenance, because it helps you to learn how to more effectively balance the number of calories you consume against the calories you burn, enabling you to stay in control of your weight.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Wilkinson.
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