Sedentary lifestyles are the leading cause of weight gain and obesity. Spending the majority of the day in front of a computer or television or simply just staying idle anywhere makes losing weight almost impossible even when it’s your diet that takes responsibility for around 70% of your weight loss results. But if you’re not getting any physical activity dieting alone won’t help you lose weight.
1 – Your metabolism slows down when you lead a sedentary lifestyle. Eating six small meals, one every three hours will help boost your metabolism a bit but if you want to lose weight you have to get active. Physical activity is what speeds your metabolism up. A sedentary lifestyle slows it down.
2 – You are more likely to snack on comfort food if you spend most of your day on your butt. It’s much easier to reach for food to keep you busy or give you the feeling that you are doing something. But this is unconscious eating and you never know how much you’ve really consumed which will make losing weight very difficult.
3 – Your body isn’t burning calories or fat when you have a sedentary lifestyle. We do burn a certain amount of calories even when we’re sitting at our desk but it’s no where near enough to make a dent in your weight. It’s more likely to have the opposite affect because even though you’re not exercising and getting active you’re still eating and probably eating more than you ought to.
4 – You lose muscle tone without exercise. The more sedentary lifestyle you have the less muscles you are likely to posses. Muscles are important for fat burning. The more muscle you have the less fat you are likely to have and the easier it is to lose weight. A sedentary lifestyle will lead to muscle deterioration and make weight loss a lot more difficult than it has to be.
If you want to make weight loss easier you have to change your sedentary lifestyle to an active one. Instead of spending your free time sitting around with friends suggest going for a bike ride or a walk in the forest. Instead of watching another boring episode of some television show that you don’t even like why not put on a workout DVD and get some physical exercise. Stop surfing the Internet and take the pup for a walk instead. Get active to help you lose weight.