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How important is exercise in weight reduction?

Exercise will help you to lose weight because it burns calories. In addition to burning calories, exercise builds muscle, which burns more calories than fat and requires more calories to maintain.

Exercise has many benefits, including building and toning muscle, strengthening the cardiovascular system, and helping with relaxation (alleviates stress and promotes sleep). Aerobic exercise (jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, aerobics) increases your heart rate and helps burn calories. When losing weight, exercise will help you lose more body fat than muscle mass. Calorie reduction alone, without exercise, will result in both muscle and fat loss.

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How do I cut back on my calories to lose weight?

General guidelines suggest that to lose weight safely, lose 1/2 to 1 pound per week. One pound of fat has 3,500 calories. If you cut back by 500 calories per day, you can lose one pound of fat in one week. In addition to cutting calories, burn more calories each day with exercise. For example, by cutting back on 300 calories of food each day, and burning an extra 200 calories with aerobic exercise, you could expect to lose about a pound a week.

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How many calories do I need a day?

The following is one way to estimate your calorie needs for a day. Many ways of determining calorie needs exist, and individual needs vary. A registered dietitian can offer you a more individualised, accurate estimate.

 

Multiply your target weight by 10. This is an estimate of the calories you need for basic metabolic functions (enough energy for breathing, sleeping, etc.).

Add to the number just calculated one of the following activity factors. (Pick the range that fits your lifestyle on a day to day basis):

Sedentary: Add 300 (limited exercise if any; i.e. reading a book, watching TV, driving a car, shopping, and light walking).

 

Moderately Active: Add 500 (light activity; i.e. walking, fishing, golfing, pleasure cycling, dancing, calisthenics, and volleyball).

 

Extremely Active: Add 700 (extremely active; i.e. jogging, running, football, basketball, swimming, scuba, and cross country skiing).

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Why don't I lose weight when I reduce calories without exercise?

When you reduce calories without exercising, the body will lose fat as well as muscle. While restricting calories, you will lose weight. However, once you go back to a normal pattern of eating, the weight will often come back on with perhaps some additional weight. The reason the weight comes back on is because you may have lost muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat; therefore, when you go back to an increased level of calories, your body does not require them for energy. Therefore, excess calories are converted to fat.

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Will I eat more if I exercise?

Researchers have found that immediately following exercise, appetite actually decreases. Including exercise in your daily routine, may increase your food intake to some degree. However, the calories that you burn while exercising can compensate for the increased food intake.  Making healthy food choices is one way to counter-balance this.

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 Why do diets fail?

Often, one-third to two-thirds of weight lost, is gained back within one year, and almost all is regained within five years. Only five percent of people who go on a "diet" actually lose weight and keep the weight off. The best advice is to never go on a "diet," which implies that it is something you start and stop, or go on and go off. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to slowly change your eating and exercise habits.  Also, most diets do not work because they are not incorporated into a person's lifestyle. Often people lose weight on a fad diet. Once the weight is lost they usually return to their previous lifestyle and regain the weight.

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Why do some people regain more weight after a diet than others?

Often, diets are focused on quick weight loss rather than a gradual weight loss. A drastic reduction in calories to a low calorie diet (i.e. from 2,500 calories to 1,200 calories) without exercise, will contribute to a loss of a lot of muscle mass and some fat. Do not subtract more than a third of your calories to lose weight (this will result in loss of muscle). Losing weight, whether it is fat or muscle, will show a weight loss on the weighing-scale.

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What is a calorie?

A calorie is a unit used to express the heat or energy value of food. Calorie needs vary from person to person. Factors influencing your particular needs include: activity level, gender, body composition, health status, and metabolic rate.

 

Calories are obtained from three nutrients:

. Carbohydrates (four calories per gram). A few sources include breads, cereals, pasta, corn, potatoes, and fruits.
. Proteins (four calories per gram). Some sources include meat, nuts, and cheese.
. Fats (nine calories per gram). Sources include butter, salad dressing and bacon

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Why is it important to control calories?

When you consume more calories than your body needs, then you will gain weight. If calorie intake equals calories used, you will maintain your weight. If calorie intake is less than calories used, weight loss will occur.

 

Weight gain can lead to obesity. Obesity is a serious health concern that severely decreases the quality of life for many people. Moderate weight loss (10-15% of body weight) decreases health risks and medical problems in 90% of obese patients. Obesity is associated with an increased risk for:

. Cancer
. High cholesterol levels
. Coronary heart disease
. Hypertension
. Diabetes

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Eating Disorders

The practice of an eating disorder can be viewed as a survival mechanism. Just as an alcoholic uses alcohol to cope, a person with an eating disorder can use eating, purging or restricting to deal with their problems. Some of the underlying issues that are associated with an eating disorder include low self-esteem, depression, feelings of loss of control, feelings of worthlessness, identity concerns, family communication problems and an inability to cope with emotions. The practice of an eating disorder may be an expression of something that the eating disordered individual has found no other way of expressing. Eating disorders are usually divided into three categories: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Compulsive Overeating.

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Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia is a disorder where the main characteristic is the restriction of food and the refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight. Any actual gain or even perceived gain of weight is met with intense fear by the Anorexic. Not only is there a true feeling of fear, but also once in the grasp of the disorder, Anorexics experience body image distortions. Those areas of the body usually representing maturity or sexuality including the buttocks, hips, thighs and breast are visualised by the Anorexic as being fat. For some Anorexics, weight loss is so severe that the menstrual cycle can be interrupted. In the obsessive pursuit of thinness, Anorexics participate in restrictive dieting, compulsive exercise, and laxative and diuretic abuse. If Anorexia Nervosa is left untreated, it can be fatal.

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Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimics are caught in the devastating and addictive binge-purge cycle. The Bulimic eats compulsively and then purges through self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics, strict diets, fasts, vigorous exercise, or other compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain. Binges usually consist of the consumption of large amounts of food in a short period of time. Binge eating usually occurs in secret. Bulimics, like Anorexics, are also obsessively involved with their body shape and weight. The medical complications of the binge-purge cycle can be severe, and like Anorexia, can be fatal.

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Compulsive Overeating

Compulsive Overeaters are often caught in the vicious cycle of binge eating and depression. They often use food as a coping mechanism to deal with their feelings. Binge eating temporarily relieves the stress of these feelings, but is unfortunately followed by feelings of guilt, shame and depression. Binge eating, like Bulimia, often occurs in secret. It is not uncommon for Compulsive Overeaters to eat normally or restrictively in front of others and then make up for eating less by bingeing in secret. For other Compulsive Overeaters, binges consist of picking at foods all day long. Like the other eating disorders, Compulsive Overeaters are constantly struggling and unhappy with their weight. It is not uncommon for the number on the weight-scale to determine how they feel about themselves. Medical complications can also be severe and even life-threatening for Compulsive Overeaters.

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Treatment

Unless treated, the individual suffering from an eating disorder is putting their life at risk. These are often complicated cases, without a quick solution. However, support from close family members, friends and possibly therapy can have reasonable results.  The most important aspect of these types of conditions is to discover the underlying cause for the condition, and of course, society itself plays a part in its depiction of the ideal form.

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Further Reading - Books on Weight Issues

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Chinalife Remedies

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Communicate

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See also: Forum | Contact us | Acupuncture and Chinese Herb Medicine FAQ | Website Help

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Always seek health advice from your doctor, or local  Health Outlet. AcuMedic will be very pleased to offer advice regarding difficulties with this condition. Please see our Clinic

Please note that although we are confident that our treatments will help the majority of our patients, we cannot absolutely guarantee a cure as the needs and difficulties of each patient can differ greatly