Fat Loss Plans and Exercise

Fat loss plans, complete with meal suggestions and custom recipe books, are usually far from complete. So many diets are pre-packaged in terms of volumes of how to cook, meal plans and approved recipes. Some of the most popular and well-known diets even provide branded, prepackaged foods designed for their clients' success (and the diet company's bottom line).

The food, cooking how to and lists of approved vs. forbidden eating choices are all there. What could possibly be lacking? Exercise, plain and simple.

Fat Loss

Perhaps it is suggested in some obscure chapter as a means of optimizing results, but rarely is exercise pushed to the forefront of fad diets or diet enrollment clubs. Yet exercise is and always will be an absolutely essential part of any long lasting life style change.

Why is exercise so essential to your fat loss plans?

Exercise and exercise-related topics generally split the general public into three groups: the ones who get it and do it, the ones who just don't get it and the ones who understand why they should do it but still don't.

The right motivation usually makes the changing difference. Here's a dose of motivation. Muscle burns energy, which translates to fat loss at a more rapid rate even during periods of rest, like sleeping. How great would it be to know your body is consuming more excess calories and fat during that afternoon nap?

How does exercise help you lose weight even when you're not active?

Exercise increases energy levels. The population segment that just doesn't get it will dismiss this claim as rubbish, but the proof is in the pudding so to speak. Have you ever observed a run down, lethargic exercise nut? No, these are usually the perky to a fault type of person who looks perfect in a size 4.

Don't worry; spending 30 minutes four to five times a week at the gym will not transform your personality to match that of a pep squad hopeful. It will however rid you of the midmorning or late afternoon fade. Foggy headedness and cloudy thought processes become clearer and energy levels improve.

Sleep habits are also affected for the better. Let's face it there are times in anyone's life when they'd sell their kidneys for a good night's sleep. The price isn't nearly so high: just get your spandex on and pump that iron regularly. You'll find yourself sleeping like a baby in no time.

That's great, but what about weight loss?

The list of exercise virtues could fill several volumes, but what exactly does it all have to do with being the vital completing element of fat loss plans?

Run down bodies do not lose weight, or if they do they plateau quickly. A body that does not feel good is trying to tell its owner something is amiss. The body will self-preserve (i.e. retain fat) if those signals are ignored.

This really is great news for dieters everywhere. Why? Because it means that on the days you stick to your diet, you should actually feel better than when you don't.

Getting back to the topic of sleep, studies show a very clear link between sleep and fat loss. Plans to diet and lose weight don't matter. Clinical studies prove that sleep deprived bodies cling to every last fat cell and are unwilling to give them up. Exercise promotes healthy sleep habits and sleep enables the body to process fat into usable energy resulting in the incredible shrinking you.

These are just a few of the reason quality fat loss plans shine a spotlight on exercise as a vital element.

Fat Loss Plans and Exercise