Why MUST we exercise?

cerelac

I know you should, but want to understand why you HAVe to, to lose weight. Did anyone not exercise and lose weight steadily?

if you don't exercise but keep within your allotted calories, will you lose weight? Will you lose it at the same pace as if you exercised and ate those extra calories?

Obv exercise is important for well-being and building muscle that will burn cals for you- and later on for toning and shaping up etc etc but if you don't make time to do it/don't feel like doing it/wont etc, will you be any worse off on the scale in the short term? I actually like exercise, ESP with music, but want to know how essential it is in the calorie-counting approach to weight loss, if I don't time to do it with the baby around. Thanks!

danielpinkney

I think if you eat the extra calories and burn them through training/weights you should see similar results on the scales. The only difference would be that you would be that your body composition would be better when you train (more toned/muscular and reduced bodyfat)... Google 'skinny fat' which gives you an insight into weight loss without training/with training.

Also if you tone up and reduce fat/build muscle your basal metabolic rate should increase meaning you'll be able to consume more calories without putting on weight (as muscle needs more calories/nutrients to function)

That's my take on it anyway

ericgAU

Depends on your goals. It is possible to lose weight without having to exercise. Not my preferred way though. Incorporating exercise with proper nutrition is a far more effective way to lose weight. See, doing exercise improves your metabolic performance meaning that it is quite possible to burn calories long after you've performed exercise. Other benefits in my humble opinion include improvement with physical fitness and also body physique.