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Calories And Exercise Are Keys To Good Health
You've decided you want to losesome weight. As long as you burn more calories than you consume, you can shedthose pounds.
Just keep in mind that just about everything you eat ordrink, except water, contains calories. And everything you do, from intense exerciseto sleep, burns them.
There are approximately 3,500calories in a pound of fat. So if you burn as little as 500 calories more a daythen you consume, you can lose one pound a week.
If you attempt vigorous exercise, it may actually backfire. Accordingto the August 2009 issue of Time magazine, exercise can stimulate hunger.
The more intense the exercise, the more we may want to eat. If we consume more calories than we justlost by exercise, any weight loss would be negated. So avoid that temptation ofrewarding yourself by eating an ice cream or other calorie-ridden foods afterexercising
According to astudy in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American DieteticAssociation, peoplewho practiced yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who didnot. This was independent of physical activity. They hypothesized that a skill,learned either directly or indirectly through yoga - could affect eatingbehavior;
Of course, exercise has otherhealth benefits such as lowering the risk of heart and other diseases.
There are many tools available onthe Internet to help you lose weight and promote good health.
Your ideal body weight can bedetermined using a BMI (body mass index) calculator, many of which can be foundonline by searching for "BMI calculator."
The caloric content of many foods is available on theirnutrition labels and on the Internet.
The calories burned for exercises can be determined by using anexercise calorie calculator found on sites such as www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter.
The more you weigh, the morecalories you will burn with a given exercise. If you're having trouble losingweight, you may wish to contact your doctor so he or she can check for diseasesthat can inhibit weight loss.
Dr. Paul H. Deutsch is board-certified in Internal Medicine, a memberof The William W. Backus Hospital Medical Staff and in private practice inNorwich. This column should not replace advice or instruction from yourpersonal physician. If you want to comment on this column or others, go to theHealthy Living blog at backushospital.org or E-mail Deutsch or any of the HealthyLiving columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org