Self Help

You can lose weight without exercising. People do it all the time by simply eating less. But you cannot expect to keep the weight off if you don’t work out. Studies show that among people who are successful at maintaining weight loss, more than 90 percent exercise. On the other hand, at least 90 percent of those who don’t exercise gain back all of their weight, if not more, within a few years.

If your goal is permanent weight loss, the best strategy is to meet in the middle. For instance, over the course of a week, you might eat 250 calories less than usual each day by cutting back from two scoops of chocolate ice cream to one; meanwhile, you could burn an extra 250 calories a day by taking a one-hour walk or a half-hour jog.

Losing weight is not as easy as it sounds on TV diet commercials. It takes a lot more commitment than just eating that delicious shake for breakfast. And it takes time. Exercising 20 minutes three times a week certainly can improve your health, but it’s not enough to make a significant dent in your weight-loss efforts. If you want to lose fat, build up to at least 45 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week. Keep in mind that genetics play a large role in weight loss. It’s easier for some people to lose weight than it is for others.

No matter how dedicated you become to exercise or calorie cutting, don’t try to lose more than a half pound or a pound each week and don’t eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day (preferably more). On a super-low-calorie diet, you deprive your body of the nutrients it needs, and you have a tougher time keeping the weight off.

“Maximize your workout and burn over 1,000 calories per hour!” That’s a claim you’re likely to see in advertisements for treadmills, stair-climbers, and cross-country ski machines. And it’s true. You can burn 1,000 calories per hour doing those activities - if you crank up the machine to the highest level and if you happen to have bionic legs. If you’re a beginner, you’ll last about 30 seconds at that pace, at which point you will have burned 8.3 calories, and the paramedics will be scooping you off the floor and hauling your wilted body away on a stretcher. There’s a better approach to calorie burning: Choose an activity that you can sustain for a good while, say, at least 10 or 15 minutes. Sure, running burns more calories than walking, but if running wipes you out after a half mile or bothers your knees, you’re better off walking.