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It seems like everyone is working hard to fulfill a New Year’s resolution to lose weight this year. There are many different diets and wellness plans that you can try to get in shape and shed some pounds, but no matter which one appeals most to you, there is one scary diet mistake that people have been making that can actually stop weight loss: not exercising.
Everyone knows that exercise leads to weight loss, but most people don’t realize just how important this step is. While dieting can help you lose a few pounds and trim down a bit, it can be bad for your health to only diet without complementing it with at least a bit of exercise.
Dieting can only take you so far in a weight loss journey. Even if you totally revamp your daily food plan, eventually you might hit a plateau where you stop losing weight if you don’t add exercise into the mix.
Plus, the weight that you lose from diet alone isn’t necessarily the weight that you want to lose. Michele Olson, PhD explained to Huffington Post, “Yes, you can lose weight with diet alone, but exercise is an important component. Without it, only a portion of your weight loss is from fat — you’re also stripping away muscle and bone density. Since working out stimulates growth of those metabolic tissues, losing weight through exercise means you’re burning mostly fat.”
If you have never been keen on exercise, you’re no different from most of the population. Luckily there are ways to combat this and find a workout that you can manage. You can start small with cardio by taking a short walk each day and eventually add time to the routine. Alternatively, you can look into a fun, dance-based group fitness classes that distract you from the fact that you’re even working out.
