Diet is the most important factor in losing weight. It is often difficult to follow a diet plan and live in a slight calorie deficit. In principle, losing weight works through a negative calorie balance, i.e. by consuming more than you take in. You can significantly increase your calorie consumption through physical activity, and you will then slip more quickly into negative calorie balance – unless you eat more at the same time!
What happens in the body through more movement
It’s hard enough to get yourself motivated, especially if you haven’t done any exercise for years. So when in doubt, it is important or at least advisable to choose a sport that you enjoy. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what sport you do, it just matters that you exercise at all. In principle, it is important that you decide to move more. So if you are physically active, your calorie consumption increases. As soon as you burn more calories than you consume, your body draws on its own energy reserves, i.e. body fat: you lose weight. It is important that you consume enough protein, because you need it to build and maintain muscle. The great thing about the newly acquired muscles, by the way, is not only that they look good. They continue to burn calories even when you are no longer active!
How often and how long should you train
As a general rule, three training sessions per week of one to two hours each are optimal. Then you always have a rest day in between so that your muscles, ligaments, cartilage and tendons can recover. This is especially important if you have not been physically active for a long time. There are also sports that only take a few minutes per session, such as training with your own body weight, which you can do at home. It’s also okay to increase your training to five sessions per week.
The diet must also be right
To ensure that you feel good while exercising and that the results are visible on the scales even faster, a balanced diet is more important than ever. This includes sufficient protein in the form of high-quality protein sources such as fish and poultry, low-fat quark, eggs or cottage cheese, as well as plant-based sources such as legumes, sprouts, nuts and grains. Carbohydrates are also important, in the form of rice, potatoes, legumes, nuts and whole grain products. Fat is also important for your body. Unsaturated fatty acids are best. The simple ones are found in peanuts, avocado, canola oil and olive oil. You can consume multiple saturated fats in the form of walnuts, saltwater fish or linseed oil. Avoid refined sugars, white flour, fried foods, sweets and soft drinks as much as possible.
You should also pay attention to this
Not every sport burns the same amount of calories, that’s logical. Nevertheless, you should not go by it alone. As already mentioned, it is important that you have fun. In addition, the sport must also suit you and your physical condition. In any case, it is always best to consult your physician beforehand and tell him about your plan so that he can decide what you can expect of your body. A combination of strength and cardio training (endurance training) is generally optimal. Even if you find it difficult at the beginning, you will soon realize that it does you good to move more again. You will get fitter, strengthen your immune system and improve your body image.
These sports are particularly useful and effective
Particularly efficient sports include jogging, spinning and squash. At a moderate running pace of 10 km/h, you will burn an average of about 600 calories in one hour. There are just as many for spinning. This is cycling in a class of its own, because you will be pedaling at a high level for 45 to 60 minutes to music with fast rhythms. This is not suitable for everyone. You should start with moderate cycling at the beginning, which can also burn up to 500 calories per hour if you cycle relatively fast at around 20 km/h.
The cross trainer is still a good alternative and also burns over 500 calories. Swimming is always very healthy and especially good and useful for a heavy body because the water carries the body and the water resistance simultaneously helps to burn calories. It is also particularly easy on the joints. An hour of breaststroke swimming will burn about 500 calories. Nordic walking is also easy on the body, but you can still burn around 350 calories per hour. During gymnastics, you can burn around 250 calories, and during yoga, you can still burn almost 200 – but you also get a lot of relaxation out of it.
Conclusion
So in principle, it is less important what you do and more important that you integrate regular exercise into your daily routine. If, after a while, you really enjoy it – and that will undoubtedly happen if you choose a sport that suits you – then you can always optimize and increase your training volume if you feel like it. Until then, it is important that you do not put too much strain on your body with its excessive weight and always train in a way that is also good for your cardiovascular system. That’s why you should always discuss your plans for sporting activity with your doctor first, and ideally you should also train under supervision at least at the beginning, for example in a gym. Alongside training, nutrition must continue to be right, i.e. low in calories and balanced. There should be enough protein to support muscle building.
