If you eat just a light Thanksgiving meal this year with most of the traditional foods so many of us enjoy you could easily consume over a thousand calories! And all those calories could easily be accounted for before you even have that 2nd slice of pie! Is it any wonder so many of us take on a couple extra pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Don't let this happen to you!
The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will usually remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you expend more energy than you take in you will burn excess fat.
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output, calling on stored calories for extra fuel. Recent studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to burn more calories.
How much exercise is needed to make a difference in your weight depends on the amount and type of activity, and on how much you eat. Aerobic exercise burns body fat. An average adult would have to walk more than 30 miles to burn up 3,500 calories. ( That is the equivalent of about a single pound of fat. ) Although that may seem like a lot, you don’t have to walk the 30 miles all at once. Walking a mile a day for 30 days will achieve the same result, providing you don’t increase your food intake!
If you enjoy just 100 calories a day ( about 9 ounces of beer ) more than your body needs, you will gain approximately 10 pounds in a year. You could take that weight off, or keep it off, by doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. The combination of exercise and diet is the quickest way to lose weight! And keep it off!
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