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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Will exercise help me lose weight?

    Related Topics
    Fitness and Sports Medicine Weight Management
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  • Melanie McGrice

    Dietitian

    Melanie McGrice is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, one of the few dietitians in Australia to achieve that status. Her success has made her an … View Profile

    Exercise may help you to lose weight, however you will more likely lose more weight by making dietary modifications.  It takes the average person over an hour to walk off a chocolate bar, so in my view it’s easier just to not eat so many chocolate bars!  However, exercise is essential for an optimal metabolic rate, stress relief, bone health, and much much more – so it’s still part of a healthy lifestyle!

    Hope this helps!
    Melanie
    www.health-kick.com.au

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  • Genevieve Michael

    Dietitian

    Having gathered 28 years of private practice experience , Genevieve wants to assist people with practical changes to their food and lifestyle issues in order … View Profile

    Exercise is a necessary part of any weight loss programme. The energy benefit of exercise is however small compared to the modifications made through diet.
    Better to think of exercise as ‘activity’ and aim to increase your overall activity- take the stairs, get off the bus one stop earlier, go dancing! The accumulated effect of these small changes can be as significant as 4 extra kilograms of weight loss per year.

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  • Dr Richard Wong

    Personal Trainer

    Qualified with a B: Human Movement Science and Certificate. I grew up with sport. I competed succesfully at a state and national level as a … View Profile

    Agreed by the previous comments that modifications to your nutrition will make the biggest impact but it's exercise that creates your body. Your real aim when losing weight would be to keep muscle and just lose fat. That way you can achieve your ultimate body shape and weight for the rest of your life. So it's a structured weight training program that will help to keep muscle and it will be low to moderate cardio that will burn fat. So if you just reduce your calories and lose weight be conscious that it may be muscle that you are losing rather than fat.

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    Arlene Normand

    Dietitian

    Arlene is a registered practising dietitian, with a private practice in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and has built a strong business over the last … View Profile

    Exercising to lose weight is a not a waste of time but the real only way to shed those unwanted kilos is to eat less. Exercise does help you increase your lean body tissue (muscle) which helps increase your metabolic rate. It is also very good for your mood and is a stress release which motivates you to make better choices of food. There are different types of exercise and, while undoubtedly physical activity is necessary for cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, metabolism, core stability, posture and body shape, it is not the answer for losing weight on its own. When exercise is combined with a cut in kilojoule intake, the weight loss can be as high as 7.5 kilograms in just 12 weeks. While diet is more effective for short-term weight loss, evidence suggests a continuing exercise program outweighs the value of diet in the maintenance of weight loss over two or more years. In a second or two we can easily eat hundreds of kilojoules - which overweight people do - and it would take hours to exercise those off. The right food choices can reduce our kilojoule intake by thousands every day. It would take over five or six hours of exercise to get the same benefit. Each person has their own unique kilojoule reference point, which is the most kilojoules they can eat in a day and still lose weight without the need for any extra physical activity. People who exercise to lose weight also tend to pay less attention to their diet, which makes it even more difficult for them to lose weight. Exercise for weight loss is a serious long-term health risk because of the added load on the body's organs. We have to change our food choices to lose weight and be aware of our portion sizes.

     

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  • Kirsty Woods

    Exercise Physiologist

    Hi I’m Kirsty Woods,I would like to use my experience, expertise and passion to help you reach your weight, energy and health goalsI have been … View Profile

    Exercise is useful in reducing the risk of developing heart disease, dementia and other conditions, however available evidence suggests that exercise alone is a relatively inefficient for losing weight, but does have a key role in weight maintenance and prevention of weight gain.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16504621

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