Ok, so you exercise! I do it because its fun and its good for you, although as i recently suffered a stress fracture and not been able to exercise I've put a some weight. So what is the relationship between PA and weight loss?
Wilfley and Brownell (1994) found that regular exercise was the best predictor of long term weight maintenance. They found that although dieting and exercise can both lead to weight loss that continuing to exercise and taking part in regular physical activity was more likely to stop people from regaining weight than diet alone.
So how does it work?
You burn calories when you exercise
You don't lose lean muscle mass
It may suppress appetite
It counters metabolic decline caused by dieting
Exercise may have positive psychological effects
All of this is good news and now my leg is a bit better i'm off for a cycle. Sometimes when going over the benefits of PA i feel like someone at a medicine show!
