Women Over 40: How Much Physical Exercise Leads To Weight Loss?

Losing weight is becoming tougher and tougher after menopause. Many women over 40 have a sedentary lifestyle with not sufficient exercise. Regular exercise is an crucial ingredient to lose weight permanently- however, do you know how much exercise is actually required to lose weight? You might say "the more the better" and you are right- theoretically. After all, the common thinking is: The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose. Thats not really true. There is an effect called compensation. Compensation means: There is a gap between the anticipated weight loss (as predicted by the calories burnt by exercising) and the weight loss achieved. It doesnt take a PhD to understand where the compensation effect comes from: When people go on an exercise program, they start to eat more. The usual thinking pattern is "I am allowed to consume more, because I will burn the extra calories on my exercise program". But, most dieters assess the quantity of calories burnt while exercising and the amount of calories consumed inaccurately: Calories burnt are overrated and calories eaten underrated. So the attitude of "when I am exercising I can eat more" leads not to permanent weight loss. Researchers evaluated the amount of physical exercise linked to the compensation mechanism and observed a very interesting correlation. Previously inactive, overweight or obese, postmenopausal women took part in three different exercise programs of 72, 136 and 194 minutes per week. The first two groups doing a bit over 1 hour of physical exercise a week and a bit over 2 hours a week didnt compensate- their actual weight loss was as expected. So these women did not eat more while being on the exercise program. However, the women on the intensive exercise plan (more than 3 hours weekly) lost only half of the expected weight. It could be the case that they were thinking "I am allowed to eat more, because I work so hard on this program". This does not mean you should go for low intensity exercise programs taking only 2 hours a week. It does mean though that if you are exercising hard, you might feel lured to compensate by eating more. So: If you are doing an physical exercise program, control your food intake as well- or you might not be able to lose weight permanently after 40. A beneficial consequence of the above-mentioned mentioned study: All exercise groups had a reduced waist circumference- a leading indicator for healthy weight loss. Losing belly fat lowers the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems. A good weight loss plan should assist you to determine how much physical exercise you in your special situation need and how to incorporate it in your day to day life.

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Perry Permann