Not only is exercise important for weight loss, it is vital to keeping off extra weight after it is lost… but what counts as exercise?
After discussing exercise recommendations with our patients, we often hear things like “I don’t go to the gym but I am so active during the day I don’t need to” or “well I go up and down the stairs to do laundry; does that count?” We also encounter patients who work in professions that require them to be more active throughout the day, so they feel they have met physical activity recommendations for weight loss through this activity.
Are they right? Do they need to exercise more to lose weight?
To see different results, you have to make a change. If you want your exercise routine to help you lose more weight, you have to increase your physical activity intensity or duration. In other words, you have to either be active for longer than you usually are or you have to make it more challenging than it usually is.
Unless you are currently meeting the recommendations of at least 250 mi