Atkins and the Importance of Exercise

With the many diet programs available that encourages us to eat certain foods and avoid others the main focus seems to be on meal planning.

The Atkins diet plan also gives much of its attention to food and meal planning. Of course the food choices on the Atkins plan are very important to dieting success. However a lot of people mistakenly ignore the issue of getting some additional exercise.

The Atkins food pyramid clearly indicates the importance of exercise as the best method to obtain overall health. The Atkins pyramid allows an increase in food options when becoming more active.

Exercise will benefit your mood and self-esteem, even slightly elevated levels of exercise will boost your weight loss. Exercise helps your body to burn fat by speeding your metabolism, increasing your circulation and eliminating toxins through your lymph system and perspiration.

The Atkins diet emphasizes physical exercise as an essential method of losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Exercising regularly, will also allow you to enjoy more carbohydrates because your body will use them more efficiently.

It is advisable to get advice from your primary doctor before beginning any exercise program. Aerobic exercise is the best method to increase your heart rate which helps your body by giving your cells a fresh supply of oxygen. One of the best aerobic exercises that almost anyone can do is walking. Walking can be done anywhere and will not cause a lot of strain on your body.

It's important to stretch and warm up correctly to avoid muscle strains. Start slowly, for example: begin by walking four blocks, then increase to five blocks, and continue to increase to a level that sustains a slightly elevated heart rate for thirty minutes.

Anaerobic exercises are for building muscle mass. As you lose fat you need to replace it with muscle. Lifting weights is a good place to start, again see your doctor first and follow healthy guidelines. You are not trying to become a body builder, you are striving to improve your overall health and proceed with that in mind. Any type of resistance training will be effective. You can begin with hand-held weights of three to five pounds and increase your repetitions to achieve muscle toning.

To lose weight and keep it off exercise must be a part of your weight loss program. When making a commitment to follow the Atkins plan include exercise and you will be pleased with the results.