How Exercise Impacts Weight Loss
Everyone knows that exercise is touted as necessary for good aerobic health, bone strength, and overall well-being. But did you know that exercise does way more than that? When we work out at a vigorous pace, several bio-chemical changes happen in our body hormonally that impact our ability to be successful at the weight loss game. For instance, endorphins are a mood-enhancing hormone that reduces emotional eating. Glucagon is released which acts the opposite of insulin. Insulin is the fat storage hormone; glucagon enables fat to be burned as fuel. A good workout also impacts key appetite hormones, Ghrelin and Peptide YY. Exercise that has an aerobic component was more effective at this than non-aerobic weight training. Aerobics burns calories during the activity; and then it reduces grehlin (the appetite-simulating hormone) while increasing Peptide YY (the appetite-suppressing hormone). These findings make exercise a key component in being able to make good choices with diet. Diet is 85% of the weight loss equation, and anything that will help us make good choices is a tool worth employing.