How to lose weight: If you think that you will lose weight by sweating a lot and doing exercise, then you are wrong. Actually, to lose weight many things have to be done simultaneously and hard exercise alone is not beneficial for this. This has been said not by us but by a research. New research suggests that people who exercise more do not necessarily burn more calories than people who remain sedentary. Many things act as villains for weight loss.

What is the difference in calorie expenditure?
Researchers analyzed health data of more than 4,200 people from 34 countries. After this it was found that a hunter-gatherer from the Hadza tribe of Tanzania, who has a very active lifestyle, burns the same number of calories every day as the average American office worker. There may be a slight difference, but it is very less. Only about 10 percent of the total calorie expenditure was found to be related to exercise. However, this does not mean that you should completely remove exercise from your daily routine. Duke University anthropologist Herman Pontzer says the matter may be more complicated than previously thought. According to studies, only a small part of our total calorie expenditure is burnt through workout. The body spends most of the remaining calories to keep us alive. The remaining energy is spent in breathing, heartbeat, pumping blood, digesting food etc. This internal process is called basal metabolic rate (BMR) and it uses most of the daily energy.

the body adapts itself
When we start exercising, the body’s metabolism starts balancing itself. That is, if we do more physical activity, the body starts spending less energy in other processes, so that the total energy remains balanced. Pontzer said that our body adapts itself to different lifestyles. If we are more active, the body spends less energy elsewhere. Therefore, the total daily calorie expenditure remains almost the same, whether we work harder or less. This may worry some people, but the truth is that this balance of calorie expenditure reduces inflammation and improves overall health. That is, exercise is beneficial, but not only for burning calories, but also for good health.

Then what is the main villain?
Pontzer says that the real reason for increasing body fat is not lack of exercise, but eating habits. That means, whatever calories we eat and are unable to spend, they get stored in the body as fat. Researchers found that the main cause of weight gain or obesity is eating excessive ultra-processed food. Like sweets, packet snacks, colorful cereals, sauces available in bottles, ready-made food, flavored curd etc. These things are tasty, but they have high calories and low nutrition, hence they are eaten in excess. But all these things act as villains for the body.

exercise is still important
Of course, exercise does not burn that many calories for every person, yet exercise is necessary. There are many reasons for this. When the body is in motion, many chemical reactions take place in the body. Many things happen at the cellular level which are important for our health. Exercise helps in controlling appetite and changing body composition. When we increase muscles, the body needs more energy and calorie expenditure also increases. Pontzer also agrees with this, but says that its impact is not very much, but limited. Even though there are differences of opinion regarding the role of exercise in weight loss, it is considered beneficial for the body. It strengthens joints, improves heart health, improves metabolism and also keeps mental health good.

Then what is the best way to lose weight?
Dr. Paras Aggarwal, Head of Metabolic Disorders at Asia Marengo Hospital, says that losing weight is not magic. But if you want to lose weight, then reduce it in the same manner in which you have gained weight. That is, if your weight has increased due to wrong eating habits and sedentary life, then reduce the weight by controlling it. First of all, remove processed food, fried foods, excess sugar, excess salt, excess oil from your diet and instead consume home-cooked food, seasonal green leafy vegetables, fruits, pulses, whole grains in abundance. The more you eat these things, the more you will benefit. Along with this, do regular exercise. Apart from this, get good restful sleep and stay away from stress. Stress is there in every person’s life but manage it. For this, walk, meditate daily, do yoga and meditation and hang out with friends and family.