According to a Time article, exercise, while good for you for other reasons, won’t make you thin because exercise stimulates the appetite. When your appetite is stimulated, you eat more calories. When you work out, you benefit because you burn calories, improve cardiovascular health, and do other great things for your body but you also make yourself hungrier!

It’s an interesting article and while it won’t stop me from exercising, it’s still good to read these types of articles so you’re well informed.

One of the biggest reasons why your metabolism slows down has to do with your muscle mass. Muscle burns a tremendous amount of energy and as you age, the amount of muscle you have begins to fall. When you’re 60, you have far less muscle mass than when you were 20. Naturally, your metabolism is going to slow down because you won’t need as much fuel to keep your muscles running because your muscles are smaller!

So, why do you get fatter? Our body is trained to turn energy into fat, our body’s natural storage system. When you eat more than your body needs in terms of energy, the extra is stored as fat. Your body does this as a way to protect you because there may come a time when there is no food to eat and your body will need that fat.

There you have it! That’s in essence what your metabolism is and why it seems that it’s conspiring against you to make you fat.

Well, before you get too excited, know this: running is a lot better for you. Why? It’s better because it works out your muscles harder, including your heart. When you work your muscles, they get stronger. When you work your heart, it gets stronger.

So, even though a leisurely walk will burn as many calories as a run, a run is much better for your heart. However, the best counter against this is to walk briskly! As long as you get your heart rate up, your heart is working harder and you gain some health benefits because of it.

Anyway, the walk isn’t what I would consider exercise because it doesn’t leave you tired, sweaty, and panting; it’s just a nice walk that helps you enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful weather… but it is exercise. It burns calories just as if we ran it and doing something active each day helps improve your health even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Think about it, it’s like the reverse of drinking a soda each day. A soda has about a hundred calories in a 12 oz. can and one of the best ways to lose weight, if you drink soda, is to stop. Stop snacking, stop drinking soda, etc. These are all small things that you can stop, here’s a small thing that you can start that can pay off in the long run.

It certainly doesn’t beat running, biking, or hitting the weights at the gym, but it’s something that you can do with a friend or a loved one that can help you two connect better. It’s harder to chat on a bike or while you’re running, especially if you’re not a runner, but by walking you get to chat and sneak in some light exercise.

Do something active each day and you’ll see the benefits.

Number one on the list is a fruit that has been gaining popularity, especially in the alcoholic beverage market, and that’s pomegranate juice. The other day we picked up a bottle of pomegranate liquor on a whim and we’ve had Pom brand pomegranate juice in our fridge a few times. Pomegranate itself is quite fun to eat, you crack it open, suck on the little pomegranates and then spit out the seeds.

For those vino lovers, red wine makes in at #2 and even MLM-favorite Açaí juice slides inot the #6 spot. I joke about the MLM-favorite status only because it’s this juice that is pushed by Mona Vie.

Pomegranate Juice is Packed With Antioxidants [Health.com]

If you want to lose weight, your body needs to run at a deficit. If you eat 3500 fewer calories a week, you can expect to drop a pound of fat. If eating 3500 fewer calories seems unreasonable, especially if the typical diet is 2000 calories a day, you need to figure out ways to burn an additional 3500 more calories a week. How can you do that?

First, let’s break it down per day. If you can burn up 500 calories a day extra, or eat 500 less, or any combination of the two; you can cut out one pound a week. That seems much more manageable than the 3500 number right? So, think of ways you can cut out 500 calories a day. If you drink a can of soda, that’s 100 calories. Can you skip it? If so, you only need to burn an extra 400 calories. Take one less bite of lunch and save it for tomorrow. Go low calorie and eat lots of fiber. Eating one fewer calorie is far easier than burning it.

But, let’s talk about burning it. The typical benchmark is that a 150 lb. person will burn 100 calories for every mile they walk on level ground. If you weight 150 lb., simply walk five miles a day and you’ll have burned out 500 calories and well on your way to losing a pound a week. Doesn’t that sound really easy? If you weigh more, you’ll burn more. You don’t burn more by running that mile, though you do improve cardiovascular health.

If you are more ambitious, hit the gym and ride the bike, walk the treadmill on incline, or do the elliptical machine. All those will burn calories far faster than walking on level ground, but require more effort. You could always start walking and then move to the gym. Or simply walk on an incline at the gym while watching TV or something.

Remember, 3500 calories is a pound of fat.

Another benefit of brushing your teeth has to deal with basic oral hygiene. By brushing your teeth after dinner, you get them as clean as possible immediately after getting them dirty! If your foods are acidic, if you drink soda for example, then washing away the acid will protect your teeth from their damaging effects. In addition to getting things clean, some of the active ingredients in toothpaste enhance the antibacterial properties of your own saliva.

So, why does brushing your teeth reduce your desire for snacks? Lauryl sulfate, an ingredient in toothpaste, drops your taste sensitivity and so everything taste weird. Try to eat something after brushing your teeth, once the minty flavor disappears you’ll notice that your ability to taste food has been lessened. This effect is fleeting though, but it’s long enough to make you think you can’t taste chocolate!

Lastly, there’s the psychological effect of brushing your teeth, it sends a Pavlovian message to your brain that eating is done for the day.

(picture by Eff Bee)

The point of losing weight is be healthier, feel healthier, and to live a healthier, richer, and more rewarding life! While keeping track of numbers is very important, it’s more important to focus on the other benefits weight loss can have on you. Focus on how it’s easier to get up in the morning, how much much energy you have to do the things you enjoy, and how your approach to eating food begins to change. Focus on how, while the weights numerically may be increasing, your muscles are more defined and how you can see your biceps more and more clearly when you flex in the mirror (you know you do it!). Dropping a couple pounds is great, but celebrate the effects it has outside of the number.

Another dangerous reason against focusing on the pounds is that muscle weighs more than fat. As you weight train, you may not see the pounds fall off the scale because it’s being replaced with heavier lean muscle. You may see the felt melt away from your body but it won’t be reflected on the scale – that’s okay. It’s what’s happening in the mirror that matters, enjoy it!