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5 Essential Things To Know If You’re Exercising To Lose Weight

23rd May 2023

23rd May 2023

By Shivraj Bassi

Self-improvement can be a big part of why we exercise, and some of us may be pushing our bodies through sweaty workouts in the hopes of losing a few pounds. But unfortunately, it takes more than just the same regular exercise routine to lose weight. 

The culprit behind this disappointing fact of life can be explained through the results of a study in Current Biology. It concluded that as your body gets used to working out, you stop burning as many calories as you did when you first started. In the study, researchers examined the physical activity levels of 300 women and men, looking at the number of calories they burned every day. They discovered that while people who were moderately active burned around 200 more calories a day than those who were sedentary, the most physically active participants didn’t burn any more calories than those were only moderately active. 

In effect, this means that once you’re exercising at a steady rate and have been for a while, your body adapts to the demands you’re placing on it and becomes more efficient, meaning that you burn fewer calories. 

To avoid this conundrum, which is exceptionally unhelpful if you’re exercising to lose weight fast, follow these rules on how to lose weight with exercise. 

 

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

Use the FIIT technique

We’ve all heard of HIIT (and we’ll get back to it later), but this is different. FIIT stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type, which together make up to the four factors of a workout and the amount of stress you put your body through each time you hit the gym. If your workout is always the same, these four factors will be the same, and your body will adapt to what you’re putting it through, meaning the number of calories you burn will drop over time.

However, if you change one of these four elements, your body will be surprised and challenged, and be forced to adapt to what you’re doing. You should aim to change up one of these FIIT variables every one or two months, which will ensure your body doesn’t start to plateau. 

Eat well

Looking for the answer on how much exercise to lose weight? The solution isn’t solely found in the gym, but in the kitchen. Even if you’re smashing your fitness plan every single day, if you’re coming home and also smashing processed foods high in sugar, fat, salt every single day, then the amount of exercise you’re doing for weight loss won’t matter. 

When you’re exercising to lose weight fast, you have to operate in a calorie deficit. You won’t lose even a single kilogram if your calorie expenditure is the same as the number of calories you’re consuming. 

What’s more, if you’re not eating a balanced diet high in nutritious foods and plenty of fruit and vegetables, your workouts will feel harder as it’s likely that you’ll be feeling sluggish and tired. Check out Innermost’s food section for some diet inspiration and focus on eating plenty of protein, healthy fats, complete carbohydrates and those all-important vegetables and fruits.  

HIIT

Ah yes, back to HIIT. We all know that it’s good for you, but high intensity interval training truly is the way to go if you’re looking for how to lose weight with exercise. In a study from 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, researchers found that people who participated in a 20 minute HIIT workout burned around 15 calories per minute, which is twice as many as they burned during long runs. 

HIIT workouts also provide that coveted after burn effect - and no, we’re not talking about when you wake up the next day with legs too sore to walk up the stairs. Working out in intense bursts means your body burns more calories for longer, sometimes up to 40% more throughout the day after you work out, as your body recovers. 

To burn those calories, we recommend putting in all out effort for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for four minutes. Rest for one minute before repeating the process again three more times - and watch the pounds start falling off you. 

Try weightlifting

It’s an incontrovertible fact that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. A pound of body fat burns only two calories per day (what a slacker), while a pound of muscle not only burns six calories, but takes up far less room on your body. 

If you’re more of a cardio person than a weights one, check our guide to getting started with weightlifting. It’s not nearly as intimidating as you think, as you’ll look impressively muscular in no time at all. 

Fuel up

When you’re working hard to exercise to lose weight, it can feel like an easy win to start dropping your pre and post workout nutrition plan. After all, the fewer calories you take in, the more weight you’ll lose, right? Wrong. 

Research shows that consuming carbs before hitting the treadmill improves your performance during workouts, which will mean that you burn more calories both during and after your session. 

Correctly fuelling your body after you’ve finished working out will also enable your muscles to recover, keeps your energy levels up and means your body will burn more calories as your body repairs itself. So reach for that bag of Innermost’s The Lean Protein, which is specifically formulated to encourage healthy fat loss, reduce food cravings and support the growth of muscle. 

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When it comes to improving your fitness levels, lifestyle and nutrition are key. From the number of hours of sleep you get each night to your daily nutrition and everything in between, each is as important as the other. This extends to finding the right protein powder to fuel your workout routine. Yet today more than ever, what goes into that shaker bottle now goes beyond macros and muscle; more and more people are asking themselves – ‘how does this protein powder align with my religious values and beliefs?’ While we’ve spoken before about our clean, research based and ethically sourced ingredients here at Innermost, this time we want to get a little more specific with a focus on halal and halal protein powder. With so many voices and fluff information around, it can be difficult to know exactly what protein is and isn’t halal friendly. That’s why we’ve put together this nifty guide. We’re going to break down all the myths and everything you need to know about halal protein. What you should be looking out for, what makes proteins like whey halal friendly as well as the benefits that halal friendly protein can offer to your body.  Right, let’s get into it. What is halal protein? I’m sure most of you are already aware of halal, but for the 1% of you that might not be, let’s take a step back and ask: what is halal protein? Halal – meaning ‘permissible’ in Arabic – refers to any food product that complies with Islamic dietary laws as stated within the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. This makes it a core element of Islamic faith and a key cornerstone of their commitment to leading a pure and disciplined life under the guidance of Allah. Some of the key guidelines for halal foods include: Halal friendly ingredients – certain ingredients are not permissible under a halal diet, including pork (and any byproducts), alcohol and blood. Other animal products can be halal as long as they are killed in accordance with the ethical treatment guidelines below. Ethical treatment of animals – For non-pork meats to be considered halal, animals must be treated humanly and responsibly during their life. This includes: Having access to clean water and nutritious food. Being raised in a free-range and stress-free environment. Not being subjected to cruelty, abuse, or unnecessary suffering. The process of killing any animal must also be quick and humane to be considered halal, with any suffering kept to the complete minimum. Importantly, to be considered halal, the name of Allah must be pronounced during the humane killing to ensure the sanctity of life is recognised throughout the process. No cross contamination - During the preparation process, halal foods must never come into contact with non halal foods. This means no cross contamination between preparation surfaces, equipment used, the handling of foods and storage. As such, ingredients such as milk can be halal however it depends on the production process and if additional non-halal additives (such as gelatin) are added. So, what does this mean for protein?  Essentially any animal protein is halal as long as it adheres to the guidelines we’ve mentioned. The best way to tell is that products – such as Innermost proteins - will be certified halal friendly on the packaging. Is protein powder halal? So, with that said you might be wondering: is my choice of protein powder halal? The truth is that protein powder can absolutely be halal, however it entirely depends on the ingredients used as well as the overall production process. Common protein sources like whey, casein, egg white, and plant-based proteins (such as pea, soy, or rice) can all be halal if they are sourced and manufactured in compliance with halal standards. While many of the larger brands do not meet these standards and cannot claim to offer halal protein, our range of Innermost protein powders and supplements are all certified halal, emphasising our dedication to ethical sourcing our use of clean sourcing without additives. From our pea protein fuelled (and vegan) The Health Protein, The Fit Protein, to our whey protein powered The Strong Protein and The Lean Protein, all our products are sourced in a halal-compliant manner. Benefits of halal protein powder You hear it all the time when it comes to ethical and dietary beliefs – ‘a vegan diet isn’t good for you’ or ‘a vegetarian mix can’t possibly have the nutrients you need. The reality is, that adhering to these sorts of values within your fitness routine and diet can have great benefits for the body. Halal protein powders are no different; they offer a range of benefits for individuals who are conscious of both their health and dietary requirements. Just some of the benefits of halal protein powder are: Clean ingredients: With halal protein powders, you can be confident that there will be no harmful or questionable ingredients/ additives such as silica. What does this mean? Your body has an easier job digesting and absorbing all the good stuff, ensuring you get the most out of your supplements. Quality protein: Halal protein powders use complete protein sources, ensuring your body gets all the amino acids it needs for effective muscle repair and growth.  Ethical production: We’ve mentioned plenty of times already, but that’s just how key ethical and clean production is to making protein halal. By avoiding things such as additional additives and cross contamination, your body is fuelled with a safer and more trustworthy supplement. Supports fitness and wellness goals: Whatever your fitness goals; halal protein has you covered. From building muscle to losing weight, the absence of excess sugars or fillers ensures you are best placed to smash your targets. Common misconceptions about halal protein powders With so much noise and no real answers around halal proteins, we thought it would be helpful to list of some of the key misconceptions regarding the diet and what the actual truths are. All vegan protein powders are halal Given that so much of halal is driven by animals and their ethical treatment, you might just assume every vegan protein powder is halal because it is made of.. well, plants. The reality however is that vegan proteins aren’t necessarily halal – it all comes down to the production process. While Innermost vegan proteins are proudly halal certified, other protein powders can be produced with alcohol-based flavourings, non-halal emulsifiers, or might be processed in facilities that handle haram products – leading to cross contamination – not good! Is whey protein halal? On the other side of the spectrum, whey protein – being a byproduct of milk – is generally considered to be haram. Again, the truth is that whey protein can be halal provided that the milk is taken from cows that were treated ethically and within halal principles. Today, there are many halal-certified whey protein powders that are safe and effective for Muslim consumers. Halal certification doesn’t matter There is often an assumption made that if the ingredients look clean then the protein must be halal – regardless of certification. The truth is that what makes something halal goes beyond ingredients. Production and sourcing our also key factors that many companies do not consider. With halal certification on your favourite protein powders, you can be sure that every step—from sourcing and production to packaging and distribution—has been reviewed and approved according to strict halal standards.  Is Innermost protein powder halal? In short, yes. We at Innermost make it our mission to not only aid in muscle growth and recovery, but also to create protein supplements that are ethically sourced and rigorously tested to ensure individuals of any faith can smash their fitness goals.  Unlike competitors, our proteins are clean and built with the highest quality of ingredients and free from unnecessary additives and artificial ingredients.   We are proud to say that all our products are officially halal certified making them a suitable choice for those following the halal beliefs. This certification ensures that all ingredients and manufacturing processes meet Islamic dietary laws, with no use of haram substances such as pork derivatives or alcohol. With this in mind, why not check out our range of Innermost supplements to find out more about our halal proteins?     Read more
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