Living in a culture that conflates improving health and fitness with losing weight, it’s easy to understand why so many people may be led to pursue the latter believing that they will receive the former. But the reality is far more complex and nuanced than that. One thing that is quite simple and straightforward to understand, though, is that pursuing fitness has huge benefits regardless of any shifts in weight or body size.
Health and Fitness Without Dieting
If it's health and fitness you are looking to improve, the good news is that this can be done without dieting and without pursuing intentional weight loss. Because fitness literally means the ability to perform tasks efficiently. That's it. That's the actual definition fitness. And for the vast majority of us who aren't competing in weight classed or aesthetic competitive sports like wrestling or bodybuilding (where the primary focus is on performance or appearance, not health), the goal is to make our daily and recreational activities more enjoyable and easier to perform.
What Are the Benefits of Exercise if It Isn't Weight Loss?
Exercise can definitely help improve our overall health and wellbeing, but not by burning up the most amount of calories in the shortest amount of time and leaving you feeling sore and exhausted. Instead, an intelligently designed and effective fitness program can do things like increase insulin sensitivity and improve blood sugar management. It can also help you feel more energized and relieve a ton of stress (whereas dieting is very stressful physically and mentally--the opposite of health-promoting).
Focus on Fitness, Not Weight Loss
While changes in weight and body composition may occur as a result of changes in activity levels and nutrition, those changes aren't the primary focus when pursuing fitness. Fitness--the abilty to perform tasks--is the primary focus. And fitness goals are highly personal. What are the tasks you want to be fit for? Asked another way: what activities would you like to perform with more ease and enjoyment? That could be anything from tending your garden to hiking your favorite trails or even lifting weights to improve your A1c levels. None of those things requires restricting calories or making exercise your second career.
Here are 12 Evidence-Based Benefits of Exercise Without Dieting:
Elevate mood, improve cognitive function and concentration
Improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular health and lower blood pressure
Increase stamina, strength, suppleness, muscle mass and bone density
Improve performance in activities of daily living, hobbies and/or sports
Increase flexibility and joint range of motion
Decrease risk of early death and delay of death by all causes
Increase libido and improve sexual function
Decrease stress hormones
Improve sleep quality
Reduce inflammation
Improve digestion
[Curious to know how often you need to exercise to make progress on your fitness goals? you can read about that here.]
Q: What are good health and fitness goals?
A: Goals that help you perform your daily and recreational activities with more ease and enjoyment and help you develop health-promoting practices, including exercise, that you are willing AND able to do consistently.
Reasonable and Sustainable Health & Fitness Goals:
Make enjoyable movement part of your regular routine
Stay well hydrated
Practice good sleep habits
Add more protein, fruits and vegetables (instead of subtracting food groups)
Stabilize blood sugar and energy levels throughout the day by eating enough, frequently enough
Master a strength-based skill (e.g. push-ups, chin-ups, deadlift)
Climb a flight of stairs without getting winded
Carry all the groceries to the house in one trip
Get up from the floor with more ease
Decrease the risk of falling
Create more joint stability if you're hypermobile
Move with more agility and suppleness
Learn a new dance style or routine
Hike a trail
Practice breathing more deeply and fully
Expand your palate and menu to include new foods
What Benefits of Exercise Without Dieting Do You Want to Enjoy?
Your fitness program should help you perform the activties you care about most with even more ease and joy. And you're the only one who can define what those are. Let these exercise benefits and goals inspire you to home-in on your meaningful why for starting a fitness program and let that guide your fitness practice.
And if you're looking for a structured at-home workout plan for beginners that lets you progress with guidance and without pressure or overwhelm, check out my program Ease Into Movement & Strength At Home.
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