You're already cutting back on soda, fast food, and snacks — so you should lose weight, right? Well, yes, that's probably true, but just changing your diet isn't quite enough. "Exercise and smart eating go together," says Doc Colker, Shaq's personal physician and trainer. If you're doing one without the other, you're not going to get the result you want. Keep your eye on that goal — your aim is to create a body that's healthier, more fit, better looking, stronger, and will last you a long time.
So how does working out fit with your new diet plan, and how do diet and exercise work together? It's all about the math: If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories each day than you take in from the food you eat. If you're sitting on the couch playing video games, you're burning fewer calories than if you were spending your time doing some kind of vigorous activity (playing tag, biking, running — it's all good). That's why diet and exercise are a good team — eating fewer calories and burning more of them equals weight loss.
But there's more to it than that. The goal of losing weight is to lose fat! And when you diet but don't exercise, the pounds you lose are from both fat
and muscle. Who wants to lose muscle? Good, strong muscles are part of what make a great bod look so great, so you want to keep those. Worse yet, losing muscle makes your metabolism slow down, meaning you burn fewer calories no matter what you do — that makes it harder and harder to drop pounds. Why make it more difficult for yourself?
That's why exercise is an important part of your game plan to get healthier. And you have two goals: First, just be more active. Turn off the TV, put down the video-game controller, walk away from the computer. Almost anything you do on your feet will burn more calories than any of those! Second, add exercise to your day by scheduling yourself a good daily workout.
"Exercise is different from activity," says Doc Colker. Being active is certainly healthier then just sitting around, he says, and it will help you burn calories and lose weight. But activity isn't the same as exercise, and it won't improve your body the way a real workout will. Exercise is a focused challenge to your body, and it will help you shape up like nothing else will. And remember, you want to lose weight, but you also want to get yourself a bod with better tone, strength, and endurance. And that only comes from exercising."
Doc Colker gave the six kids on
Shaq's Big Challenge a strict routine to follow five days a week. Why don't you try it, too? Print out your
Workout Log, and make a commitment to do the routine!
NOTE: This Web site offers a lot of information about eating better and getting fit, and not all of it will be right for all kids. Always check with your parents before you make any changes in the way you eat or exercise — they'll know best what's right for you.