Weight Loss Diet Mistake #3: Too Much Cardio

A lot of people embarking on a weight loss diet get really pumped up about all the exercise they're going to do. They think about all the hours they'll spend running, biking, doing aerobic exercise, all forms of cardio. They figure this is the surest way to burn off calories and therefore to lose weight. If you are one of these people you could hardly be more wrong.

The sad truth is that all of these aerobic exercises we've been doing to try and lose weight all these years are simply not effective for that purpose. They are certainly healthy things to do and can provide you with a number of health benefits, it's just that rapid weight loss or even sustained weight loss is simply not among them.

In terms of actually shaping your body into the greek god you deserve to be, cardiovascular exercises like aerobics are the least important type of exercise that you can do. They simply do not tend to have any effect on weight loss. This is because it is true that you will burn some calories while doing the actual cardio exercises (although probably not as many as you think), you will not continue to burn those calories after your workout is done.

The key is to work out smart, not work out hard. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to discourage you from buying a used spin bike and going to town. It's just that you should realize that in order to boost your metabolism you need to build up your lean muscle mass, not just make use of the muscles you've already got. For more information on how to do that, go back and take a look at weight loss diet mistake #1.