Measuring ‘Exercise Success’ by Weight Loss?

African Mango Supplement has hit the media as the next best thing for sure weight loss, complete with pictures of beautiful women (who probably have never had African Mango!).

I’m not here to have an argument on whether or not this supplement does what it says it does – ‘assist weight loss’…in conjunction with a healthy balanced diet and exercise (the fine print of most weight loss supplements). I just find it interesting that too often the ‘health’ focus for many is just about weight loss.

It has been well established that exercise itself does not always lead directly to weight loss as there are a number of other factors to consider. Many people ‘give up’ on exercise prematurely because they take a one dimensional view of exercise and its relationship with weight loss instead of understanding the many other health benefits of a regular exercise program such as improved cardiovascular function, increased strength and endurance ‘more energy’ and cognitive benefits.

So in my view, it’s time for many of us to start thinking about exercise from this more holistic perspective rather than restricting our reasons for exercising to weight loss alone and to use this understanding to motivate ourselves to continue to exercise regularly. Weight loss does remain an important health issue for many people but will often require dietary modification in addition to regular exercise for best outcomes.

-Kristin Lewis