Can you lose weight doing something you love?
I say yes!
Weight loss doesn’t have to be something you force yourself to do; nor should it be. Chances are, if you are trying to lose weight but are having trouble being motivated, longboarding may be the solution!
After all, it doesn’t require you to be as agile and have great balance like a skateboarder. Longboarding can be a fantastic way to lose weight, and have fun doing it. When you are longboarding, you are moving, and movement means weight loss.
Let’s discuss how you can get started on a path to start losing weight while longboarding.
How does weight loss work?
This is the core of everything, and if you don’t know these basic facts, then you won’t get anywhere.
But don’t worry, it’s not actually as complicated as many would lead you to believe. The process is pretty simple, so you don’t need to know about advanced chemistry and biology to understand it.
You probably know what fat is stored for: Energy. Once your body starts running out of power, it turns to your muscle and fat tissues, so you don’t starve to death. This is when your system starts “burning” the fat all-around your body (including some other tissues as well) and thus, you lose weight.
The original way we take in energy is by eating. So the simple solution to weight loss would be eating less, wouldn’t it?
The situation is a little more complicated, unfortunately, but you are on the right path. The simple solution is taking in less energy than what you use. This should not mean starving yourself. That would be a very unhealthy way of achieving weight loss, mainly because it can damage the lining of your stomach and can cause your digestive system to enter fasting mode. This means that you can survive off of less energy and you won’t burn as much fat.
But energy is such a vast concept; So we need something to measure it with. The easiest way to do that is by using calories. The average adult needs 2000 calories a day, which means that if they take in that much energy a day then they will stay the same weight. If they take in less, then they will burn fat. If they take in more, they will store the excess energy as fat tissue.
A pound of fat is around 3500 calories, so if you are in a 3500 deficit in a week then you will lose an entire pound. To do that, you need to be in a 500 deficit each day.
What determines the number of calories you need?
Weight: If you have a larger mass, then your body needs more energy to move, thus you burn more. If you are lighter, then you will need less energy to do the same activities than a bigger person.
Sex: Evolution decided that men and women have different ratios of muscle and fat and these tissues play a huge role in the number of calories burned. And since men were the hunters that needed strength and stamina, they ended up with more muscle tissue. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you are able to burn, which can lead to quicker fat loss.
As we said, it actually comes down to what you are made up of. If you are a particularly muscular woman, then you will burn more calories than a sedentary man. So in reality, it’s not really your sex, because that only determines the default body type you start with. Instead, you need to take your tissues into account if you want to determine the exact amount of calories you need.
Exercise: If you live a sedentary lifestyle (meaning that you take less than 3000 steps a day and don’t do much exercise), then you don’t burn many calories. But if you have a physically straining job and you have to move around all day then you will need a lot of energy to get through the day. Even walking counts as exercise when it comes to counting calories.
To get a rough estimate of how many calories you need, check out a calorie calculator.
How can longboarding help you lose weight?
If you read the things above carefully then you already know that longboarding will help you lose weight. That’s a fact, after all, since it’s a type of exercise.
But it’s much better than running or doing many other kinds of cardio.
Surprising, isn’t it?
You wouldn’t expect such an enjoyable activity to do much to your body, but it’s actually really good for your health and can increase the number of calories you are able to burn in the long run.
First of all, it’s good or your heart (like any other cardio). It makes your body pump more blood and puts a little bit of pressure on your organs. This is great for a short period of time, because it increases your resistance. Plus, it can lower your blood pressure. These are all amazing benefits, especially if you are overweight. We all know that if you have excess fat then your heart is at risk. By doing such intense cardio, you’re protecting it.
Secondly, it strengthens your muscles. You become more athletic (especially your legs and torso), which means more muscle tissue. And if you read everything carefully, then you know that this means more burned calories.
But you are here for the most important part, so we aren’t going to withhold this crucial piece of information anymore. The amount of calories a 125-pound person could burn in an hour is 300. For a 185-pound person, it’s 440. This means that if you take your longboard out for a stroll every day for at least 1 and a half hours you will lose a pound every week. (Given that you don’t increase your energy intake.)
Conclusion
All in all, yes. Longboarding can help you lose weight. It’s an amazing sport and the best part is that time just flies by while you are doing it.
If you are looking to utilize longboarding as a way to lose weight, then you need to consider the food you eat. Keep track of the calories you eat and make sure you eat less calories than your body needs to create a deficit, which will allow you to lose weight. Longboarding will help burn calories to increase the deficit even more.