When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, diet, exercise, and weight loss can keep anyone in shape. While many might assume you need to keep a close eye on your calorie intake and watch what you eat, a new study has shed light on what actually helps you live a wholesome lifestyle.

According to a study published in iScience, some lifestyle plans designed to combat obesity don’t work and in the long run, can even lead to some individuals gaining more weight. The study showed that obese individuals end up seeing far better results when they start exercising, as opposed to obese participants that tried to lose weight by simply dieting. While the study didn’t precisely measure dieting, it did reveal that those who used a diet to lose weight eventually ended up gaining the pounds back after they hit their goal, while those who exercised had better long-term results.

“Exercise is important when it comes to obesity and disease due to its impact on insulin sensitivity,” says Jay Cowin, NNCP, RNT, RNC, CHN, CSNA at ASYSTEM. “Insulin sensitivity is your body’s ability to pull glucose out of the bloodstream so that it can be used for energy or fuel. Obesity has been found to activate the innate immune system which stimulates inflammation and insulin resistance.”

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“This can lead to symptoms of prediabetes and ultimately type 2 diabetes,” continues Cowin. “However, studies show that exercise improves insulin sensitivity when performed daily. This is because, during aerobic exercise, muscles increase their uptake of glucose by as much as fifty times. This effect can persist for up to 24 hours or more after your workout. This shows that exercise is imperative for regulating insulin sensitivity, which can affect your overall health.”

Exercise doesn’t just affect how your body processes insulin.

“Exercise prevents or reverses the effects of certain diseases,” says Dr. Daniel Boyer of the Farr Institute. “Moderate exercise increases heartbeat that makes the body muscles use more glucose. With time, it reduces blood sugar levels, [which] lowers heart attack [risk] and related disorders. By controlling body weight, reducing sex hormones, and strengthening the immune system, it can minimize chances of certain cancers like colon and breast cancer.”

According to the study, people who exercised regularly had a 22% lower all-cause mortality risk and 24% lower cardiovascular disease risk.

“It [also] promotes a sense of confidence and well-being by lowering anxiety and depression,” says Dr. Boyer. “However, the link between exercise and emotional health is not clear. Because it makes the body burn more calories, it helps check obesity that might cause health problems in the body. To achieve this, do some aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes per day to realize the effect of exercise on your weight.”

If you have a weight loss goal in mind or just want to live a healthier lifestyle, opt to make exercise a priority to keep you in top shape and moving toward a better lifestyle. If you need ideas of what to do to get your body moving but don’t know where to start, make sure to check out This 5-Move At-Home Workout Will Help You Build Strength and Get Lean and get ready to live your best life.

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Following a specific eating plan such as a calorie-restrictive diet, a low-carb/high-fat diet, or an intermittent fasting schedule can be helpful for weight loss, but to get even more benefits, researchers suggest you may want to consider alternating all three.

In a study published in the journal Nutrition, researchers looked at 227 adults who sought medical intervention for weight loss and were advised to follow one of those three approaches. After following one of the diets, 154 participants then switched to another of the dietary interventions, and then the third. During the intermittent fasting—also called time-restricted eating—they still maintained a low-carb, high-fat plan.

RELATED: One Side Effect of Eating a High-Fat Diet, Says New Study

About 78% of patients lost about 5% of their body weight when following a single diet, and there was no difference in the amount of weight loss achieved based on diet type. Those who did the three plans in succession, however, lost almost double that amount, suggesting that switching up your weight-loss strategy could propel you toward your goals more effectively.

“Staying on the same diet can be challenging, and is often a reason that people stop doing it,” says lead author Rebecca Christensen, Ph.D.(c) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. “That’s why it’s encouraging to see that successive diets may have an effect. It could be easier for many people to switch to a new dietary intervention than stick to one plan that’s long-term.”

That said, she emphasizes that those who lost “only” 5% of their body weight were still gaining major advantages for their health. That’s because that modest amount is associated with improvements in cardiometabolic function in past research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a loss of 5 to 10% of total body weight can help with blood pressure and blood sugar regulation and may lower cholesterol. That’s true even if you stay in the overweight or obese category, the CDC adds, and maintaining that weight loss over time can continue to offer benefits such as better energy levels, greater physical mobility, improved mood, and higher self-confidence.

“Think of this as a variety of different tools you can choose when you’re deciding on a dietary intervention,” says Christensen. “You don’t have to pick only one and stick to that. This study shows there are benefits to going back to the toolbox along the way.”

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