We've all done it. Stopped or slowed down our exercise routine because life or something has gotten in the way and "HELLO," pounds. So we start back up with our old routine and those pounds have decided to stay, so what’s up? Well, according to a study published in February of 2008 by the American College of Sports Medicine, weight gained caused by inconsistent exercise cannot be lost by simply resuming a previous exercise routine.

In an eight year study of more than 40,000 runners, researcher Paul Williams, Ph.D., found that weight gain among men and women who decreased their running distance per week was significantly more than weight loss among men and women who increased their running distances per week by the same amount.

“If you stop exercising with the intention of starting again later, you don’t get to pick up where you left off,” Thompson said. “You’re likely to gain weight and get stuck with it unless you exercise a lot more. It’s an ounce of prevention or a pound of cure, literally.”

“We saw the most weight gain in subjects who were approaching a very sedentary lifestyle,’ Williams also said. “This concurs with the vast amount of research showing that at least some daily activity is necessary to prevent significant weight gain.”

Be sure to engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes, five days a week, at a moderate intensity, or 20 minutes, three days per week, at a vigorous intensity. Individuals striving for weight loss may need to exercise as much as 60-90 minutes per day. Stay on track and keep motivated by doing different activities or sign up for a race and start training for a goal. Remember that exercise is important for your health and how good you always feel when you’ve finished that workout.

Who wants to gain weight? It totally sucks. So, prevent it from happening and keep up your workouts and eat right!

For more blogs by the Fit Divas, please visit our website at www.thefitdivas.com