When it comes to losing weight, the classic formula has long been “eat less + exercise more.” If only it were that easy and simple. The reason it’s not is because people often overestimate how many calories they burn when exercising and underestimate how many calories they consume in any given meal. On top of that, research has shown that vigorous exercise tends to increase appetite, potentially leading to overconsumption.

If your goal is weight loss, your first priority should always be a healthy diet—specifically, a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet that is packed with nutrients but lower in calories. But exercise remains very important. Although you can lose weight without exercising, doing so means that you’ll also lose muscle and bone density, which isn’t wise. Second, physical activity helps keep weight off once you’ve lost it. Regular exercise increases your metabolism, in part because muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest. Finally, exercise improves your mood and cognitive function, helps you sleep better, boosts your immune system, and so much more.

An Exercise Plan for Weight Loss

When designing exercise programs for clients, trainers usually consider at least three main elements: cardiovascular activity, strength training, and flexibility. Cardiovascular activity burns calories; strength training builds muscle, which can increase fat burning when you’re at rest; and flexibility translates into more effective workouts and fewer injuries, which can derail your whole training regimen. Each component complements the others, and if you want a complete fitness program, you’ve got to include them all.

Exercise improves your mood and cognitive function, helps you sleep better, boosts your immune system, and so much more.

Of course, you need more details than that, which is where the FITT principle comes into play. FITT stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type of exercise. Trainers use this principle to create workouts that meet specific goals. Here’s what a weight loss–oriented workout program might look like, using the FITT principle.

Cardio Activity

Frequency: Government guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week for optimal health. That amounts to a minimum of 30 minutes per day for five days a week. You may need to increase to six weekly workouts for weight loss, but five is a solid base to build on.

Intensity: While most of your cardio workouts should be at a moderate intensity, aim to challenge your body by increasing the intensity for one or two workouts on nonconsecutive days each week. You can also try interval training, alternating between higher and lower intensity within the same workout, perhaps in a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio—i.e., one minute of hard work followed by one or two minutes of easy work. Monitor intensity by rating your exertion on a scale of one to ten, with one being very light and ten extremely difficult. For moderate-intensity workouts, shoot for five to seven. For high-intensity workouts, you’ll want to be at eight or nine.

Time: As intensity increases, time decreases. For low- to moderate–intensity workouts, plan to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes; for high-intensity work, veer toward shorter workouts (around 20 minutes). Of course, if you’re new to exercising, you can start with even shorter bouts—10 minutes or so—and gradually build.

Type: This depends on not only the equipment available to you but also, more importantly, your personal preference. Choose the type of exercise that you enjoy. Whether that’s running, brisk walking, cycling, swimming, water aerobics, or Zumba does not matter. Note that when we repeatedly engage in any specific type of exercise, our bodies tend to become more efficient at performing that exercise, which may lead to a plateau in performance and weight loss results. Mixing up your workouts can help you avoid this pitfall. Try different activities—for example, walking one day and playing tennis the next. You might also try different ways of doing your favorite activity. For example, if you typically swim using a freestyle stroke, try switching to the breaststroke. Aside from minimizing plateaus, a mix of activities will help to prevent injuries that might occur from repetitive strain on the same joints and muscles. It will also help keep you from getting bored, which might discourage you from sticking with your program.

Strength Training

Frequency: Aim to do strength training two to three nonconsecutive days each week.

Intensity: When training with weights, shoot for at least one set of 8 to 12 repetitions. If you can do more than 12 repetitions, increase the weight accordingly. As you get stronger, you can add additional sets. You should be using enough weight that your muscles feel fatigued by the time you reach the last repetition. If you are doing body weight exercises, such as unweighted squats, push-ups, or pull-ups, try to do as many as you can while maintaining good form.

Time: This depends on how you structure your strength training. Some people like to hit every major muscle group in each workout—i.e., upper body, core, and lower body—whereas others prefer to focus on only one or two muscle groups each day. A full-body workout will obviously take longer.

Type: You can choose between a wide variety of tools: dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, stability balls, medicine balls, and resistance machines. Similar to cardiovascular type, it may help you to focus on the type of equipment you most enjoy using, especially when you’re first getting started. Body weight exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and crunches, are another good option, with the added benefit that you can do them almost anywhere.

Flexibility

Frequency: Stretching exercises should be done at least four days per week to increase flexibility, but a good rule of thumb is to stretch at the end of every workout. Stretching before a workout may also be a good idea, depending on the type of activity (see below for more details).

Intensity: Stretching can be broken down into two basic modes: static stretching and dynamic stretching. In static stretching, a stretch is held for 30–60 seconds. In dynamic stretching, a joint is taken through its full range of motion several times without holding any one position. The goal of dynamic stretching is to gently increase the range through each repetition. It is a good way to warm up the muscles and joints and prepare for activities where their range of motion may be pushed to the limit—e.g., competitive sports in which movements may be various and unpredictable. Static stretching is best for increasing flexibility, but before exercise, it can actually inhibit neuromuscular activation—i.e., prevent your muscles from contracting at full power. Thus, it should be done after your workouts.

Time: For preworkout dynamic stretching, take as much time as you need to put each joint that will play a role in your activity through at least six to eight flowing repetitions, or however many repetitions are needed to alleviate any stiffness and warm up the joint. For postworkout static stretching, take as much time as needed to stretch each major muscle group involved in your activity. Aim to hold each stretch for 30 to 60 seconds.

Type: As discussed above, both dynamic and static stretching are important. Some forms of exercise—e.g., pilates and yoga—incorporate these kinds of stretching into their routines. Gentle yoga can be a great activity for your “off” days to facilitate recovery from strength and cardio workouts.

Final Thoughts

You can’t outrun a bad diet or other unhealthy lifestyle choices. Getting enough sleep, managing stress, and cultivating a healthy social life are all important, irrespective of exercise. Likewise, you can’t out-exercise an otherwise sedentary day. The benefits of structured exercise described above will be partially undermined if you spend the vast majority of your time sitting. So take a few minutes to move every 30 to 60 minutes, whether that means taking a quick stroll, doing a round of jumping jacks or other calisthenics, or even stretching at your desk.

Exercise is about so much more than losing or managing weight. While it certainly plays a role, hopefully you’ll shift your focus to the enjoyment you get from moving. Movement is life, and that life can be a longer, healthier one with the right combination of plant-based eating and daily activity.