Best Exercises for Weight Loss

Potassium plays a part in almost everything inside your body, including your heart, kidneys, muscles, and nerves. It also may help protect against stroke, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis. Many Americans don’t get enough. Dried apricots, bananas, spinach, milk, and yogurt are good sources. Ask your doctor before you take supplements. They can interfere with medications for high blood pressure, migraine, and other conditions.

These fatty acids are called "essential" because your body can't make them. They're important for your eyes, brain, and s***m cells. They also could help protect against age-related disease like Alzheimer's, arthritis, and macular degeneration, which can cause blindness. Unless your doctor says otherwise, it's best to get your omega-3s from food like fatty fish, walnuts, canola oil, or flaxseed.

It helps your body make protein and bone, and it keeps your blood sugar stable. You can get it from nuts, seeds, and leafy greens. But older people tend to eat less of it. Plus, they're more likely to have long-term health conditions or take many medications, both of which may leave you short of magnesium.

It helps make blood and nerve cells. You get it naturally from animal foods like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Pills, shots, and “B12-fortified” foods, like breakfast cereal, are other sources. Most Americans eat enough, but age can change that. Up to 30% of people over 50 have atrophic gastritis, which makes it harder for your body to absorb it from foods. Antacids, some meds, and weight loss surgery can contribute to a lack of B12.

With age, you can start to lose more of this mineral than you absorb. That can make your bones break more easily (osteoporosis), especially for women after menopause. Calcium helps your muscles, nerves, cells, and blood vessels work right. You get most of it from your bones, which get it from food. Women over 50 and men over 70 should get about 20% more than other adults. Milk, yogurt, and cheese are good sources.

Jogging is an aerobic exercise -- it uses oxygen. This can help you lose weight. A good jog can also raise something called your metabolic rate for up to 24 hours. So, you'll be in fat-burning mode even after you've crossed your daily finish line. Done regularly, jogging can help boost your metabolism for a long period of time.

It can be hard to be motivated to work out if your knees are achy or your back hurts. If you're in that boat, swimming is an ideal exercise. It's easy on your joints, you'll use both your upper and lower body, and you'll get a good cardio workout. You’ll reap the benefits from the resistance of the water, too. If you swim for a half-hour a few times a week, you'll lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. It'll also bring down your bad cholesterol and blood pressure.

Cycling is another great way to lose weight, and it's a low-impact, adaptable exercise. You can burn about 400-750 calories an hour riding a bike, depending on your weight, how fast you're going, and what type of cycling you're doing.

If you're looking for a cheap piece of workout equipment you'll be able to take on trips, a jump-rope just might be for you. Jumping rope is a fantastic way to burn calories fast. In fact, you'll burn more of them by jumping rope than walking on a treadmill for the same amount of time. You'll also work multiple muscle groups, from your core to your upper and lower body. Jumping rope can also improve your coordination.

If you were to add half an hour of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories than you usually do each day. The faster and longer you walk, the more calories you burn. Walking is a great option if you're new to regular exercise. Start with shorter journeys and build up to longer, more intense ones.