Losing weight initially is like winning one battle in a long war. The joy of the victory is great, but you want to win the war and maintain your weight loss too. Adding a bit of exercise to your routine is an effective way to keep the weight off, and, as new research shows, it can also help you control how much you eat.

After dieting, your once subtle hunger signals suddenly become a force to be reckoned with making you persistently hungry and apt to regain the weight you worked so hard to lose. This is one of the biggest problems with losing weight with restricted diets.

Exercise helps prevent weight regain after dieting by burning fat before carbohydrates, according to a new study from the University of Colorado.

Burning fat first and storing carbohydrates for use later in the day slows weight regain and may minimize overeating by signaling a feeling of fullness to the brain.

Looking at the effect of exercise on post-diet rats, researchers also found that working out prevents an increase in the number of at cells that typical occurs during weight regain.

That exercise can alter the number of fat cells a person accumulates is great news for the body-conscious and challenges the popular notion that the number of fat cells is carved in stone and cannot be altered by dietary or lifestyle changes.

Click here for more information about this new study.