New Series: 10 Ways to Get More Exercise!

In today's busy, busy world, one of the most challenging and yet most important things we can do for our health is find the time to exercise. It's certainly not easy, even for the most dedicated of us! Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Yet most of us do not get the exercise we need, and many do not exercise at all. A 2010 study found that only 20.7% of adults fully met the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity, and 49.1% met the guidelines for neither. (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf)

And yet there is strong evidence that regular physical activity in adults lowers the risk of early death, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and an adverse blood lipid profile; there is also strong evidence that it helps prevent weight gain and reduces depression. (http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/benefits-of-exercise)

This month we are starting a new series on how to get more exercise in your life. Most of these are short and simple tips, or easy steps you can take to incorporate more exercise into your daily routine.

Each week we will share a tip, and also an exercise video so you can work out right along with us! We'll try to relate the videos to the tips each week, but sometimes they'll just be a workout we thought you'd find fun, or a quickie workout you can fit in pretty much anytime you have a few minutes.

This week we're starting off easy. :-)

Tip #1: Start Slowly
 
As with any endeavor, it is imperative that you start slowly but steadily. If you begin your new exercise regimen too hastily and with too much zeal, chances are that you are likely to burn out and run out of gas very soon. Plan your exercise routine by slowly getting used to exercising as part of your daily or weekly routine. Start out with a few minutes each day just to get your mind and your body accustomed to what is taking place. All new change is usually met with resistance, no matter how good the intentions.

Be sure to check back Thursday for a quick, fun workout video that will get you moving and having fun!

6 Tips for Staying Motivated to Exercise

Exercise is always a do-it-yourself venture. No other person and no machine can do it for you. Hence, it is important to have motivating factors so that you will stick with it.

This is what people who are overweight should learn to understand. However, although this sounds simple, in actuality it's not at easy as it sounds for the almost 55% of Americans who are overweight.

Of course, once we are overweight, we usually want to trim down for a whole lot of reasons, some related to physical condition and fitness, while others want to enhance their physique and appearance. And the truth is it is never too late to be fit.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the past 50 to 75 years, physical activity has become the exception rather than the rule, both at home and on the job. People tend to drive where others once walked. People tend to flick a switch and machines do the hauling, lifting, pushing, and pulling for them.

While many do try to lose weight, instead, as many health experts have seen, people tend to lose their way, especially when it comes to dieting. They tend to go back to their old eating habits even after learning about healthier eating. They tend to return to sedentary ways even though they enjoy exercising.

But despite the momentum toward weight gain, you can stop it from happening, experts say. And there are plenty of good reasons to avoid excess pounds, reasons that go beyond vanity or social appearance. There are many reasons in order to keep you motivated to exercise and stay healthy for the rest of your life.

6 Ways to Help You Stay Motivated To Lose Big
#1. Have an explicit goal

A simple statement like, “I want to lose some weight,” is an ambiguous and an indefinite statement. It will not  motivate you to start doing exercises right away.

What is important is to be precise on your goals. It would be better if you set a specific number of pounds that you really want to lose. Envisage what you will look like after reaching your desired weight. Doing this will inspire you to lose weight. In fact, maybe even more than what you had planned. The idea is to use that figure to assist you to remain resilient and dedicated.

#2. Develop a strategy

Strength of will does not work alone! To lose weight and stay with it, your strategy must comprise of both exercise and diet, and not just one of the two.

Try to start motivating yourself by throwing away your clothes that have bigger sizes. This will put you in a situation where you only have your sexy clothes and that you have to make a choice by staying motivated to exercise or not wear any clothes at all. Which do you prefer?

#3. Make little, calculable measures

Put into practice actions that will suit your lifestyle. This means you have to implement moves that you and you alone will benefit from it and not somebody else.

The idea here is to opt for a more positive and attainable goal and not get defeated by a goal that is too large. Reward yourself (in non-food related ways) for attaining each small goal on the way to your larger one.

#4. Monitor your results with a partner

It would be better to have somebody willing to take note of your progress or development. This will inspire you to keep on doing what you have started. Having somebody to listen to your achievements is definitely a better prize than just achieving your goal alone.

Besides, having an extra hand to support you and cheer for you when things start to fall short will help you keep going through the tough spots. Simply hearing somebody believing in you is one of the greatest motivations to keep you exercising.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#5. Construct a vigorous, but sensible timeline

What do you plan to achieve in a year? Try to suit your objectives to the longer term, and do not expect to see drastic results overnight. Having a long-term plan will help keep you from giving up on your goals quickly. Remember that the idea isn't to lose x amount of pounds and put them all back on next year. The goal should be ever-increasing long-term health, and that includes achieving and maintaining a healthy weight - for the rest of your life.

#6: HAVE FUN!

Finding new, fun ways to exercise that you enjoy and like to do often is an essential key to staying motivated. If you hate your exercise program, no amount of goal setting, tracking, or rewards is going to make you stick with it for the long haul. At some point, you're going to give up and go back to your old habits. Making new habits means finding healthy things that you enjoy and incorporating them into your life - both with diet and exercise. We provide a variety of ideas for fun ways to exercise on this blog and on our website. Not everyone likes the same activity, so we try to share a wide variety of ideas and suggestions. Check back often for more, try out some new ones, and find some activities that you like and will stick with, and you will meet with success.

The bottom line is that staying motivated to exercise entails a lot of hard work, which is contrary to what most people want to believe. But only through changing your lifestyle by making these habits permanent will you see the lasting health benefits - and keep that weight off...for good.

Yoga For Weight Loss

In today's society carrying excess weight is becoming the norm rather than the exception.  Lifestyles are increasingly sedentary, diets are becoming increasingly processed and fatty, and food contains more and more calories, additives and preservatives.  Children prefer television over playing with their friends (which is perhaps a direct reflection on parents who prefer television over socializing or even making time for their children).  This only scratches the surface of the social move towards a sedentary and unhealthy society which is making more and more people fat. 

Image via WikipediaYoga is a discipline designed to make the body strong and flexible and enhance the overall health of the digestive system as well as the hormonal and circulatory systems.  It also assists us in controlling mental stress and achieving peace and clarity of mind.  Yoga also has strong spiritual benefits which will see you becoming more content with yourself and more comfortable with who you are, all aspects which will lead to emotional stability.  This mental component is often neglected in a physical approach to weight loss, but it is critical and should not be overlooked.  So called "Comfort food" is a frequent problem for people who yo-yo diet (rapidly lose and gain weight) and the ability to be happy with your health and who you are reduces the need for this.

Yoga is based on deep and controlled breathing which is a method for enhancing our oxygen intake.  This allows oxygen to travel to the fat cells in our body and assist in their processing.  One has to ask given the benefits why more people don't practice Yoga?

One reason is that many people think of Yoga as a passive or mystical discipline - something for hippies - not them.  This is a shame as Yoga improves the physical body as well as our mental health.  While it is practiced by a great many people in Eastern Populations only about 2% of the population in the United States has clicked on to the many benefits of yoga.

Image via WikipediaYoga considers all the aspects that contribute to obesity - not just the physical but also the mental and spiritual reasons behind them. Yoga is not only relaxing but brings the body back towards its ideal weight, and at the same time enhances strength, flexibility and stamina.  Yoga nuts tend to end up slim, agile and flexible, and what's more, yoga is suitable for people of all ages.

A more active form of Yoga, Kundalini, was introduced to America in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan.  It is a more active form of Yoga combining different methods of breathing, meditation and movement to compensate for the fact the American population has been conditioned to see exercise as requiring sweating.

Yoga can also be used to resist the temptation of snacking between meals.  Techniques learned from yoga can be used to suppress impulses such as that we think of as hunger between meals (if you eat proper meals you cannot be hungry between them - merely bored or restless). 

Yoga is not just a method of losing weight, it is actually a method which restores a natural balance to our body and moves us towards our natural state.  This has an interesting consequence with weight.  It we are overweight then yes, doing regular Yoga will cause us to lose weight.  However if we are at our ideal weight we will not drop weight, and if we weigh too little we will gain weight until we are at our biologically natural size. This is thought to result from the balancing effect that Yoga has on all of our bodily systems.

Why Are We So Overweight?

I suppose an exercise blog - even one about fun - can't go too long without mentioning obesity, especially with the current state of the health of our nation.

Image via WikipediaSo why are we so overweight? Of course, the easiest answer is fast food, but the problem extends much further. Yes, the prevalence of fast food restaurants certainly doesn’t help. As Morgan Spurlock showed us with painful reality in his movie, “Super Size Me”, fast food menus offer us a heaping helping of fat, cholesterol, and calories. I highly recommend watching this movie if you find yourself addicted to McDonald’s – you could very well change your mind after you see it!

At any rate, many of these restaurants are now offering health-conscious choices including salads, potatoes instead of French fries, yogurt, and grilled meats instead of fried meats. So with these items now included on their menu, why aren’t we losing weight? The answer lies within our choices. And those choices extend to home life as well.

Many people live horridly busy lifestyles, and they more often than not opt for pre-packaged foods that contain high amounts of salt, fat, and other unhealthy components that contribute toward weight gain. We tend to maintain a mostly sedentary lifestyle, choosing to watch a favorite television program after dinner rather than going out for a walk like they used to do decades ago.

This type of lifestyle unfortunately is being learned by our children as well. When I was young, we couldn’t wait to get through dinner so we could go outside and run around, climbing trees and rocks, and playing with the animals until the sun went down. We rode our bikes everywhere, and didn't even own a TV until I was in college!

Today, you’re more likely to find kids on the computer or in front of the TV with a video game controller in their hands. Kids know more about the story line on Desperate Housewives than many of their housewife mothers. They can tell you about all of the new products being offered through commercials they see in between their programs. In fact, the average child these days will watch more than 15 hours of television each and every week.

Now, we’re not saying television is BAD. In fact, some programs can be beneficial and even helpful in making kids smarter. What we’re saying is that kids need to get outside more instead of sitting in front of the TV eating Cheetos and drinking sugar rich soda.

The statistics are showing this to be true. Fifteen percent of all children and teens are overweight - a number that has tripled since a previous study done in 1980.

Some people blame their excessive weight gain on slow metabolisms. In some cases, this might actually be true. However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed what no one really wants to face: we’re overweight because we simply eat too much of the wrong foods.

Image by Ed Yourdon via FlickrLosing weight is actually quite simple – eat less, exercise more. But we’re resistant to that message. Mainly, it’s because we’re looking for a quick fix – an easy, painless way to drop pounds without sacrifice. After all, losing weight just CAN’T be that easy, now can it?

No, it isn’t. You have to consider portion control, food choice, exercise, how much exercise, what kind of exercise, etc. But worrying about all of the specifics will do you little good. You need to get the big picture in mind first before worrying about the specifics.

What you want to do is lose those extra pounds. And there are many, many ways to go about that. But the first thing to do is have a goal in mind of what you want to accomplish, and the second step is to find forms of exercise you actually enjoy, and look forward to doing!

For a variety of fun exercise ideas, visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/exercise.html.