Do I really Have To Exercise?
No, not just to lose weight. I exercise to firm up. If you lose several pounds quickly, without exercise, you can end up pear-shaped. I’m sure you’ve seen people walking on the street and it seems to happen to women more, but the first pounds that they lose always seem to be above the waist. The face, shoulders, arms, and chest always lose fat first.
Why you might ask? I think it’s because no matter how much time you spend sitting or standing without moving, your arms and shoulder are still usually moving. When you spend time at a desk you are generally moving from the waist up even though you're just sitting. That’s one reason that walking for exercise is the best exercise you can get. Basically, that’s your problem in this country, the reason obesity is at an all-time high. We as Americans don’t walk enough. Recently I saw a news show about the treadmill desk. I don’t know if you’ve heard about them, but it’s a workstation mounted on a treadmill. I first read about these 2 years ago when a health insurance company in California asked employees in one department if they would participate in a trial where they would work half a day on a treadmill desk. The company explained that employees would walk at their own speed and they could walk as much as they liked. The ones who participated walked three or four hours in the morning and one or two hours after lunch.
At the end of the six-month trial, most people didn’t want to give up the treadmill. It’s not that they lost so much weight, but they all agreed that they lost inches. Women said they now wear a smaller dress size, and one man said his waist dropped several inches, and he had to buy all new pants. Everyone reported an increase in energy, and confidence and was much happier.
I don’t talk much about exercise, but it’s an important part of getting healthy. Most of us don’t want to take the time, we feel that we’re neglecting something more important. Actually, you are more important. If you aren’t taking care of yourself you won’t be able to take care of your family later. When you’re not taking care of yourself you sick more than others, you miss more time from work, you’re not as productive and you are setting a poor example for your kids.
Your children are a reflection of you. If you want to see your kids when they get older, just look in a mirror. They will become you, maybe not right away but eventually. If you can change now, not the way you look necessarily, but change the way you eat and change your activities, make time to walk. The more active you are the more calories you’ll burn. That’s the way to lose weight, and burn more calories than you eat.
If you change, your kids will eventually notice and they’ll want to change. You can’t force them to do anything, but when they see a positive difference in you they’ll want to be like you. That alone should be motivation enough for you to change your life. Child obesity is a bad problem in this country and the blame is partly on advertising, the ads that target children to want food that’s not healthy for them. The rest of the blame lies on the parents. Kids eat what you eat, drink the drinks you buy, and in general, they will pick up the same habits you have. You have to be the grown-up and set a good example for your kids to follow.
Exercising is easy today, you don’t need a lot of extra time or money. Exercising can be as easy as buying a rebounder at Walmart or a sporting goods store or a garage sale. Rebounders are great for indoor exercise all year around. Walking is the best exercise but usually, it’s weather permitting. Mall walking is good if you can go before the mall opens. My Mall opens at about 6 a.m. for Mall walkers. I like the rebounder because I can watch T.V. while I’m bouncing. If you can use the rebounder 20 minutes a day, that’s all you need. Get the exercises off the internet. When you first start using a rebounder, just do about 5 or 10 minutes and slowly increase to 20 minutes. If you’re not used to this type of exercise just build up slowly.
The tread today is for short fast work-outs. Short fast exercise is high intensity and often for the more advanced. High-intensity workouts can jump-start your metabolism and start you burning calories immediately and for several hours afterward, but they will also get your heart rate elevated quickly. Search the Web for exercises that are right for you. You can exercise at any age or any condition, no matter how thin and fragile or big and heavy. Exercise will benefit everyone.
Different types of exercise will benefit you differently, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the results you’re looking for, you might just be doing the wrong type of exercise. This is where you might need to do some research. Today you can find all your answers on the Web or if you prefer the Library. There’s lots of material out there about your health on medical websites like “doctoroz.com” for one. If you’re neglecting your health most likely your family will follow your example and even if you push them they’ll never take it seriously because you didn’t.
Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.
Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.
If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.
There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.
Comments