The human body is designed to be moving and working throughout the
day. Sitting for long periods in an automobile, at a desk, or on a couch is an
unnatural situation. It should not be surprising, then, that regular physical
activity has many potential health benefits. These include better cognitive function;
improved sleep quality; healthier bones and joints; greater muscle strength and
endurance; and lower risks of depression, heart disease, stroke, metabolic
syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers. It is
also important for maintaining a healthy weight. Regular exercise isn’t
required for losing weight; just about any diet will do that. Regular exercise
is needed to keep the weight off. The National Weight Loss Registry is a
long-term study of individuals who have lost thirty or more pounds and kept it
off for at least a year. To maintain their weight loss, registry members report
burning about 370 calories per day by exercising. This equates to about
thirty-five to forty-five minutes of vigorous exercise or sixty to seventy-five
minutes of moderate exercise. These numbers are only averages. You may be able
to get by with less, especially if you make use of much of the other advice in
this book. It is unlikely, however, that you will be able to lose weight and
keep it off without a regular exercise program.
_____________
Regular exercise is needed to keep the
weight off.
_____________
The US government’s 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for
Americans recommends at least thirty minutes of moderate exercise five or
more days a
week
for basic health, and suggests that sixty or more minutes a day may be
needed
to reach or maintain a healthy body weight. The daily exercise may be
done
all at once or divided into smaller blocks, but each block should be a
minimum
of ten minutes. Fifteen minutes of vigorous exercise may be substituted
for
every thirty minutes of moderate exercise.
Turn
Work and Play into Exercise
Getting thirty minutes of moderate exercise each day can be as
simple as
taking
a brisk walk when you get up in the morning or during your lunch hour. Other moderate
exercise options include hiking, light weight training or calisthenics, yoga, shooting
baskets, recreational swimming, bicycling, or playing actively with children.
Vigorous exercise might include racquetball, basketball, doubles tennis, running
or jogging, fast ballroom or square dancing, fast bicycling, skiing, hiking
hills, swimming laps, jumping rope, or heavy weight training.1 Find an activity
that you enjoy. Staying with an exercise program is easier if you make it fun. Here
are some more ways to be active:
Join
an exercise group.
1. Get a gym membership and use it.
2. Organize a group of friends or neighbors for morning or evening walks.
3. Take stairs instead of elevators.
4. Walk instead of drive, or park a distance from your destination
and walk the rest of the way.
Get
Away from the Screen
Limit television and other leisure screen time such as videos and recreational
Internet use. These activities take time away from active recreation, burn very
few calories, and leave you feeling less energetic. Limiting leisure screen
time to a few hours a week can facilitate your efforts to get more physical
activity. Getting away from the screen and living an active life is also kind
of like starring in your own reality show. Enjoy it!
Copyright ©Stan Spencer, PhD –Originally appeared in The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss by Stan Spencer, PhD
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