| Exercise
So many of my clients ask me "is
there a magic pill I can take to help me feel better?"
I tell them "yes, and that magic pill is exercise."
Exercise can truly cure a multiple of sins and overindulgences.
Besides making you feel good and lifting your mood,
exercise does some amazing things in the body such
as:
- Reducing your risk of getting
heart disease, high blood pressure, and adult diabetes
- Improves the functioning of
your immune system
- Helps you more effectively manage
stress, and decrease anxiety
- Helps strengthen your bones and
prevent osteoporosis
- Increases the good HDL cholesterol
- Helps you sleep easier and better
by increasing REM (or deep) sleep
- Helps you lose weight by increasing
metabolism and decreasing insulin resistance
- Increases self-esteem
These benefits are but a few of the hundreds of
ways exercise can benefit you. However, exercise is
more than what one of my clients refers to as "the
executive workout" - i.e. going to the gym for
a steam and shower. Sometimes starting an exercise
program can be difficult due to unreasonable expectations.
People tend to try to do too much too soon, become
injured, and then cannot exercise for some time, only
to repeat the process again.
Part of overcoming the obstacles
to exercise are finding an activity that you find
enjoyable and varying it enough to keep it interesting.
Look for opportunities to include activity in your
life such as walking to and from errands, taking the
stairs, etc. Every little thing you do does add up
and can improve your likelihood of losing weight and
improving your health.
A combination of aerobic and
strength training is ideal for most individuals. Aerobic
activity 4 or more times per week improves cardiac
function and is essential for fat metabolism. Strength
training two or three times per week can assist in
increasing one's metabolism, protect against muscle
and bone loss during weight loss, and increase strength
and muscle tone.
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