3 WAYS TO GET MOVING & LOSE WEIGHT

I was overweight for quite a few years. There was a time in my life where I did not exercise due to chronic fatigue syndrome, studies, an injury and later, work stress.

The effects that my sedentary lifestyle had on me were a poor mood and mental health, further fatigue, weight gain, poor mental capacity, etc.

I would wake up after a long night’s sleep and feel as if I had only slept for a few hours. I would sometimes experience a heavy feeling, as if I had weights strapped to my body. I was young but had no energy or zest for life. 

My life changed when I made a commitment to exercising regularly and I changed my eating habits. I lost weight, felt energetic again and looked a lot better too.

The good news is that besides the effect that exercise has on losing weight, numerous studies show the astounding effects that exercise has on health in general.

Exercise decreases stress, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, dementia and many more mental health conditions. This is because of a release of endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and a neurotrophin in the brain that encourages neuron growth! Exercise also decreases neuro-inflammation which has been found to be involved with a number of mental health conditions such as depression. Have you ever noticed; the more you exercise, the better you feel, the more you want to exercise?

Due to regular exercise, your muscle mass increases, which can reverse insulin resistance, improve your metabolism, energy and ultimately your fat loss.

In women, the chance of breast cancer is decreased by an astounding 50% if you exercise 5 times a week. A woman’s bone density is also improved from selected exercise and this will decrease the risk of osteoporosis.

Exercise improves work performance and mental capacity. Brain derived neurotrophic factor (which is like a protein in the brain), is increased and can improve the volume of the brain’s hippo-campus which is important for memory and cognition.

So are you going to sit in passive non-fulfillment for another year or are you going to change something?

3 Ways to Exercise More and Lose Weight

1. Make an Ongoing Appointment (make a commitment). Find an accountability partner or join an (online workouts) exercise group. It is harder to skip that day if you have someone waiting for you. Put your sessions into your diary / calendar and set an alarm. When other things come up, you physically see yourself deleting the entry, which can be more difficult than if it was not worked into your daily schedule at all.
   
   
2. Set Attainable Goals for your physical activity. As a guideline for your goals, you are encouraged to do moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise for at least 30 min/day on 5 or more days per week (according to the ACSM). Speak to your physiotherapist / healthcare professional for the go-ahead. Moderate exercise means you are able to talk while exercising, but too out-of-breath to be able to sing. I personally like higher intensity exercise and I monitor my heart rate with my Apple watch. First start at a moderate intensity and then you can build it up in time. Strength training is also important and you can work it into your sessions.
   
   
3. Choose Exercise for Your Personality Type and have Fun. You need to choose the form of exercise you most enjoy. Some people don’t enjoy exercise in general, but choosing their preferred type of exercise is more sustainable in the long term. Whether it is outdoors, body weight exercise in your home, with or without equipment, gym or an exercise class; make sure that your heart-rate goes up for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week.

I end with an important thought: Don’t separate exercise from correct eating habits. Diet plays an extremely important role in losing weight but also energy levels and health in general.

The next post will include tips on making healthy eating easy. You can also follow me for more information on exercise and also my personal journey of a healthy lifestyle. Look forward to connect with you. Do share this and comment and let me know how I can help you on your weight loss journey.

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