Remember, way back in the beginning, like edition 2 of my weight loss tips. Okay, you have the visual picture now, good. I said that weight loss is a lifestyle change and not the D word! This is so true. If you're changing your lifestyle to become healthier, then exercise should be incorporated in your life. Exercise helps you burn off any extra calories you've eaten, it helps give you energy, and most importantly (to me at least) it lifts your mood.
One of the things I hate to hear the most is people who say, "But I have no time to exercise." It is simply not true. If I can fit it into my schedule with work, Number One's gymnastic schedule, three kids, and a husband, plus trying to write and publish a book on the side, then you can definitely fit it into yours. It may mean getting up a few minutes earlier, it may be doing short, simple exercises throughout the day, but any type of exercise is better than none.
Let's get started, shall we?
- Exercise FIVE times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a day: FIVE TIMES. Are you trying to kill me, you might be saying. First of all, the 30 minutes is a total. You can do 3 10 minute exercises throughout the day. You don't have to do it all at once. And this is your goal, so you may need to build up to this, incorporating exercise into your day one or two days at a time, and then adding in a couple more days.
- Interval Exercises: Interval training is BEST for weight loss. Interval training is where you go hard for a few minutes, then easy, then hard again. I HATE interval training. Let me say that again: I HATE it, but it works and it is great for your body. This is also good news for those people who say they don't have time, because you can do interval training in 10 minute bursts!
- Find an Exercise that You Love: To me this is essential. When I found Taekwondo, I knew I would be able to stick with it. I love the atmosphere, the people, the built-in accountability, and I love the sport. If you find an exercise you love, then you are much more prone to stick with it.
- Track Your Exercise: There are 5,000 tracking tools out there, and I know I've done a list before. Endomondo is what I'm currently using, but there is Runkeeper, Nike+, Gyminee, MapMyRun. A lot of these have the word "run" in them, but they do track other exercises as well. Sometimes it helps to see the visual of how much you've exercised recently. I'll give you an example, here's a chart of my exercise over the last couple of weeks:
Unfortunately, the legend didn't populate, but the beigy pink is martial arts (what I do most). The green is running (was taking a break because of my leg), the purple is walking and the light pink is dancing. What a cool way to track your workouts! I love Endomondo.
Remember: the more you move the more calories you'll burn, the more you'll lose weight and incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your life.
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