Exercise and Nutrition

You are not alone! Thousands of Americans have achieved a lifestyle that is almost completely without any form of exercise.

Exercise should fit your lifestyle, not the other way around. Exercising will be more rewarding if it fits how you live and the way you live. Make exercise part of your lifestyle.

Good news, you don’t need to join a gym or take 7 aerobics classes a week to get into shape! The bad news, over forty percent of people in the United States are obese and need 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week which they are not getting in addition to eating right. A study was conducted to determine if one could lose weight as you would working out in a gym the same as simply increasing daily functions such as climbing the stairs versus taking the elevator, parking further away from where you are headed, talking a walk versus driving for short distance trips, etc. Each of the people in the group wore monitors to gauge their levels of daily activity.

The study consisted of 40 people with a BMI (body mass index) over 32%; that classified them as obese. 20 were instructed to take several exercise classes per week and 20 were instructed to increase daily activities. The entire group was placed on a 1200 calorie a day diet for a 16 week period. The study groups were also tested at 68 weeks and those monitoring the groups did not know which group was which and which was structured to maintain impartiality. The study focused not only on weight loss but also on levels of body fat, cholesterol, mood, and blood pressure. The results were a real eye opener for people in both groups. It was shown that simply increasing your daily activities had as much effect or more on weight loss and overall health.

The next time you are feeling a little sluggish or your favorite pants feel a little tight, take the stairs or go dancing because it's the little things in our day that add up.

If you are willing to exercise but just don't want to leave the house then perhaps a home exercise system can work for you. Having the ability to exercise at home offers privacy and the freedom of using whenever you want. Depending on the system you choose, home gyms have become both affordable and compact.