Exercise

 

Exercise is vital, as our bodies are designed to move. Exercise is NOT optional. Our bodies were designed to move… well, every day, and many times. It is a ridiculous concept to say that our bodies are made to move about … three times a week?

 

If you consider the above concept, it becomes logical to exercise daily, not just three times a week. Create an active routine and stick to it. It is advisable to exercise on an empty stomach and eat later. Start slow and build up to twenty to thirty minutes daily. You can take a break if you start feeling bad, but do not convince yourself you cannot do it. You can and you must if you want to feel great.

 

Don’t make excuses for not exercising. You can always wake up half an hour earlier, exercise, and then take a shower and eat a healthy breakfast. This will enable you to start your day in the best way possible, and you will have more energy for daily duties.

 

Combine aerobic exercise in the fresh air, such as jogging, running, walking, or biking, with indoor exercise like pushups, core strength exercises, yoga, etc. The best exercise you can do is jump for five minutes daily on a mini-trampoline. You may need a stabilizing bar to hold on to, but don’t worry about getting your feet in the air, as long as you keep bouncing. During this exercise, every single muscle in your body is worked and stimulated. The lymph and blood flow are enhanced. You move alternately with and against gravity, and the result is like being under a gravitational “alternative current”.

 

Another great exercise that activates all our body muscles is planking. Get in the position for pushups, but instead of supporting your body with your hands, lean on your forearms. This position is great for the legs, back, stomach, and arms. Try the plank challenge as well. Increase the time in plank position every day by a few seconds. It is great, and you will experience results.

 

Exercise not necessarily for the physical benefit, but for mental and emotional tonus. The endorphins you generate will be a great reward and help you feel well and alive. During exercise you should try to break a sweat. Walking the dog or going to the mailbox is not considered exercise. Walking to the next street is not exercise. Working in the garden is not exercise. You need to arrange a formal, dedicated time for exercising. Schedule a time to work up a sweat. Run, jog, lift weights, bike, or do yoga, tai chi, or chi qung. Whatever it is, you should dedicate time solely to that purpose, with the true intent to get something out of it.

 

It is important to do at least half of your exercise routine outdoors. Run one mile or jog, walk, or bike. When you jog or run, always make first contact with the ground with the ball of the foot, then roll the foot gently back to the heel. Run with small steps so you don’t land on your heels.

 

There is a common confusion people have about losing weight. Many believe there should be a 50/50 balance between diet and exercise, but losing weight is actually 97 percent diet and about 3 percent exercise. Bear in mind that only a few bites can neutralize hours of exercising. Exercise is great for a thousand reasons, but losing weight is mainly achieved through diet. Does exercise help? Absolutely, but it will not help you lose pounds nearly as much as diet will.

 

Contrary to the popular opinion, in general, for weight loss, exercise is mostly useless.  Among those who understand physiology, the common belief is that exercise is not a great tool for weight loss. Why? Because we can always consume calories much faster than we can burn them. In other words we can’t out-exercise the American diet.

But diets, generally, don’t work either; they have a failure rate of 80 to 90 percent. What we need is a long term change of our habits. We need a new life not a new “diet.”

Unfortunately, we are made to move. The weight-control system appears to malfunction without daily exercise. When we sit most of the day, everything falls apart. “In thousands of years of evolution, man did not have the luxury of sedentary life except very recently. An inactive life for man is as recent and as abnormal as caging is for an animal.”

As hunter-gatherers, as farmers, as field laborers, we moved, we worked, and we burned lots of calories. Today we don’t do even a fraction of that. It’s somehow inaccurate to say that we “go to work.” In fact, most of us we go to sit there. We are not really office “workers”; we are …office “sitters”.

As a result of this sedentary lifestyle, we burn far less energy during our work day than our ancestors did. To compensate for a day of office “work,” we will have to run about six miles every day. Do we ever exercise this much every day? We almost never do!

No reputable expert is ever suggesting that exercise alone can easily reverse obesity. In order for exercise to combat weight, it must be combined with a simple, low carb healthful diet.

There is a saying that diets are like politics and religion. People always believe what they want to believe, and nothing is going to change their minds. The best diet may be the one a person believes in, because that’s the diet they are willing to stick to.

The same holds true for daily exercise: Do whatever makes you happy, be it jogging, yoga, strength training, marathons, or around-the-block walks with the dog. If you get bored or tired of one particular exercise, then switch to another. Just don’t stop your daily exercise – ever.

Find a way to move more when at work, too. Be creative and find new ways to take the stairs, take different and longer short walks, stand more, and stretch more. Sitting is becoming the new smoking. We all need to cut back on sitting..

Work outs and exercise release have massive effects on the body: they release beneficial endorphins, hormones, enzymes, and proteins that improve our glucose control, blood pressure, heart health, mood, immunity and more. The key to a lifelong weight control is finding the correct balance between diet and exercise. Plenty of exercise and a calorie restricted diet with no carbs is the key.

 

Compensate for our sedentary lifestyle by scheduling a work out period of at least 30 -40 minutes each day and dedicate this time to exercise in such a way that you break a sweat and elevate your heart rate. Note the key word is scheduling. If we do not schedule it, it is unlikely to happen. We need to make exercise a daily habit.

 

You should exercise when you feel depressed, as it will help you feel better. Exercise is a habit we all need to have, and the more we do, the better we’ll feel. If you don’t already have time set aside, make time for it. It is that important. People who make exercising a priority don’t necessarily have more time than others. Rather, they make sure to schedule time for it because they know it enhances their energy, performance, and the quality of their lives. It has been shown that children who exercise during breaks are better able to pay attention and learn.

 

View exercising as a source of energy for everything else. However, even if you have the best intentions, if you establish tough exercise goals, you may fail. When you try to do too much and can’t keep up, you will likely give up. Never give up, but never set goals you may fail either. Be aware of how capable you are, and with that on your mind, set small, achievable goals. Make exercise challenging but never impossible.

Exercise is a crucial factor for any diabetic patient  as it burns sugar and increases muscle sensitivity to insulin. Exercise also lowers the level of stored amounts of glucose.

Make daily exercise an utmost priority. When we do not prioritize our daily exercise, it is often because we are busy serving others. As a result, our own energy is not replenished and we become more and more exhausted. When we are tired and exhausted, we can’t be there for anyone or anything else.

 

People often that say that they don’t have time to exercise or that they won’t exercise because they are “constantly on the move all day long”. This excuse is usually not true, it is just an exaggeration, designed to make them feel better.

 

Those who say they don’t have time to exercise are under a great delusion. You cannot afford NOT to exercise.

 

 

Chapter Summary

 

• Exercise daily, not three times a week.
• The best exercise you can do is jump for five minutes daily on a mini-trampoline.
• Losing weight is 97 percent diet and 3 percent exercise.
• View exercise as a source of energy for everything.