Weight Loss for Life
Get Moving – Action Plan for an Active Life

How exercise can help with weight loss

We’ve already mentioned that regular exercise can speed up your metabolism. Your body becomes more efficient at converting food into energy, and you won’t store as much as fat. This put paid to one of the beloved excuses of many overweight people – “it’s not my fault I gain weight, it’s my metabolism!”

Regular exercise also tones muscles, so that you’ll look sleeker, and it also increases the ratio of muscle to fat in the body. Muscles use up more calories in the body, so you naturally burn up more calories, helping you to lose weight. And of course, the exercise itself will use up calories.

Start slowly and gently

Many of us struggle with exercise, remembering grim school hockey sessions or wasted gym memberships. The trick is to find something that you enjoy. There’s little point buying an expensive gym membership, vowing to go 5 times a week, and then giving up after 2 weeks. It’s far better to go once a week and stick with it long term. The same principle applies to exercising as it does to losing weight – do it slowly and gradually. No sudden assaults on your body that, ultimately, are unsustainable.

Remember also that exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym. Many people just don’t enjoy gyms. You can pick something that you actually like, so that you’ll have fun at the same time, and maybe even improve your social life.

Some ideas for you …

Walking

This one is reasonably easy for many people to fit into their lifestyle. Walking can be maintained for as long as you like and gives a gentle but excellent cardiovascular workout. Long, brisk walks bring the greatest benefits.

• Try leaving the car behind for short journeys and walk instead. If you’re going grocery shopping, so much the better – carrying those bags home can double as an easy form of weight training!
• Think about whether you could walk more often in your lunch hours from work. Just a ½ hour walk, three times a week, will help.
• Or look at joining a local walking group. Many do Sunday afternoon rambles, a great way to get some fresh air, make new friends and improve your fitness at the same time.

Cycling

A good alternative to taking the car for short journeys, cycling can also be used for longer trips, improving your fitness and saving money as well. It gives a good cardiovascular workout whilst strengthening back and leg muscles, To begin with, a 4 or 5 kilometre ride would be a good start.

Again, it’s something that you could do with a local club, so you meet new people and have fun at the same time. If you’re nervous about cycling on our busy roads, many cities have organisations that run courses aimed at improving your cycling confidence.

Dancing

Salsa, jive, tango, Leroc…today’s range of dance classes are fun, varied, and a great way of exercising whilst having a great time. You don’t need to worry about going along on your own as you’ll be paired up with a partner there. Most of your body will get a good workout, including your cardiovascular system.

Swimming

A great form of exercise all round, swimming is ideal for anyone with joint problems, as the water will support you. Local authorities run both beginners and improvers courses should you feel you need them.

Don’t aim for too many laps at first – three or four laps, followed by a short rest, then more laps, until you reach say 20, will be fine at first. Just do what you can, and you’ll be surprised how your stamina builds up.

Jogging/running

Great exercise for your cardiovascular system and it helps tone and firms the legs and bum. Make sure that you invest in a pair of proper running shoes, and if possible find a running track or grass/dirt area to run on. (Running on cement surfaces can cause leg injuries, as it’s too hard a surface). At first, just jog or run gently until you tire, and aim to increase the time and distance that you go each time you do it.

Recreational sports

Most of these are excellent for increasing fitness and good for your social life as well. If you enjoyed sport at school, think back to which ones you enjoyed, and see if you could take them up again. There are always tennis, squash and badminton leagues available at sports centres, as well as football, volleyball and netball.

Joining a gym

If you are happy to use a gym and can afford the fees, then this can be an excellent way to exercise. The treadmill, bikes and rowers can increase your cardiovascular health, with the weights machines increasing strength.

Excuses, excuses!

Exercise is boring

You don’t have to commit yourself to just one form of exercise – keep it varied and you’ll keep it fun. Swim once a week, take a long walk on Sunday, do a dance class. It’s all contributing to your overall fitness levels, and helping to maintain that steady weight loss that you’re after.

Make it enjoyable, so that it never feels like a chore. Very soon, you’ll be seeing and feeling the benefits, and you’ll be motivated to carry on.

But I don’t like exercise!

I do sympathise with this one – exercise doesn’t come easily to me. Don’t worry; there are ways to incorporate exercise into your life, in ways that don’t feel as if you’re exercising. And as you do so, you’ll have more energy and stamina, so you’ll end up wanting to do more.

Firstly, let’s look at whether you really dislike all exercise. Chances are that there’s something that will provide exercise that you already enjoy. We’ve already looked at dancing, which many people love. What about gardening, another popular hobby? Walking is another good one; we all do it already, so it’s just a case of doing a bit more. I know people who enjoy housework – put some energy into it, and it can be a good form of exercise.

Many people say they dislike exercise because they hate feeling hot and sweaty. Swimming could be the answer here! There’s always some way to get exercise into your life.

I just don’t have the time…

This is understandable in today’s busy, stressful lives. However, busy, stressed out people are just those whom would benefit from exercise! And there’s usually a way to get some extra into your life. This can also help the “I don’t like exercise”  people also.

Let’s look at ways to sneak exercise in through the back door, so you don’t notice that you’re exercising.

Exercise by stealth

This approach to being more physically active overcomes many of the usual objections to more organised forms of exercise, such as insufficient time or dislike of exercise. Exercise by stealth works by changing the way that you do the everyday activities that we all do, so that the result is greater strength, endurance and flexibility.

The benefits of this approach to exercise are many. It can be done anywhere, and often requires no special equipment or training. It can be done by people of all ages and weights. In many cases this more physically active approach doesn’t take longer and may also save you money.

So what can you do during your everyday life to exercise? Ideas include:

• Get off the bus a stop or two earlier, or park the car further away, and walk the rest of the way.
• Use stairs instead of lifts or escalators. A good toning exercise for thighs and bums is to take the stairs two at a time, if you can manage it.
• Walk (or cycle) short distances rather than take the car. This saves on fuel costs as well.
• If you only need a few items at the supermarket, use a hand basket rather than a trolley – mini weight – training for your arms and shoulders.
• Change TV channels manually rather than use the remote.
• Wash your car by hand rather than using the car wash.
• Gardening and housework can both be good forms of exercise. Get that Hoover moving!
• Take time to play with children – they often have endless energy and just keep up with them will give you some exercise!
• If you have a dog, add 10 minutes to each walk. No dog? Borrow a neighbour’s, or visit the local animal sanctuary, where they usually welcome volunteer dog walkers.
• If you can, choose a pub or restaurant that you can walk to.
• If you already walk to the bus stop or train station, try jogging.

Advice for those unused to exercise

Please, go gently! Remember that it is important to respect your body. If you’ve been accustomed to little or no exercise, don’t be cruel to your body by going mad on the exercise front, then finding you’re so stiff and aching that you can’t face the prospect of any more exercise. Building up gradually will avoid overstraining yourself and possible injury. Don’t expect results overnight. Little and regular is the key, as long – term it’s far less daunting and hence more sustainable. Start slowly; taking care to select an activity or form of exercise that you think you can stick with.

Warm up first – do a few basic stretches before you start your chosen exercise, to avoid possible strains. If you have any doubts at all about your health if you have any heart disease, joint or muscle problems or any other worry, then have a check up with your doctor before you start exercising.

Measuring and monitoring

As with the weight loss, it’s a good idea to record your progress on the exercise front, and find some way of measuring the increase in your fitness. The way to do this will vary according to which form of exercise you choose. Set up some simple form of record to note your progress. Swimmers can choose to increase the number of lengths they do; walkers, cyclists or runners the distance they go.

For those who choose something like dancing, housework or the exercise by stealth method, a good way is to monitor your resting heart rate. This is the number of heart beats per minute when your body is resting. It can be measured by a home blood pressure monitor (these usually also give the pulse rate) or by simply counting your pulse, which you will find on the inside of your wrist, in line with your thumb. Place the tips of your index and middle fingers on your pulse and press down, not too hard, and count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply this by 4 to give the heart rate per minute.

Your resting heart rate is best measured first thing in the morning, or after you have been lying down and relaxing for about half an hour. It should be in the range of 45 – 80, the lower figures usually being the province of elite athletes. For those unused to exercise, it may be 90 -100, and as you gain fitness this will steadily come down.

Actions of the Week

1. Now it’s time for you to decide how you’re going to get more activity into your life.

Review the time and money that you have available, and decide on an exercise programme that is both realistic and right for you. Check out that sports centre, think where you could walk at lunchtimes, whose dog you could borrow for walks. Commit yourself to your chosen activity on a regular basis, at least once a week, and preferably three times.

2. Buy or borrow whatever gear or equipment you may need.

3. Decide on your way of measuring your progress

Set up a simple record and enter your progress weekly, to give visible records of how you’re doing.