Exercise – What’s your Goal?

There is more than one reason to start exercising more. Some people are trying to fit into that slinky dress for a party, some people are recovering from illness and finally feeling well enough to move, some people have been handed a mandate from their physician, some are just newly inspired to embrace wellness.

Whatever you reason, it makes sense to identify your goal because it will affect what you do, how often you do and how you feel about it. If you are mainly interested in improving your health, there are a few things to know. First: Much of what you hear, or have long thought, is ‘marketing’. Sorry to disillusion you! For example, the mantra about 10,000 steps--it turns out it was a Japanese marketing team who came up with that in 1965 when naming an early pedometer their company was introducing. The Japanese character for 10,000 looks somewhat like a man walking, apparently. Hence, the pedometer was named ‘the 10,000-step meter’. Next thing you know, we all are convinced, mistakenly, that  10,000 steps is the magical number to walk each day to be ‘healthy’.

Instead, walking as little as 2,000 or 4,000 steps per day can give you a significant health boost IF you are very sedentary, older or otherwise daunted by the concept of 5 miles of walking. The key is to start somewhere and do some form of exercise that-over time-gives you real benefits.

If you are already fit and yet feel the urge to improve your health, then examine your lifestyle—your wellness. What other form of movement or activity is interesting and possible? Are you making the effort to get enough sleep—interestingly, the mantra about ‘8 hours of sleep’ HAS been scientifically proven (over and over) to be the real deal. Hydration—though not necessarily 8 glasses per day (also a myth) is a key area of improvement for all of us! Are you already satisfied with your eating habits? Could spending time and effort on that be a better way to reach your goal? Being clear about what you want to achieve should guide you.

If, instead, you really want to (or have been told to) lose weight, then—as we all know—it boils down to more activity, less food. I know I am over-simplifying it. But, while there are many programs, eating guidelines and well marketed diets, in the end, this is the only way. To prove my point, note that, recently, a very large study tried to answer the question… “Why am I exercising more but not losing weight?” The answer, quite clearly, was that many--if not most-- people, when they increase their exercise activity, also give themselves ‘permission’ to eat just a bit more. As little as an extra 90 calories/day offsets much of the weight loss they’d otherwise experience. So, if your intention is specifically to lose weight by increasing your activity level, remember that you should avoid allowing yourself to eat more. It seems like it will be ok, even necessary, but it will derail your plans!  Meanwhile, keep moving!