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The Power of Regular Activity

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What if we told you that you have the power to add years to your life span, perform daily activities easier or prevent disease and sickness?

The truth is we all have this power and it can all be accomplished through consistent, regular physical activity!

This can be planned exercise or any activity really that requires you to expend energy.

The power of regular movement, be it planned exercise or not, has many proven positive benefits. The more consistent the physical activity is, the greater the potential benefits.

Here is a brief list of what you can expect to achieve by introducing regular physical activity and movement into your lifestyle:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Lower blood sugar
  • Improve cholesterol
  • Reduce your risk of heart disease
  • Reduce your risk of diabetes
  • Lose weight
  • Gain strength
  • Improve bone density
  • Improve range of motion
  • Stronger joints
  • Improve joint conditions (eg. arthritis)
  • Help with depression
  • Improve sleep
  • Increase longevity
  • Perform daily activities better/easier
  • Maintain independence
  • Reduce risk of some types of cancer
  • Improve cognitive abilities

This list could go on and on.

The human body was meant to work. Today we sit more then ever in the history of our existence so building regular physical activity and exercise into your life has become a necessity. The more we move and challenge our bodies, the more fit we become, the more efficient and effective we are and of course the healthier we are. So, get moving!

What is the Best Diet?

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With so many different diets out there these days, how can you choose which one is best? They all claim to work. Should you do Paleo, Keto, Weight Watchers, high fat, low fat, don’t eat carbs, eat carbs, vegetarian, vegan and the list goes on and on.

What if I told you that the diet doesn’t matter, they all work?

It’s true!

When it comes to weight loss, the diet itself really doesn’t matter but there are 2 very important factors that do.

One is energy balance. If you are after weight loss you must be expending more energy then you are consuming each day. Most diets are a form of calorie reduction, which is why they mostly all work. Typically, when we eat mindlessly and don’t pay attention to portion sizes or food quality, we over eat. And when you over eat, you gain weight. So just paying more attention to what you are eating and how much you are eating will have a positive impact on weight loss. You have to eat the right amount of food for weight loss to occur. Not too much, not too little.

The second and most important factor in choosing a diet is long term adherence. This is where most of the diets fail. If you love to eat pasta and you choose a diet that is low carb or keto and you can never eat pasta again, how long do you think you will stick with it? Diets that severely restrict or completely cut out food groups are not recommended. They are too hard to stick to.

Here is an example. Keto works well in the beginning for a lot of people. Keto is high fat and fat is very satiating and energy dense so it keeps you feeling full longer and therefore you will naturally eat less calories. That takes care of the energy balance factor. But if you are someone who loves carbs and all you can think about is when you can eat carbs again, how successful do you think you will be on keto? Not saying it doesn’t work for some people, it certainly does, but when you factor in long term adherence, keto may not be right for you. You may lose 15 or 20lbs in the first couple months but what good was it if 2 months after that you couldn’t stick with it anymore, you fell off the wagon and went back on all the stuff you restricted yourself from hard, and gained the weight back. If you just look at the first 2 months, that diet worked great but if you consider the whole picture, you essentially wasted 2 months and are now even more frustrated with yourself. It didn’t work.

True lasting weight loss occurs over time. Finding ways to stay the course and be consistent is the key. You are looking for something you can live with for the rest of your life. A good diet really isn’t a diet at all. It’s just about eating smarter. Learning what a proper portion size is, choosing good foods most of the time but not restricting yourself from eating the things you love once in a while and being mindful of when and what you are eating.

Slow and steady wins the race!

4 Keys To Achieving Optimal Wellness in 2020

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If you are looking to become the best version of yourself this year, try implementing as many of these key principles into your daily and weekly routines as you can. Start with one of them, schedule it as part of your regular routine, get consistent with it and then add another. Don’t overwhelm yourself adding all of them at once and understand that adding even just one of these ideas into your regular routine will have a positive impact on your health and well being.

There are no magic potions here, but these are all simple ideas that most of us know we should be doing, it’s just a matter of doing them and doing them consistently.

Here we go:

  • Move More, Sit Less

It’s no secret that replacing sitting time with more movement time will have positive results to our health. Again, we just have to do it. Try to set a goal of sitting for less then 3 hours a day, and when you are sitting at work to get up at least once every hour to walk around and move to break up the sitting time.

You can also track your steps and try to hit a daily goal of 10,000 steps to ensure you are moving enough.

  • Get Regular Exercise

Try for 3-5 cardio sessions a week which can be any activity that maintains an elevated heart rate for at least 20 minutes. Walking, biking, the gym, skating. Pick something you enjoy.

Strength train 2-3 times per week. Keeping your muscles strong is one of the most important things you can do for long term health, independence and confidence. Make sure you are getting all major muscle groups.

Stretch daily if you can. Keeping good range of motion helps you move better and stay injury free.

  • Rest

The body adapts and recovers while you rest, not while you work so make sure you are getting enough rest. Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night, schedule regular rest days and even take a vacation once in a while to get away from the day to day stresses and focus on relaxing and resting.

  • Eat Well

Eat mostly minimally processed food, preferably real, whole foods. Eat lots of vegetables, get enough protein and limit your sugar intake. Make sure you control your portion sizes and eat regularly to maintain good energy levels throughout the day. (Eat Smart, Eat Often, Eat Small!)

That’s it. Start implementing these principles into your regular routine and reap the rewards in 2020!

How Long Does It Take to See Results from Exercise?

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Everybody wants to know; how long do I need to exercise before I see results? Depending on what results you are after the period of time it takes will vary. We will look at a few of the more common benefits and when you can expect to start to see some results. There is a catch though! We will address that at the end, so read on.

Resting Heart Rate
Within just a couple weeks with regular aerobic training you can see improvements in your resting heart rate. The heart is a muscle and improves and gets stronger with exercise. As you get fitter, not only will your resting heart rate decrease but your heart rate will recovery quicker after an exercise bout as well.

Blood Pressure
Again, within just a few weeks you can start to see improvements in blood pressure if you have high or borderline high blood pressure.

Endurance
Expect it to take 4-6 weeks of regular aerobic exercise before you see noticeable improvements in your endurance although the changes begin within the first couple weeks, it just takes a bit before they translate into noticeable improvements.

Strength
You will begin to notice strength gains within the first 2 to 3 weeks. These gains are mostly from neuromuscular adaptations where your muscle learns to move more efficiently. In a 3 to 6 month period you can see anywhere form a 25-100% gain in strength.

Muscle Size
This one takes a lot of work and needs a long-term perspective and the amount varies from very little change to up to about a 60% increase. There are a lot of variables that come in to play for this one such as age, gender, genetics, type of resistance training program and nutrition.

Weight Loss
With no change in diet, depending on how much energy you are expending throughout the week you could see results within a week or never see any weight loss results. Remember, you can’t out work a bad diet. The best weight loss results come from combining diet and exercise. If you do that the results are immediate.

Mental Health
Results in your first workout! Every workout will produce positive mental health benefits.

Now here is the catch.

Most of these results begin within the first few weeks of beginning an exercise routine BUT they only matter if you maintain the consistency with your exercise program. You have to keep it up to keep the results up.

Find a way to make exercise a regular part of your weekly routine and you will reap all of the benefits listed above for the rest of your life!