Exercise - essential if you are to lose weight and stay healthy

Exercising is as vital as healthy eating

It doesn't matter how healthy your diet is - if you don't exercise and spend all your day sitting in a chair you still won't be healthy. Any extra physical activity - even something as banal as taking a longer walk to work or spending more time shopping - can help.

Exercising not only improves your metabolism and helps you to lose weight, it can also lift your mood and give you a far more positive outlook on life. There's probably no better cure for depression. And there are many long term benefits. Your blood pressure is reduced, your risk of getting heart disease, cancer and diabetes are all significantly lowered, and the chance is that not only will you live longer but that you will also remain physically active for much longer into old age.

Make exercise a part of your daily routine

You shouldn't overdo it and it's good idea to get into a routine that you can easily stick to. Try to set aside around twenty to thirty minutes each day specifically for exercise. If possible, this should include some cardio-vascular exercise (walking, running, swimming, cycling, skipping) and some form of resistance training (weight lifting, push-ups, squats).

With resistance training, it is best to perform exercises that work on groups of muscles rather than individual muscles to avoid injury and so that you get the maximum benefit. For example, if you are exercising with a pair of dumbbells, rather than simply lift the weights up and down repeatedly for five minutes, try combining this with a side-to-side movement that exercises more muscles. There are many excellent videos on YouTube offering suggestions for exercise routines you can do at home or in the gym.

High-intensity interval training to lose weight fast

High-intensity interval training or HIT has proven to be particularly effective at burning up excess body fat. This involves alternating periods of intense activity (for around half a minute) and periods of moderate activity (for five to ten minutes) - for example running as fast as you can and then jogging at a gentle pace. One of the benefits of HIT is that your body will continue burning calories for several hours after you finish exercising. Twenty minutes of HIT is likely to be far more beneficial to you than a full two-hour work-out in the gym.

Sports drinks bad, plain water good

When exercising, you should always avoid so-called 'sports drinks', as these are extremely high in sugars and other additives that are not beneficial and can actually harm your health. (The manufacturers of these products claim they boost your performance but in fact what actually happens is that most of the sugar ends up being converted directly into body fat, totally negating the benefit of exercise). In particular, avoid those containing high-fructose corn syrup and low-sugar alternatives containing sweeteners. Instead drink either water or a natural isotonic drink such as coconut water. If you need an energy boost, it's far better just to eat a banana or two before your work-out.

Do not eat within one hour of starting or completing your exercise training. It always pays to exercise on an empty stomach and wait until your muscles are relaxed before eating. Drinking water or coconut water before, during and after exercising will keep the thoughts of eating out of your mind and help you to focus on the job of exercise.

Exercise doesn't have to be torture

If you are not able to accomplish a full daily work-out, you can still benefit from milder forms of exercise. Take up hobbies which involve more moving about, take longer over shopping, take a longer walk into work, spend more time doing housework or gardening, decorate your house more often, use stairs more frequently, do gentle exercises whilst listening to the radio or watching television. Anything you can do to reduce the time you spend sitting down and being physically inert will help to improve your health, your figure and your state of mind.

© James Travers 2016