Exercise Your Secret Weapon
Why is it so hard to stay slim? Most people would swear they don't eat all that much. Most, in fact, are convinced they eat less than they did years ago, when they were 10, 20 or even 50 pounds lighter than they are today, and perhaps it's true.
So what's the real reason so many of us are overweight? We believe it's found in the title of the classic Charlie Chaplin film Modern Times. What these modern times have done is create a huge deficiency--a deficiency of exercise, resulting in a nation struggling with the awful problem of obesity.
Despite all we've heard and read about America's alleged obsession with aerobics, fitness walking and all the rest, the average person today gets much less exercise than her counterpart did a generation or two ago.
Back then, people burned excess calories just by living--that is, living in the 1940s or '50s or even '60s. But the '90s have made us exercise-deficient, and remarkably few people realize the extent of this deficiency even when the result of it is staring at us from the snickering face of a bathroom scale. The tricky part is that the deficiency comes from lots of little things--so little that they're nearly invisible, but still making a big difference in our weight.
Imagine, if you will, a split-screen image, with 1955 on the left side and 1995 on the right, and witness the dramatic effects of an exercise-free lifestyle.
Calorie Burning: 1955 versus 1995
It's morning, and Mrs. 1955 walks a quarter mile to the bus, followed by another quarter-mile walk to her job on the second floor of an elevator-less building. Once ensconced at her desk, she spends the day pounding away on an old Underwood.
Now let's look at Mrs. 1995. She drives to work, then takes the elevator to her fifteenth-floor office, where she spends her day pounding the keyboard of a computer.
The difference doesn't seem so great, does it? After all, Mrs. 1955 wasn't working in a steel mill, and she climbed only one flight of stairs to reach her desk. Yet, in fact, the difference is about 16 pounds. Yes, assuming they're the same size with the same metabolism and eat the same amount of food, just this small part of Mrs. 1995's daily regimen will, in time, make her close to 16 pounds heavier.
That's because Mrs. 1955 burned 100 calories a day walking to and from her bus stop, with about another 100 extra calories using a manual typewriter instead of an electronic keyboard. A few daily trips up and down the stairs at work burn about another 20 calories, for a total of 220. For roughly every 15 calories you stop burning on a daily basis while eating the same amount of food, you will in time get 1 pound heavier, for a total of 16 big ones in Mrs. 1995's case.
Then versus Now
Meanwhile, her husband drives 30 minutes to work, just like his dad did 40 years ago. As a salesman he drives through city traffic for about three hours a day, just like his dad did. The difference? Nearly 12 pounds a year, because Mr. 1995 has an automatic shift, while his dad, using a stick, actually burned an extra 140 calories a day.
And that's just the beginning. Because they're a two-job family, our modern couple eats out three nights a week. Over on the left side of the screen, our '50s couple ate out just once a week. The difference? For whoever does the kitchen work, about another five pounds--the result of not preparing dinner twice a week. And don't forget that our modern couple has a dishwasher!
Come evening, our '50s couple liked to watch their new TV set, though Mr. 1955 used to pop up about 15 times a night to fiddle with the aerial or change the channel. Our modern-times guy just sits there with his thumb resting on the remote.
And while Mrs. 1955 usually did her knitting while she watched TV, our modern woman just sits and watches. The difference: probably about two pounds each. Plus, one more pound can probably be tacked on because, instead of scampering to get the phone (in the kitchen) every time it rings, our contemporaries have a cellular that's always in reach.
Weekends, Mr. 1955 did yardwork. So does his son in 1995. But while Dad spent an hour and a half at a time pushing a mower over the homestead, Junior uses a riding mower and is done in 20 minutes. The difference? At the rate of 20 mows a year, four-plus pounds.
And when the snows came to Mr. 1955's hometown in the Northeast, he'd shovel his steps, pathway and sidewalk all by hand--about a 600-calorie job. Junior, like so many moderns, lives in the Sunbelt, and at ten no-snows per year, he's just gained two more pounds.
Back in the '50s, our couple frequently took short walks to the grocery store, fish market, butcher shop, library, drugstore and dry cleaner. Today, it's one-stop shopping via a drive to the mall. Carry a bag of groceries two or three blocks? Ha! Who does that anymore? You can probably slap on another six pounds.
By now, it's likely that, together, our modern couple is a good 50 pounds heavier than their '50s counterparts, even if they eat considerably less food. As for our modern houses, their very design makes us fatter. Many of us who were raised in vertical homes now live in ranches--no more up and down the stairs ten times a day. And appliances! Who kneads dough by hand or stirs a thick batter by spoon anymore when there are automated ways of doing just about everything short of peeling a banana?
And we haven't even mentioned the VCR, the PC, the CD-ROM and the don't-get-up-and-change-the-record-you-might-burn-a-calorie multidisc CD player.
Walking Off the Weight
Perhaps the simplest, most pleasant and most effective form of exercise is walking. After all, what's not to like about it? You can do it anywhere, anytime, with a minimum of equipment--just a good pair of walking shoes and comfortable clothes. You can walk alone and use the time to unwind and contemplate. Or you can walk with others and take that opportunity to catch up with a friend or a family member. Little wonder so many people choose walking as their favorite form of exercise. The combination of low-fat eating and an hour of brisk walking is nothing short of diet dynamite. But walking is such a powerful weight-loss method that even if you didn't change your present eating routine, just adding two brisk, hourlong walks each week would result in a ten-pound weight loss within a year. A walking program doesn't have to be intense to be intensely satisfying . . . and effective. Here is a week's worth of tips to get you started. See the doctor. If you're a sedentary person who is starting to exercise for the first time, tell your doctor that you're planning a walking program, and ask if she has any special advice for you. Invest in a pair of walking shoes. It's a small price to pay for the weight-loss and health benefits you'll be getting. Comfortable, supportive shoes not only protect you from injury but make walking a more pleasurable experience as well. Walking shoes have heels specifically designed for the angled impact of your foot on the ground, making correct walking motion easier. Start slow. Eventually, your goal is to walk at least 30 to 40 minutes, three times a week, but for now try 5 or 10 minutes every day. It takes time to condition your muscles and your feet to walking, and sore muscles and blisters may weaken your resolve. You can take several 5-minute walks a day to help build your sense of commitment to an active lifestyle. You'll be less likely to get sore muscles or blisters than if you take one long walk. In the long run, walking every day won't hurt you and will increase your fitness level. Watch your posture. Stand tall, relax your shoulders and let your arms swing naturally. Have a friend check your posture. The straighter you stand, the less strain you put on your neck or back. Try to keep your pelvis tucked forward, keeping the lower back as straight as possible. As your abdominal muscles get stronger, you'll be less likely to experience lower-back pain. Find a favorite route. In the beginning, it's best to establish your walking habit by walking at the same time and place, if possible. Later you can change your route for variety. Walk facing traffic if you live in an area where there are no sidewalks. Don't worry about stretching. Unlike other exercises, you don't really need a formal warm-up and cooldown period. Just start out each day by walking slowly, giving your legs a chance to limber up and get used to the idea. Cool down the same way. Keep a log. Jot down how much you've walked each day so you can look back over the week and chart your progress. Writing it down helps you keep track and increases your sense of commitment. |
Curing Virtual Immobility
We used to hear that modern lifestyles were becoming sedentary. Well, we're way past that. Today we're into virtual immobility. And we're paying the price, with our weight and even with our lives: A sedentary lifestyle has now officially been designated as one of the major risk factors for heart disease.
All the normal, everyday, no-big-deal things we unconsciously did to burn calories and keep slim are gone, never to return. Which is why creating an exercise program for yourself is crucial. It's the best way to prevail over an environment destined to keep you overweight, no matter how diligently you may watch your diet. And, the weight-loss experts agree, it's the only way to stay thin forever.
Sure, you can lose weight just by going on a reduced-calorie diet. But why do it that way when adding exercise to your eating plan is like adding a booster to your weight-loss rocket? Study after study has proven beyond any doubt that dieting without an accompanying exercise program makes weight loss much more difficult and weight maintenance nearly impossible.
"Exercise is an important part of a weight-control program," says Steven N. Blair, P.E.D. (doctorate in physical education), director of epidemiology and clinical applications at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. "The addition of exercise to diet produces more weight loss than does dieting alone. Exercise has a favorable effect on body-fat distribution, and it's especially important in maintaining weight."
In fact, a survey done by researchers at the University of California, Davis, showed conclusively that exercise is an important key to successful long-term weight loss. A whopping 90 percent of the successful dieters surveyed--people who had kept off 20 pounds for at least one year--said they did aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes, three times a week.
The word is definitely in: If you're interested in keeping those pounds off once you get them off, you need to put together an exercise program that you can live with on a long-term basis. And just how do you go about doing that?
Time Out for Working Out
Too busy to exercise, you insist? Remember, exercise doesn't take time as much as it creates time. How's that? After the first week or so of beginning a regular exercise program, many people report that their levels of energy and stamina surge to the point where they feel like they've actually gained extra productive hours in each day. Exercise also helps you gain time in the most literal sense: By reducing your risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and other life-threatening diseases through regular aerobic workouts, you can add days and even years to your life. Still wondering how to shoehorn an hour of exercise into an already-snug schedule? Try these ideas. Be active in the morning. Borrow an hour of early-morning snooze time. Before your day begins, little can come between you and your workout. That may explain why morning exercisers tend to stick with their fitness programs better, says obesity expert Susan Zelitch Yanovski, M.D., at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. "When patients come to me and say they're always tired, I say, 'Get up early and take a brisk walk!' Inevitably, they come back and say, 'I feel great and have much more energy,'" adds cardiologist Debra Judelson, M.D., chair of the American Medical Women's Association's subcommittee on cardiovascular disease. Walk 'n' talk. Time usually spent chatting on the telephone, over lunch or across a desk may provide an opportunity for fitness. Whether it's an intimate tête-à-tête with a good friend or a brainstorming session for an annual fund-raiser, consider carrying on the conversation while you fitness-walk. Improve your mind. Do what Morton H. Shaevitz, Ph.D., a weight-loss expert and director of the Institute for Family and Work Relationships in La Jolla, California, does: Get fit while you get the news. Each day he rides his stationary bike while reading the paper or watching CNN. Shop for fitness. If you leave the car at home, you can turn hauling home the groceries into an effective workout. Make sure your groceries are fairly evenly divided between two handled bags when you leave the store. Grab one in each hand and, as you walk, raise and lower your bags by bending your elbows--one at a time or, better yet, at the same time. When your arms get tired, simply carry the bags normally for a block or two. Repeat until you get home! Exercise on the go. Is traveling a big part of your job? Make those pockets of time work for you and your fitness regime. Plan on getting to your destination 30 or 60 minutes early so you can use the hotel gym or jogging path. Stuck at the airport between planes? Check your carry-on luggage in a locker, tie on your sneakers and do a couple of brisk laps around the terminal. |
Exercise: No Sweat
If until recently your idea of exercise has been confined to reaching for a can of mixed nuts from a top shelf, you may be worried that launching an exercise program means plenty of pain and exertion. Not at all. Forget heart monitors, forget pedometers, forget finding your pulse.
The latest research shows that working out at a moderate pace is best for weight control--and that your most important piece of equipment is your watch.
"It's not intensity that leads to better health, it's the time you spend exercising," says John Duncan, Ph.D., exercise physiologist at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research.
Experts used to believe that you had to exercise quite vigorously to reap all the benefits of exercise, explains Dr. Duncan. "But we now know that metabolic changes occur at very moderate exercise intensities," he says, "and that those metabolic changes confer health benefits. We found that women who walked at a moderate pace lost more weight than women who walked the same distance at a fast pace. The difference is that the slower walkers spent more time walking."
In fact, you should only worry about how hard you're working if you think you're working too hard. If you find you're gasping for breath or can't carry on a conversation, then you're not exercising for weight loss, you're just wearing yourself out. The faster you go, especially when you're out of shape, the sooner you're going to want to call it quits and the longer it'll be before you want to get moving again. The number-one rule of exercise: Enjoy it so you spend more time doing it!
The Bonus Plan
You know that exercise helps promote weight loss, which is precisely why you're reading this book. But the benefits of exercise go far, far beyond helping to shed pounds. Here's what exercise will do for you in addition to peeling off unwanted pounds. * Increase lung and heart efficiency * Improve cholesterol levels * Lower blood pressure * Build stronger bones * Improve sleep * Enhance mental ability * Improve self-esteem and create a more positive attitude * Reduce anxiety and depression * Improve sex |
Creative Calorie Burning
Hate to sweat? You know moving your body on a regular basis is an oh-so-necessary part of your lifestyle if you're going to maintain your perfect weight, but you're tired of aerobic dance, bored to oblivion by the stationary bike and running hurts your knees. Is there anything you can do besides going for a nice brisk walk? Yes! Here are some other fun activities, and the number of calories they burn per hour (for a 130-pound person). | Activity | Calories Burned per hour | | Fast dancing | 500 | | Roller skating/in-line skating | 500 | | Square dancing | 480 | | Gardening | 330 | | Playing with your kids in the park | 270 | | Slow swimming | 250 | | Bowling | 218 | | Shopping (including carrying heavy packages) | 180 | | Kissing and hugging | 135 |
|
The Joy of Exercise
Once you discover a sport or activity you truly love--whether it's running on the beach, playing racquetball or tap dancing--it'll be all you can do to not do it every day.
Here are a few more ideas that underscore the "pleasure principle" of exercise.
Play to your preferences. Think about an activity you enjoy--any activity, not necessarily fitness-oriented. Then get creative, combining fun with a physical challenge.
Love to shop? Forget the home shopping channel! Instead, fitness-walk along your favorite shopping district before the stores open and preview the window displays. Got the travel bug? Sign up for a fitness-oriented vacation. Are you crafty by nature? Then take a nature walk and collect pine cones, twigs and other found objects for your next project.
Have it your way. If you have an aversion to exercise, a fresh perspective may help, says obesity expert Susan Zelitch Yanovski, M.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. "In our field, we're getting away from prescribing specific exercises," she says. "Instead we encourage our patients to develop an active lifestyle."
Add variety. Try all kinds of activities--bird-watching, gardening, Ping-Pong, horseback riding, social dancing. The best workouts aren't necessarily the ones that deliver the greatest calorie burn; rather, they're the activities you're more likely to do because you honestly enjoy them.
Make fitness friendly. Instead of a sit-down dinner party, throw a backyard badminton bash, serving light finger foods and fresh fruits or vegetable cocktails between sets. Or invite a few buddies over to join you on a nature hike and share a picnic lunch. Don't miss a step at holidays, either. Take part in active celebrations with others. In some cities, for instance, there are organized runs on December 31 to help ring in the new year with friends old and new. For additional ways to burn calories that you won't find on any traditional exercise lists, see "Creative Calorie Burning," on page 65.
Exercise Lite
You've heard of light beer, light margarine and light crackers. How about light exercise? It's a concept whose time has come, say experts armed with compelling evidence to prove that some physical activity--even as little as 30 minutes' worth spread out during the day, a few times a week--is far better than none at all. "We made a mistake by insisting early on that exercise must be sustained, aerobic activity," says Steven N. Blair, P.E.D., director of epidemiology and clinical applications at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. And, he suspects, that's probably why so many of us (20 to 30 percent of the U.S. population) are totally sedentary, at high risk for heart disease, and probably battling a weight problem to boot. Chances are a lot of us have been intimidated by the mere thought of running or playing singles tennis or swimming laps for hours each week. But now, says Dr. Blair, short bursts of calorie-burning activities--including 10 to 20 minutes here and there of stair-climbing, lawn mowing and Frisbee playing with the family pooch--can provide many of the same health and weight-loss benefits of sweating it out on the jogging trail for 45 straight minutes. Has "Exercise Lite"--as it's being called by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--reduced national fitness goals to the lowest common denominator? Not at all, says Dr. Blair, the program's biggest booster. "If you look at the energy expenditure resulting from the traditional exercise prescriptions over a one-week period and compare it with the energy expenditure from our new recommendations, you'll see they're in the same ballpark," says Dr. Blair. "It's not a lowering of standards. We're simply presenting an alternative to getting the same energy expenditure, which should give comparable results." "I see this as very good news for the public," says Russell Pate, Ph.D., president of the ACSM and chairman of the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. "What it does is demystify this whole exercise thing. If you're not the kind of person who's attracted to vigorous exercise, public exercise or rigid approaches to exercise, there are still lots of ways to lead a physically active life. Find a few and incorporate them into your lifestyle." So put down that TV remote, get off your duff . . . and get moving! |
Getting Started on Getting Fit
How do you begin a new exercise program? Whatever you do, it shouldn't be like trying to muscle a square peg into a round hole. Your workouts should accommodate your tastes, your time constraints and your level of physical ability.
"If they don't and you miss a couple of days, you may feel you've fallen off the exercise wagon," says Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D., director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "Then you feel so bad that you have trouble getting back on."
Weight-loss experts suggest you aim for an exercise-induced calorie burn of about 300 a day. Then, if you also work on cutting back the fatty foods in your diet, you'll end up with a daily 500-or-so calorie deficit--and a loss of about a pound a week. But because doing too much too soon could burn you out or sideline you with an injury, set your sights lower at the beginning. That means you may have to cut back a little more on food to make up the difference--one less snack or treat a day should do the trick.
To find out where your starting point is, see "Your Exercise Quota," on page 68. The 300-calorie figure has been converted into activity points, to make it easier for you to keep track. "Your Exercise Quota" lists exercise options and the number of points you can earn per 20 minutes. (If you're out of shape or have been sedentary for a while, it's probably a good idea to see your physician before you embark on a new exercise regimen.)
Your Exercise Quota
How much exercise do you need to do in order to achieve your perfect weight and stay there for the rest of your life? Probably less than you think. This handy activity point system will tell you exactly what you need to do to attain your goals. All you need to do to burn off one pound a week is earn 210 points a week, or 30 points a day. Half your weekly goal of 210 points should come from list 1 on the opposite page--the more exercise-oriented activities. You can rack up the rest by choosing from the everyday activities in list 2. You may not be able to jump into this much activity right away, however, especially if you're not used to it. No problem. To gain a little more insight into your personal exercise requirements, read the assessment under the statement that best describes you. I am not currently physically active. That puts you on an eight-week track to your 210-point goal. The first week, your total quota is a mere 30 points. That increases to 45 points in Week 2 and 60 points in Week 3. Then you progress in 30-point increments for the remaining five weeks (90 points for Week 4 up to 210 points for Week 8). I exercise no more than 20 minutes twice a week. You're an intermediate. You've got six weeks to work up to the 210-point goal. Your first week's quota is 60 points, then add 30 points each week until you reach 210 points in Week 6. I exercise three or more times a week for at least 20 minutes at a time. You're in the advanced category. That means you can reach the 210-point goal within four weeks. Start your fitness program by earning 120 points the first week, increasing your quota by 30 points until you reach 210 points in Week 4. The figures are based on 20 minutes of activity for a woman weighing 130 pounds or a man weighing 180 pounds. If you weigh more, you'll earn slightly more points for every 20 minutes; if you weigh less, you'll earn a fraction fewer. Recreational Activities
| Activity | Points Earned per 20 Minutes | | 130-lb. Woman | 180-lb. Man | | Badminton | 11 | 16 | | Cross-country skiing | 16 | 22 |
| |  |
| | | | |
New! 24x7 Ordering by Phone. Call 1-800-439-5506
Information on this site is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. Information about each product is taken from the labels of the products or from the manufacturer's advertising material. MotherNature.com is not responsible for any statements or claims that various manufacturers make about their products. We cannot be held responsible for typographical errors or product formulation changes. You should read carefully all product packaging. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your health care provider. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.All discounts are taken from suggested retail prices.
Please see our Terms of Use
Copyright © 1995-2009 Mother Nature, Inc. All rights reserved.
