Three weeks into the new year and hopefully you’re still focused on getting back to a healthier weight. You’re trying to eat better, work out more and make overall better choices.
That’s obviously easier said than done. Not one of those 3 things is easy – but they’re worth working on. If you’re sticking with your routine, you’re on your way to better health and happiness in 2014.
For the past 3 weeks, we’ve featured 3 tips per week of not so wise ways to lose weight, and then alternatives to make this year’s resolutions turn into new routines. And accomplishing your weight-loss goals will help build your self-confidence to tackle other items on your list this year.
The 3 points this week focus on adding exercise – rather than decreasing foods – in a wise and planned out way.
I’m going to exercise more – Saying you’re going to exercise more isn’t definite enough of a plan to be successful. More than what? More than once a week? More than twice a week?
In its place, set a definite number of times you’ll go to the gym. Schedule one night when you’ll go to a class, another night make an appointment with a trainer and another night go to a spin class with a friend. It’s better to start out with less committed nights and then add more as your interest grows.
I’m doing yoga 4 times a week – While yoga is a wonderful way to stretch and sculpt muscle, burning only about 200 calories in an hour won’t do much for weight loss.
Rather – Don’t nix yoga completely, but include a variety of workouts. Maybe you’re intimidated by the weight rack, but spend some time with light weights. Your weight loss results will show fairly quickly. Try a Zumba class or swim laps. Even walking for 20 minutes can have a major impact on losing weight.
I’m going to work out 2 hours every day – Trying to carve 14 hours out of your week, every week, is definitely setting yourself up for failure. Not only will you get bored, or possibly toss in the towel after you miss a few days, but you can also injure yourself with that much intensive exercise.
Instead – Make a plan for a certain amount of days that fit into your weekly schedule and commit to that. You can increase the number of days later if that works, but don’t over commit. Before you even get to the gym, have a plan of what you can do in just 30 minutes. Maybe it’s an intense session on the treadmill or interval training that uses a variety of machines. Intense, mini-sessions actually help you burn more calories quicker and can suppress your post-workout appetite – all that accelerates weight loss.
Hopefully, our month-long series of substituting poor diet methods for smarter alternatives has you not only on the road to a healthier body, but a more positive and happy future.
Sources:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/how-often-should-i-work-out.htm
http://www.mensfitness.com/training/pro-tips/question-of-the-week-how-much-to-workout
http://www.fitwatch.com/exercise/how-often-should-you-exercise-1356.html
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-fitness/2010/11/05/10-signs-youre-exercising-too-much
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