A free cure for all that ails you: EXERCISE

Singing the praises of exercise

We are constantly being told that exercise is important for a healthy body and mind yet many of us bypass fitness and only focus on weight loss.  Here are a few good reasons to introduce exercise into your routine:

1. Simple exercise will help you manage your weight by burning calories when you incorporate it in daily activities like taking the stairs, take a walk after lunch, take a stretch and lunge break every hour.  This will burn calories and reenergize you.

2. By doing strength or weight training, your body continues to burn calories even after you have stopped exercising.  The other benefit is that by building your muscles, your skin in those areas will appear taut and younger!

3. Feeling sluggish?  It may sound counterintuitive but that is the best time to take a brisk walk.  Physical activity will deliver necessary oxygen and nutrients to your tissues giving you energy.

4. Sound body, sound mind.  Quiet your anxiety and stress by putting your body in motion.  The brain is stimulated by exercise and releases chemicals that act as anti-depressants.  Researches reported in The Archives of Internal Medicine that exercise was almost as effective as medication in reducing symptoms of depression.

5. Exercise as a weapon against certain diseases.  There is a list of diseases that can be prevented, managed or even reversed with exercise.  Avoid high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain types of cancer.  There are also studies being conducted now that suggest Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia might be avoided through exercise.

I only offered you five reasons to lace up and get your body moving but I promise you there are far more incentives than the ones I was able to list. 

From my own perspective I can say that I am not a natural born athlete and the thought of exercise has never brought me the same joy as a slice of cheesecake.  But I have made peace with exercise and now view it as yet another thing I must do in order to prevent issues down the road.  If you floss and brush, there is no reason why you can’t get up and move!