When You Don’t Feel Like Exercising

Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Physical activity | Posted on 18-04-2010-05-2008

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You know the feeling – your alarm clock wakes you at 5:30 for your morning walk and sometimes you just don’t feel like doing it. So, what should you do? Well, sometimes, you should probably just go back to bed. However, that should be the exception rather than the rule.

Your best bet for working through this is to minimize the task ahead. Tell yourself that you only have to exercise for ten or fifteen minutes today – something you know you can do with minimal effort in a minimal amount of time.

If you finish your ten or fifteen minutes and still don’t feel like doing it, then don’t. You’ve still gotten some exercise in and you’ve energized yourself for the day. However, I think you’ll usually find that you want to continue. Getting started is the hard part. Once you’ve started, you’ve overcome the biggest obstacle to exercise.

Here are four more things you can do to stay motivated and exercise on a regular basis..

1. Create your personal “reasons list”. Keep a piece of paper and pen handy for a couple of days. Jot down EVERY reason you can think of that you want to get healthy / get fit / lose weight, through consistent exercise. This list is VERY powerful motivation when you don’t feel like exercising.

2. Know the benefits of exercise. We are more motivated to do things that we’ll benefit from. The more we benefit => the more motivated we are. For example, if I told you I’d give you a million dollars to take a 30 minute walk tomorrow morning, would you do it? You bet you would! The benefits of exercise aren’t quite that compelling, but they are pretty motivating. Do read my article on the benefits of exercise, send any email message to.. Top20@Landry.com

3. Keep records. Write down your exercise time (minutes) each day. Keep a running total for the month and year. Calculate your average exercise time per day. Set some lofty goals!

4. Make your exercise as enjoyable as possible. For example, if you’re a walker, you may want to get a good cassette or CD player to listen to music or books on tape, etc. If you’re exercising inside, set up a TV so that you can watch it while exercising. On the other hand, you may just prefer peace and quiet. Do whatever makes exercise most enjoyable for you. You are much more likely to exercise consistently if you enjoy it. Get movin’!

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry, offers FREE weight loss success stories and his “Fast, Healthy Weight Loss” newsletter at his site: http://www.Landry.com

copyright 2003 by Greg Landry, M.S.

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Top 10 Reasons To Exercise In The Morning

Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Physical activity | Posted on 30-03-2010-05-2008

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If I had to pick a single factor that I thought was most important in a successful exercise or weight loss program, it would be to exercise first thing in the morning – every morning! Some mornings, you may just be able to fit in a 10 minute walk, but it’s important to try to do something every morning.

So why mornings?…

1. Over 90% of people who exercise *consistently*, exercise in the morning. If you want to exercise consistently, odds are in your favor if you exercise first thing in the morning.

2. When you exercise early in the morning, it “jump starts” your metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours! That means you’re burning more calories all day long just because you exercised in the morning!

3. When you exercise in the morning you’ll be *energized* for the day! Personally, I feel dramatically different on days when I have and haven’t exercised in the morning.

4. Many people find that morning exercise “regulates” their appetite for the day – that they aren’t as hungry and that they make better food choices. Several people have told me that it puts them in a “healthy mindset.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Increase your Physical Activity

Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Physical activity | Posted on 25-03-2010-05-2008

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Increase physical activity to lose weightSomeone who increases the level of physical activity above usual, but maintains the same diet and calorie intake, will almost certainly lose weight. No matter if you hate gyms – even light exercise, such as a short 20 minute walk or visiting a dancing class, will be beneficial if done most days of the week. If you are on a light diet or taking Green Tea or other supplement  increasing physical activities is even more efficient and you will lose weight even faster.

Interesting fact: Every single time you exercise more than usual, you burn calories and fat.

 There are lots of different ways to increase the amount of physical activity you do. Team sports and games, aerobics or martial art classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.

I will write more deep about physical activities in future posts.

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