48 Hours to a Healthier Life by Suzi Grant

Author:Suzi Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141941592
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-08-10T04:00:00+00:00

There is no doubt that regular exercise promotes weight loss. In fact, the best nutrition in the world won’t help the body’s ability to burn fat efficiently unless it goes hand in hand with exercise. The two need each other for the best results, and I speak from personal experience!

If you were to walk briskly for 45 minutes a day, four times a week, you would lose 18 lbs (over 8 kg) in a year without changing your diet!

We know that leading a sedentary lifestyle and carrying too much weight can lead to a myriad of health problems, from chronic backache and joint problems to heart disease, but the other important reason to take up exercise, especially during the Plan, is to improve your emotional health: de-stressing as well as detoxing. As we have seen, too much stress becomes distress and has a negative effect on the body unless we can find an outlet for it – and exercise is one of the very best.

While meditation techniques and yoga exercises help still the mind, what the body also needs to combat stress is some ‘fight or flight’ activity: 20–40 minutes of aerobic exercise causes the release of endorphins, those ‘happy hormones’ we should all treat ourselves to. Endorphins have been found to stay in the blood for as long as two hours after exercise, accounting for the well-known ‘high’ regular exercisers talk about. Aerobic exercise – such as brisk walking or cycling – is considered the best for endorphin release because it’s an extended endurance activity requiring an increased use of oxygen. (Anaerobic exercise – such as sprinting – is higher in intensity, but shorter in duration, and means the muscles are working with less than the usual supply of oxygen. That’s not what I’m recommending here.)

You don’t have to train for a marathon to get the required effect – almost any exercise will do as long as it’s fairly repetitive and continuous and lasts for at least 20 minutes, but preferably nearer 40 minutes. You should be sweating lightly. How long it takes for the endorphins to kick in depends on the type of exercise and the individual. Some experience endorphin highs by swimming in the local pool for half an hour, while others find that just playing loud music at home and dancing their socks off for 20 minutes will do the trick. Brisk walking with a dog for 40 minutes has a remarkable effect on stress levels, while activities like kick-boxing do wonders for getting rid of any pent-up anger. Regular aerobic exercise, as well as practices like yoga, has been found to reduce the heart rate and blood pressure dramatically in only three months. Stress symptoms like anxiety, depression and anger can disappear within 20 minutes of starting an exercise session – from day one! Most regular exercisers also report having more energy generally, sleeping better and experiencing a clearer mind. Weight loss and better self-esteem are usually thrown in for good measure.

I appreciate how impossible

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