Exercising will of course speed up and boost your weight loss, but only when accompanied by a healthy diet. If you are eating fast food, junk food, and calorie leaden treats, exercise will not save the day.
For many people reading this book they will be purely motivated by the need or want to lose weight. However, there are many other reasons for you to get in shape and get active. Incorporating exercise into your routine is a great idea if your goal is to live a healthier lifestyle, perhaps to rehabilitate following an illness, to prevent future ill health, or just to have more energy.
There’s also a third group of people who are exercising with the primary aim of getting fitter. Whilst becoming healthier and slimmer may be “side effects” of this, for these people the primary aim is to be stronger, faster or better at a particular activity.
Before you start any kind of regime, even a subtle one like the HouseWork WorkOut it’s important to be very clear on your ultimate goal. Getting this right will help you to focus your attention to the right parts of your lifestyle that you may feel need changing.
Here are some top tips that will help you achieve these goals:
1. Find Something You Love
Everyone has the ability to enjoy exercise, the trick is finding an exercise that you enjoy doing. Whether it’s swimming, running, cycling, circuit classes, yoga, weight training, a fitness DVD or the HouseWork WorkOut, you should try a range of exercises to find one that you enjoy doing, one that leaves you feeling positive and energetic. If you enjoy doing it, you are more likely to stick with it, therefore your weight loss will be easier to manage and much more sustainable over time.
If losing weight isn’t your goal, it can be difficult to find the motivation to start. If you can find physical activities that you enjoy doing – or in the case of the HouseWork WorkOut have to do, you are more likely to stick with it and make it a part of your lifestyle. Perhaps you enjoy walking out in the fresh air or in nature, or perhaps you enjoy exercising while listening to an audiobook. Find out what encourages you to get active.
2. Make It A Lifestyle Change
When you embark on a weight loss journey, don’t think of it as a quick fix, or an exercise routine that you will do until you lose that extra stone and then you can stop. Thinking like this means it is much more likely that you will gain the weight you lose back again once you stop your exercise routine. If you think of healthy eating and regular exercise as your new and permanent lifestyle, it will soon become a natural habit for you, and one that you are less likely to break.
When you decide that you want to live a healthier life, think of it as a long-term goal. Start small, by incorporating more walking into your week, taking the stairs or even drinking more water on a daily basis and slowly your new healthy habits will start to build up.
3. Get In That Cardio
When it comes to giving your metabolism a boost things like weight training can be great for building strength and stamina as well as helping you tone up and to give your metabolism a boost.
However, when you’re trying to shift the pounds it’s cardio exercises that you want to be concentrating on. Cardio activity includes walking briskly, jogging, running, cycling, the cross-trainer, rowing machine, swimming, dancing and anything else you can think of that increases your heart rate, makes you sweat, makes your breathing heavier and makes it difficult for you to talk and exercise at the same time – I’m thinking high speed cleaning!
4. Push It
When you’re working out, a little can go a long way. If you begin the HouseWork WorkOut for example after a few weeks why not think about speeding up or doing a little bit extra, always aim to push that little bit farther each time.
5. Find Motivation
To stay motivated, you should set yourself mini-goals, such as going for a specific walk or completing a series of specific tasks within a given timeframe. Working out with friends can also really help, why not help each other around the house or garden or just simply arrange to meet up for a nice brisk walk.
6. Fuel Your Body
Exercise isn’t the only element of a healthy lifestyle, diet is also very important, especially if you are working out. You need to fuel your body correctly by eating a balanced diet, and you should also consider what to eat to help your performance during exercise. Snacks such as bananas or a handful of nuts are a great idea of what to have before you work out.
7. Change It Up
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t enjoy routine, you might want to switch up your exercises periodically so that it stays interesting for you. This could include adding a short exercise DVD to your weekly routine, attending a dance class or getting the family involved in some exercising with you using things such as the Wii Fit.
8. Keep A Journal
After every workout, record how much you achieved, write lots of lists of mini goals and targets that you want to complete and add a deadline. In your journal it’s also worth recording things like your diet and mood, writing down how you’re feeling at specific times of the day can help you identify destructive behaviours and addictions.
9. Stretch It Out
Stretching before and after exercise is not only important to prevent injury, it’s also a great way to maintain and improve flexibility and range of motion, which can both help you achieve your fitness goals. If you’re stuck for ideas, look up some dynamic stretches on the Internet, and add them to your routine. Another great way to add stretches to your routine is to learn some yoga poses, these can be very good for keeping the body flexible and subtle.
10. Set A Goal
Whichever exercise or activity you do, find a way to set both short and long terms goals to help improve your fitness over time. Your long term goals should be directly related to your body, such as improved breathing, lose weight, feel healthier etc….and the short term goals should be in relation to your home, things such as organise the attic, clear out the garage, deep clean a particular room, decorate a particular room and so on.
11. Research Your Exercise
If you want to get the most of your exercising learn all you can about what you’re doing – what muscles you’re working on, what areas of the body you can improve and even what benefits you should start to feel. Once you’ve got yourself into a routine with the HouseWork WorkOut you could then look at purchasing small, inexpensive items that will help you push a little further. Things such as an exercise ball, skipping rope and mini weights are all great items to help increase your level of fitness. Research online how each of these items can help you.