Exercising a Healthful Mind-Set

AS THE SUMMER draws to a close and schools go back in session, you most likely have more time to devote to becoming physically active and/or losing a few pounds before the holidays. In the following, as well as future blogs, I will help you understand how to maintain a mind-set to get past the challenges of becoming physically active. As your fitness partner, my aim is to enlighten, entertain and, above all, provide you with a source of determination and motivation sprinkled with a little inspiration. If you have decided to start or resume a physically active routine, whether in a workout facility or at home, I hope you take the time to read on.

If your main objective is to lose weight, look at the statistics. The Good and Drug Administration reported that historically, individuals who lose weight regain it within one to five years. About 50 million Americans a year will go on diets. Although some will succeed, very few –perhaps 5 percent—will keep it off. One reason is that many people look for quick and easy solutions. They find it hard to believe that in this age of scientific innovations and medical miracles that an effortless weight loss method doesn’t exist. So what is the secret? Hippocrates wrote about it in the “Regiment” in 400 B.C.:

Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise. For food and exercise, while possessing opposite qualities, yet work together to produce health…And it necessary, as it appears, to discern the power of various exercises both natural exercises and artificial, to know which of them tends to increase flesh and which lessen it; and not only this, but also to proportion exercise to bulk food, to the constitution of the patient, to the age of the individual…

This short and brief paragraph from centuries ago illustrates the importance of creating a balance in all areas. If you understand the difference between natural and artificial exercising, eat the proper portions and know how your age affects your effort, then you may have the secret to starting and maintaining a fit and healthy way of living, whether you want to get into shape or lose weight. Many experts have said when we were hunters and gatherers; we had few heart diseases and other forms of cardiovascular disease. This may be true, but remember, foraging for food requires a different mind-set than increasing and maintaining your heart rate on a stationary bike, treadmill or stair climber or by aerobic dancing.

For those why feel guilty for not being physically active or can’t seem to include it as a daily routine, I want to help you understand how to create a mind-set that will get you started and help you maintain your workout effort. What’s important about your mind-set is how it makes mental distinctions, for example. Foraging for food (physically natural) or riding a stationary apparatus (physically artificial). I hope this can be the starting point for those who want to begin and maintain a sensible approach to being physically active, whether to become fit and healthy or lose weight.

Next time: Creating a fit and healthy way of living mind-set.

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