How much do you move around in your daily life? You may shrug this question off with the belief that you are active enough, but what if we said that walking from the couch to the refrigerator didn’t count? What if just walking down the office for two minutes to drop something on someone’s desk and walking from your office to your car didn’t count?
You probably wouldn’t be able to report a lot of activity in this case if you are like most people today. Our bodies are designed for movement, but our modern lifestyle has us trapped in an unnatural sedentary pattern.
It is very easy to blame modern technology and conveniences for the obesity epidemic when you compare the way we used to live to how we live today. At one point in time a farmer would run about 15 miles just through the normal course of daily work. A farmer’s wife would easily run more than 5 miles just doing daily duties.
Log the miles of most people today and our office lifestyles won’t even rack up a single mile most days of the week! What a change. Add in that our portion sizes are all out of whack and we eat way more than we used to in those old days and you see why intentionally adding physical activity into your daily lifestyle is so essential.
If you’re overweight, you’re almost certainly consuming too many calories, and your body will in turn be storing all that excess energy away in the form of fat. While spending a few hours on a walking machine each week will definitely help you to lose some weight, you will also need to adopt a healthy diet, especially in you want long term results.
The great news is you can make 3 simply changes to your current lifestyle, and you will immediately begin to feel better, and the weight you lose will also be gone for good:
1. Rejuvenate your body through adequate sleep. It is very difficult to increase your daily activity level if you aren’t sleeping well or long enough at night. Also, research has shown that people who are sleep deprived tend to eat more calories throughout the day.
2. Make sure you get some walking done at least five times a week. No, you don’t need to join a gym, so you can’t use a lack of funds as an excuse. In fact, if both your legs work, you don’t have any excuse at all. You can walk around the block for 30 minute or so each day, or alternatively, you could even buy yourself an affordable walking machine. That way, you will even be able to watch your favourite TV program while you’re walking.
3. Plan your routine. Even if you decide on getting a walking machine, make sure you stick to your schedule as far as using it is concerned. By getting on the machine at a particular time each day, you’ll be minimizing the amount of excuses you could dream up. If you ever start feeling guilty about the time you spend preparing meals and walking, just remind yourself that you’re doing it because you don’t want to die before your time. Above all, you need to make sure you’re sleeping enough. As mentioned earlier, if you’re not getting enough sleep, then you need to find the best natural sleep aid.