After doing my daily scout for interesting articles/blogs on Sparkpeople I came across
this post which really piqued my interest.
Written by a fitness trainer, she states 8 "cold, hard truths" about exercise, these being:
- Working out will always feel hard.
- Not every movement or activity counts as exercise.
- One workout may not undo a sedentary lifestyle.
- You're not burning as many calories as you think.
- It won't allow you to eat whatever you want.
- Exercise alone won't change your body.
- You have to do it forever.
- Routine is the exercise enemy.
Now if you are anything like me and have read similar articles like this for years and years there will be nothing revelatory about those 8 points but the fact is,
knowing this and
living this are two different things. If I was truly taking everything into account I wouldn't be at this 15st plateau.
The most important 'truths' for me is firstly, point number 1: "
Working out will always feel hard". When I'm at the gym sailing through that half an hour bike session that used to make me sweat half my body weight, I know it's time to step it up to the next level - exercise should always feel like you are exercising!
Secondly, point number 7 "
You have to do it forever" is another thing that sticks out for me. Last night I spent ages looking up the new-ish home exercise DVD set - p90x. I managed to talk myself out of shelling out £100 for it as I am prone to look for the next big fad that is going to help me lose weight - I have more than enough exercise DVDs to help me shift the pounds, I just need to do them! My point is that p90x, or the similar Insanity 60-day workout, are all short-term solutions, nothing is for life. I'm still yet to find that balance of having activities that I can work into my weekly routine and can see myself doing for the long, long term. I have been thinking about getting swimming lessons (as I never really learnt to swim properly) and see if that could become part of my routine...
Finally, the last truth of
"Routine is the exercise enemy" is always something I have in mind when choosing what exercise to do that day. For example, this week I started off doing half an hour of pilates every evening (whilst watching Wimbledon in the background). By the middle of the week I knew I needed to add some cardio in there so opted to do my Zumba Live DVD. As I said, I have loads of exercise DVDs - dance ones, aerobics, toning with resistance bands, pilates, zumba... so there is no excuse for me not being able to change it up. I am thinking about cancelling my gym membership but I just need that other cardio thing to replace it first - hence me thinking about swimming.
All good points to think about and more importantly - act on!
In the meantime, I am going to go an do Davina's boxercise DVD (the 30 min workout one) and then chill out in preparation for the charity Midnight walk tonight - wish me luck! :)
