What Exercise Should I Do To Lose Weight?

So by now you should have written your food and drink down for the last few days and started to act on making sure your plate is full of wonderful nutrients, with the right types of food, in the right portions, to suit your goals.

Once we have the right focus on what we put into the body every day, we need to then switch to the body’s output.

What do you do everyday to burn the foods that you put in?

This is where it gets exciting!  With the right fuel, you can make your body a very happy place to live.  But add in the right lifestyle choices and you can take it to wherever you want to it to go!  Let’s keep the focus for this blog on “weight loss” 

MOVE MORE

How much do you move during the day?  

If you are a into technology you probably count your steps or maybe your calorie burn using sports watches or apps.  Could you move more?  Or possibly more intensely?

If you are not achieving your weight loss goals right now and have acted on your nutrition from my first blog, then here are some next steps to take as part of your journey.

❤️Increase your Heart Rate – as your heart rate increases you need more energy for your body to function, which we have stored in our body fat cells and from the foods that we eat.  The longer you can keep your heart rate elevated the more calories you burn!

??‍♀️Increase your Activity – do you do the same activities every week?  Do you do some form of exercise every day?  Your body was designed to move.  If you generally do 10,000 steps a day, increase it to 12,000.  If you generally do 12,000 and have no time to do anymore, do them faster, or with a rucksack on your back for added intensity.  When was the last time you changed your exercise in your workout or your activity in your week?  Challenge the body to do something new, you will be surprised at the changes that occur!

??Increase your lean muscle mass – Want to burn more calories even when you are sat down?  Then adding resistance training to your week is a must.  The more muscle mass we have in our body the more energy we will expend to keep these muscles firing.  You don’t have to go to a gym, you can use your body weight, use resistance bands, or items around the house as long as you make the muscles work harder they will repair and rebuild stronger, improving definition, and burn that all important body fat in the process.

?NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or the movement we do all day every day, from fidgeting, to housework, shopping, and climbing the stairs.  The more you move throughout the day the more calories you will burn.  Think of ways in which you can increase your current NEAT activity.  

?Play – Movement has to be FUN if you want it to have longevity and contribute to a positive lifestyle change.  Fun because of the equipment you are about to use or the people you are going to exercise with.  When was the last time you played swing ball in the garden, jumped on the kids trampoline, played with a hula hoop or met friends in the park or on the beach to play rounders?  Every step you take will use the energy that you have just eaten, so be smart with your choice of activity and you will reap the rewards!