The Joy of Exercise

Besides previous four primary factors (which mentioned on the my previous post), exercise exerts several secondary, indirect factors that help control weight. For some people, these indirect factors are even more important than the four direct factors. For example, exercise often decreases depression, which can be a significant factor in weight gain. In the early 1990s, I had a patient who suffered from depression, and who responded to it with food binges and subsequent weight gain. When she started to exercise, though, her depression lifted. This is not uncommon. Several studies have indicated that exercise is as effective for depression as antidepressants and counselling, because it increases levels of the neurotransmitters that dispel depression. When my patient’s depression cleared up, her food binges stopped, and she became slender and fit. On a few occasions she suspended her exercise programme, but when she did, she became depressed again. For her, exercise was very much like an effective pharmaceutical drug, because it improved the balance of her neurotransmitters.

The secondary benefits of exercise are:

1. Exercise increases energy, and energy is one of the best weapons against fat because it keeps us active. Exercise increases energy mostly by improving circulation and increasing production of stimulating neurotransmitters and hormones. One of the hormones increased by exercise is testosterone, which is energizing for both men and women and which helps build muscle mass.

2. Exercise helps control appetite, primarily by increasing output of energizing neurotransmitters and hormones. You’ve probably noticed that when you’re hungry, you can kill your appetite temporarily by exercising.

3. Exercise alleviates depression by stimulating the production of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. This is extremely important, because many people overeat when they’re depressed. In one study, a group of college students with depression who exercised improved significantly more than a control group who received conventional treatment. Exercise also decreases anxiety by triggering a tranquilizer effect that lasts for up to four hours after the exercise is over.

4. Exercise decreases illness, and illness is a frequent cause of weight gain, since it often imposes inactivity and it also prompts some people to overeat. Exercise appears to decrease both major and minor illnesses. In one study, people who exercised missed 18 per cent fewer work days than people who didn’t. Other studies indicate that exercise reduces the risk of stroke by 400 per cent, the risk of cancers of the reproductive organs by 250 per cent, the risk of breast cancer by 200 per cent, and the risk of colon cancer by 67 per cent. Exercise even appears to be a significant factor in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

5. Exercise improves function of the lymphatic system, oneof the body’s primary systems for removing toxins from the body. When the lymphatic system is congested, people don’t feel well and are more prone to food reactions, and therefore are more prone to weight gain.

6. Exercise improves general quality of life, which helps motivate people to live healthy lifestyles. When people have a pleasant life and feel content, they are far less likely to make the mistake of living to eat, instead of eating to live. When they have an unpleasant quality of life, they often grasp at anything that might feel good, such as overeating. Exercise improves quality of life in many ways, including several ways that I’ve already mentioned, such as decreasing illness and dispelling depression. It definitely makes people feel better and look better. It even makes people smarter; numerous studies show that it powerfully boosts cognitive function.

As you begin your Balance Programme, you should gradually begin to integrate exercise into your False Fat Diet. Don’t push yourself into a sudden, strenuous regimen, though, because crash exercising is just as foolish as crash dieting. If you are in relatively poor physical condition, start with less intense activities, such as walking for 10 to 15 minutes. As you become increasingly fit, add both time and intensity to your workout.

Within a month or two, you should aim to be exercising for 7 to 10 hours each week, or one to one and a half hours each day. This amount of exercise may sound excessive, but it’s not. Over the past 2 million years of evolution, the human body was genetically programmed to require at least that much exercise. This genetic programming is as inescapable as the genetic programming that determined your metabolic type. Like it or not, you’re stuck with this need for exercise, just as you’re stuck with the need for vitamin C or fresh air. In fact, your ancestors were physically active for most of the day, instead of just an hour or an hour and a half. As recently as the early 19s, the majority of people in America were very active for about 5 to 10 hours every day. At that time, 40 per cent of all Americans lived on farms, and 80 per cent of all farm work was done with human labour. Most people who did not live on farms were still very active, working hard in factories, walking to work, and doing innumerable chores at home. Obesity was so uncommon back then that it was considered a sign of success.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Exercises do help Control Weight: increase Energy, control Appetite, alleviate Depression, decrease Illness

• Without Exercise, your Body will never be Fit, Firm, toned, and well-defined, even if you achieve your ideal Weight
• Play and Integrate Exercise into your Lifestyle to achieve long term Balance
• Fit for Success
• Burning the Fat cells with the old Aerobic Trick
• Water Exercise Muscle Building: the lunge - with forward push
• Muscle: Heel and Toe
• A Strategy for 40+ Men Body Shape Change
• Swimming Optional Extras, Testing the Water
• Aquatic Exercise and Drag
• Reshape your body from within

Category: Diet, Exercise, Fitness, Workout

Tags: active, all, america, cancer, cent, depression, energy, Exercise, factors, food, for her, gain, hours, life, lifestyle, people, programming, quality of life, risk, she, weight, weight gain, women, work