A follow up from the previous blog (if you haven't read it - why not? Definitely go back and take a look!) – we learned that when losing weight we have diminished energy requirements. Weight loss tends to lead to a decrease in energy expenditure in all the activities that we undertake, partly due to expending less energy for the same movement and this decline seems, from the research, to be proportional to the amount of weight loss. To that end, and considering that there is a proven strong correlation between activity levels and how much fat people gain, it can be super duper beneficial to MOVE MORE!!
Energy burn during exercise IS NOT the key to weight loss – one of the reasons why I do not have clients take into consideration the calories their Fitbit says that they have burned during their session, that and it is very likely to be pretty inaccurate. There are 23 other hours in the day to ‘ruin’ those exercise efforts if you are trying to lose weight and putting all the emphasis on the exercise you’re carrying out. We go in the gym and train to become fit, healthy and strong, the rest if you have a weight loss goal, is where the big moves are made.
The society in which we live lends itself to very low activity levels but simply MORE WALKING makes a huge difference to our activity levels. The value in walking is so underrated and I’m here today to preach to you to just walk more!
Some ideas as to how you can implement this into your life, not just if you have a weight loss goal but any health related goal:
· Walk to work
· Walk during your lunch break
· Pop a treadmill in front of the tele
· Walk with the family after dinner
· Mow the lawn
· Take the stairs
· Park further away
· Walk to a colleagues desk instead of emailing them or calling them from across the room
· Get off the bus a stop early
· Get a dog
· Use a pedometer for accountability and feedback
· Use a walk and work desk
· Implement walk and talk meetings
· Take mini walk breaks from your desk just to walk about the building
Let me know what you get up to gang or if you have any other tips and tricks!
Peace and love, A x
