- How much exercise do you get each day?
- All your active choices add up
- Studies show some exercise is nearly as effective as the perfect amount
It wasn’t too long ago that we had to roll down the car window. Pull up the garage door. Give a door a good push. Or gently lower the toilet lid. (See the toilet-lid alternative on my Instagram @the10principles)
These physical acts might seem small, but they actually make a big difference.
Let’s talk exercise! How much exercise do you need to lose weight?
How much exercise is too much?
For the 10 years I was overweight I over-exercised.
No matter what else was going on, I’d feel anxious until I did my one hour workout. Even during the infamous 1998 ice storm that swept across Ontario, in Canada, I (foolishly) went to great lengths to exercise each day. I wrote a short story about that experience for my university’s alumni magazine.
Despite all this exercise I remained overweight.
Why?
More exercise doesn’t mean extra calories burned. When you over-exercise your body adapts. And doing extra exercise as a means to purge actually makes it harder to lose weight. Purging via exercise confuses your body and slows down your metabolism.
How much exercise isn’t enough?
These days everything’s automated. We can get from our couches to our cubicles, and back again, with only a few steps.
..physical activity is a 'best buy' for public health.— The 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines, USAHeck, even watching tv used to be more active. Once upon a time you had to get up to change the channel!
Automobiles, elevators, motion-sensors, remote controls and countless other inventions make everything easy… except for exercise; one of the best things you can do for your body and mind.
Why is physical activity important?
When you open a window, garage or door, you’re strengthening your muscles and getting your heart pumping. This activity fires up your metabolism and boosts your energy and mood. But the positive domino effect doesn’t stop there. Muscle tones your body and burns calories, even when you’re resting.
A little movement does incredible things for your body.
In short, just being moderately active helps you:
- sleep better, feel better and function better
- reduce the risk of many diseases
- lose weight
How much exercise is juuuuuuuuuuuust right?
For the last 20 years I’ve taken a more moderate approach to exercise. For the last 20 years I’ve been a healthy weight. Coincidence? I think not!
How much exercise helped me lose weight?
Rather than working out for one hour each day, I reduced my weekly exercise routine to 25 minutes, 3 times a week. That’s a big difference! That’s 345 minutes less — or 5 hours and 45 minutes less — that I exercise each week. Multiply that by 18 years! But it’s important to note:
I’m active each day.
In other words, I don’t get from A to B by pushing buttons.
Having an active lifestyle is key to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, being healthy and feeling great.
How much exercise makes a difference?
While you can’t avoid waving for water in a public loo, you can make some tiny choices each day that make a tremendous difference.
In fact, there are huge benefits even if you only move your body a little.
As you can see, some physical activity is a major improvement over doing no activity and, nearly as effective as meeting the physical activity guidelines.
The take-away message is don’t wait for the perfect day to do the perfect amount of exercise. Start with a small, active choice today. Just getting started will make a big difference and help you build momentum.
How much exercise do you do each day?
If you already exercise a lot…
Start slow. You could drop one workout a week on a designated day. Like maybe your Sunday’s are hectic with family events. Make Sunday’s a rest day! Or perhaps you have an art course on Tuesdays. Make Tuesday a rest day.
If taking a day off feels like too big a leap, trying shaving 5 minutes off one of your workouts.
Nothing will be different unless you try something different!
Don’t overthink it! Us humans are good at rationalizing ourselves out of anything! Understanding the information in this post will help you cut back on exercise. And if a small voice in the back of your mind keeps prodding you to exercise… IGNORE her! She’s not your friend. That’s the voice of a well-worn unhealthy habit urging you to do what you always do. It only feels right because it’s been part of your daily routine for so long.
Re-read this blog post. Understand the facts. Make a decision to slowly cut back and then get busy with the rest of the day.
The first day is the hardest. YOU. CAN. DO IT!
If you’re worried about cutting back, build in accountability:
1. Share your plans with a friend
2. Plan a time to check-in
3. Report back on your progress & pick your next check-in date!
I thought there was an exactness to eating and exercise
Over the years I struggled to lose weight I was hung up on eating the perfect amount and exercising the perfect amount. Now I know healthy living isn’t so exact. Flexibility is a big part of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. For instance, if you eat white bread for lunch you haven’t ruined everything! Or if you can only exercise for 10 minutes today instead of 25, you won’t suddenly have trouble getting into your favourite jeans. Getting and staying healthy is about doing things you can keep up long term and adding flexibility–which means allowing yourself to go with the flow (eating what everyone else is eating) and cutting corners (skipping a workout) once in a while. Don’t get lost in the details like I did for 10 years!
How much exercise equates to an active lifestyle?
All physical activity counts. The little things that people do every day [like climbing a flight of stairs] can and do add up.
– Dr. William Kraus, professor at Duke University
In other words, Dr. Kraus is saying you don’t have to dedicate a set time each day to be active. All the physical choices you make over the course of the day accumulate. Together they create an active lifestyle.
What does an active lifestyle look like?
The easiest way to get your heart pumping is to incorporate physical activity in what you’re already doing.
Here’s 3 ideas:
1. Choose to move
When you have the option to open a door or walk up or down stairs, take it!
2. Alight one stop early
When you’re on an elevator, bus or other mode of transportation and can get off one floor or stop early, do it!
3. Build in a daily 15 minute get-away-from-your-desk date
For many people lunch offers a bit of time for yourself. Breakfast and dinner are often with family or friends and you’re either trying to get out the door to start the day or relax and wind down at the end. Thus, your mid-day meal is an ideal time to move your body. Everybody is entitled to at least 15 minutes to get up and stretch.
Turn this goal into a reality by:
- making your 15 minutes of movement a non-negotiable; no one would stop you from going to the washroom and daily activity is just as urgent and important
- setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to start your break
- inviting a friend to join you to build in accountability
Be creative. Take the stairs to the top floor of your office building. Walk to a nearby park for lunch. Run errands on foot. The options are endless. Get outside if you can.
Being active will improve your physical and mental well-being, which will increase your productivity for the rest of the day. No one can argue with that win-win result.
Make Today Count
The modern world has made us immobile. But we can still be active! Simply adjust what you’re already doing. Start today.
Build healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.
Next Steps:
Now you know why it’s important to be active each day. But how do you get from A: how much exercise you get now, to B: making daily movement a habit? Sign up for my newsletter (below) and you’ll receive one of the best strategies I learned.
Getting your body moving each day helps you lose weight and makes you feel sooooo good!
“Stretch your body out under the sun and you take a deep breath. Your finger tips touch the cool green grass and it says happiness…”
These kinds of meals and snacks unlocked my HAPPY weight 21+ years ago (I lost 30 pounds without dieting!)
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These kinds of meals and snacks unlocked my HAPPY weight 21+ years ago (I lost 30 pounds without dieting!)
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Sharing what I learned makes the 10 years I STRUGGLED worth it
How much exercise do you get each day? What’s one thing you can make more active today?
Thanks Kelly for yet another helpful and insightful blog post. I love how you’re helping people …and at no expense of ours! None of anything that the diet industry does, whose goal is to put profits over people and their actual wellbeing. You rock, Kelly!
I personally find it a little surprising how there are so many opportunities to incorporate movement into your day – all in ways that don’t require you to change into gym clothing! And yet many of us, me included, are used to living sedentary lives (if not for gym sessions). Being proactive such as adding a quick 15 minute walk after lunch, as you suggested, is a great suggestion. While it seems small, done everyday as part of a routine means that you’ve walked 105 minutes every week! Multiply that by 52 weeks, and well, that’s 5460 minutes or 91 hours in a year! Now, who is to say that little things don’t add up?
Hi Catherine, I love how you define an active lifestyle as moving your body without having to “change into gym clothing!” That’s such a perfect way to summarize the main message in this post. I’ve also applied the “little things add up” approach to other parts of my life. Like I never used to make time to read. But once I focused on just reading a few pages a day, reading soon became a habit. You quickly get into the book and make more time to read. The baby step strategy is powerful and the numbers you’ve included in your comment are proof. Thanks so much!
spot on Kelly. I walk everywhere unless there is a lot of shopping to carry and always take the stairs. Also never sit more than half an hour at the time. It definitely works. Well done and keep up the good work.
Love that you make a point of walking Marianne! Getting up and moving about regularly is such a great idea too. It’s so easy to sit for hours on end. One of the most immediate benefits of exercise is psychological. When I leave my desk I’m lost in details and when I return I have a better sense of the big picture. Then I get my priorities straight and work better. Thanks for sharing your approach to an active lifestyle!
I do find that my exercise has to be REGULAR. If I don’t have my usual long walk/effort for a few days, in spite of a low carb intake (for medical reasons, diagnosed as pre-diabetic) my weight doesn’t change or increases slightly. A bit annoying as I don’t always have time for a 30 minute walk or swim! I am very active otherwise – any suggestions? Carole
Along with choosing the active option, alighting one stop early when you can and making a 15 walk after one of your 3 meals a non-negotiable, there IS something else you can do … In order to give this question the attention it deserves I’ll need to do a longer write up. You’ve inspired my next blog post! Thanks for your question Carole. An answer is coming your way soon 😉
This article makes me feel better about not doing enough structured exercise. I sit at a desk all day so it feels like I should do exercise every night to counteract this lethargy. I started what I’d call “light” dancing a few years ago so several nights a week I have very little time in the evening for “real” exercise. I’m either going to German folk dance, Irish set, Contra, or Scottish dancing class. Some of these get your heart rate up, but there tends to be a lot of down time so it doesn’t feel like true exercise. But according to your article I can count it as being active, which is still good for me!
Hi Madeline,
Wow! I love all the dancing you do.
You do sound very active.
In terms of daily activity, if you are feeling sluggish at your desk (sometimes the less I move the less I want to move!)… so just taking the stairs vs. the elevator when you move about during the day can help give your metabolism a boost.
Here’s a link to My Weekly Exercise Routine. I love to share it because it made a HUGE difference for me!
Thanks so much for your comment and so glad this article helped.
xoKelly
Thanks for this, Kelly! That video you shared yesterday was really helpful, too! I have noticed when I exercise I’m hungrier. I’ve never really thought about this before. If I make exercise my motivation to lose weight, this will be counterproductive. My goal now is to exercise my body because it feels good, is good for my body, will help with fitness and overall well-being. Thanks, Kelly!
Hi Kathy,
You said:
“I have noticed when I exercise I’m hungrier… If I make exercise my motivation to lose weight, this will be counterproductive.”
Nope! A healthy amount of exercise is NOT counterproductive at all! 🙂
Exercise helps you reach a healthy weight because:
-Exercise builds muscle so you burn calories while you rest.
-Muscles are more compact than fat so if 2 people weigh the same but one person exercises they will be a few dress sizes smaller than the person who weighs the same but does not exercise.
-Exercise also gets your heart rate up which boosts your metabolism.
-etc.
And there’s SO MANY other benefits to exercising too. For instance exercise helps you:
-sleep better
-manage stress
-improve agility
-combat chronic health conditions
…and on and on!
Weight gain isn’t about hunger, it’s about what you choose to eat when you’re hungry.
Eating ROUGHLY balanced meals (& snacks when you hungry between meals) made of MOSTLY whole foods, helps you reach your healthy weight naturally.
Here’s 2 blog posts that help explain that:
Do I have to be hungry to lose weight? is here.
Why am I overweight and still hungry? is here.
And keep in mind…
Over-exercising is like under-eating; it slows down your metabolism.
For years I exercised to such an extreme I couldn’t imagine cutting back. But My Weekly Exercise Routine has simplified exercise for me so I don’t have to think about it and… I have more time to do other things I enjoy.
I love your goal to find things you love to do physically Kathy, rather than focus on exercise for weight loss. I’m always pretty stuck on my elliptical machine workout but this week I was short on time and ran to a documentary instead of walking and I had so much fun doing something different and getting two things accomplished at the same time (transportation & exercise)!
Thank you SO MUCH for your comment Kathy. It’s sparked an important discussion.
xoKelly