We have always heard that losing weight requires “Eating less and Exercising more”. This makes it sound like both the dietary and exercise components carry equal importance. This is not the case as the dietary intervention is much more powerful than the exercise. Think how long it would take for you to burn off 800 calories vs. how quickly you can consume a hot fudge sundae containing 800 calories. Having said that, exercise is still an important component to long-term weight control success.
Excuses for not exercising: No Time… It is not fun.. Medical reasons..
What percentage of people engage in actual exercise on a routine basis? The answer is not many. The reasons: these may include a lack of time and orthopedic issues that preclude physical activity. However, another major reason is that for many, they simply do not enjoy the act of exercising. This group of people will find many reasons why they cannot exercise, when, in fact, there are no true barriers to making this happen.
Tips on how to start exercising:
One way of ensuring some element of exercise is to “enforce” activity. Here are several ways that we can sort of “force” ourselves to get up and get moving:
- Get an active dog: Active breeds such as labs require LOTS of walks and activity. Having a dog will sort of “enforce” activity on you.
- Join a walking club or organize your own exercise group: When other people are expecting/relying on you to show up, it is much more difficult to roll over and stay in bed, avoiding exercise that day.
- Buy expensive exercise equipment for your house: Human nature is such that we do not like to waste $$$ so if we invest in exercise equipment for the home, there is a better chance that exercise will occur.
- Join an expensive fitness place such as the ones that have swimming pools, saunas, etc: Once again, a human nature thing: If we are only paying $9.99 a month for the bare bones basic gym, we may feel not as compelled to use it as opposed to the $69 a month “Gucci” gym.
If you are currently exercising regularly, kudos and keep it up. If not, please consider some method of “enforcing” exercise on yourself. By doing so, you will markedly increase the chances of long term exercise success.
Here are a few work out routines from WebMD that might help you with exercise jumpstart:
Slideshow: The 30-Minute Workout Routine
Meet Dr. Bob Posner
Dr. Bob Posner is the author of a Daily Blog that he creates for his pationts every day to help them stay focused on their weight control journey. Dr. Posner is also the author of The Serotonin Solution to Never “Dieting” Again, Dr. Bob has lectured at medical conferences across the U.S. and throughout Europe. He has developed and patented serotonin products including SeroPro, the Serotonin Solution for Mood Enhancement
launched in April, 2017 and SeroImune, an imune booster launched in 2019.
2 Responses
I am your biggest fan! I bought a cybex trainer and used it on and off until I started your program in August 2020. I was 220 pounds and my entire body hurt. I think it was after my first virtual visit with Dr Posner when he encouraged exercise that I started waking up every morning at 5 am and exercising. I started with 20 mins on the cybex trainer and then worked my way up to 45 minutes and added 10-15 mins of you tube weight training. I am now down to 178 and exercising every day. 7 days a week, I feel amazing. I do have more to lose but now I see it as a journey and not a race. I’m so thankful that a friend introduced me to this program and I did not let money be an excuse for joining. It is paid and my body thanks me.
Thank you, Tiffani! Dr.Posner and Serotonin-Plus team are always happy to hear from you and support in any way!