It's fair to say that in the UK the majority of us don't move as much as we should.
Now more than ever with so many working from home and the winter weather!
Exercise alone in terms of influencing weight loss isn't that effective, but exercise has so many hundreds of benefits aside from weight loss.
We are more overweight now than we were 50 years ago and back then a lot of us actually consumed more calories than we do now!
Our activity levels play a big part in this.
The basic approach is if we burn more energy than we bring in we'll create a calorie deficit and lose weight.
Obviously if we take in more than we burn then we tip the scales the other way.
We are much less active at a society level than we used to be which makes it harder to create the good calorie deficit which leads to weight loss.
We walk less, have less active jobs, we spend less time outdoors and you can have food delivered to your house without even having to pick up the phone! Brilliant....
Diet makes or breaks weight loss but the more active we can be the better for your health as well as for weight loss.
Here are 10 (in my opinion) easy ways of boosting your daily activity:
1. Walk to work - If it's walkable do it, if not even something simple like parking further from work all adds up
2. Chose the stairs - I always laugh to myself at airports when I'm the only one using the stairs. Even those horizontal walkways which are designed so you can KEEP WALKING and get along faster are an excuse for people to just stand on so they don't have to move!
3. Walk On Your Lunch Breaks - Get away from your desk and get some fresh air
4. Stand More - Don't spend your day moving from chair to chair
5. Cycle If You Can - Good for your health and the environment, great for the short trips rather than taking the car
6. Stop Buying So Much Online - Leave the house and walk around the shops
7. Play Outside With Your Kids Or Friends - Put the ipad and phone down
8. Go Straight To The Gym Before or After Work - Get more healthy activities into your routine, do it pre or post work as it's much harder once you've got home and sat down!
9. Clean The House & Garden - A great way of boosting activity
10. Drink More Water - Inc urination will get you moving more too as well as staying hydrated being essential to your health
10 simple ways of boosting your activity without it eating into your time too much.
See how many you can add to your routine, they may not seem like much on their own but honestly they all add up.
If you want to add some structured and fun exercise sessions into your routine to really boost your fitness and get a healthier lifestyle then why not join one of our small group exercise programs.
Our February 28 Day Online program registration has now opened.
More details this week about that.
If you can't wait until then just reply with 'February' and I'll send it all through.
Have a good active day,
Jamie Stedman
