Why Exercise?

One of my WW members is a nurse, so she definitely knows more about health and nutrition than I do! So when she wanted to tell me about the latest research concerning cardiac rehab patients, I was all ears.

She told me something that you may have already heard. Just adding exercise to your lifestyle does not mean you will lose weight. So I ran out and gave all my running stuff to Goodwill! No, only kidding. She then went on to say that though weight loss is important for cardiac patients with heart disease, the benefits of exercise were important, too. They were stress relief, lower blood pressure, more HDL and more energy to improve their quality of life. She mentioned some more health improvements, but I need to go to medical school to understand them.

The words I want you to take away from the last paragraph are "quality of life". I know that losing extra weight does improve our quality of life. Try carrying a 5 pound bag of sugar with you all day and you will get tired. But if the changes you make, such as eating less, eating better quality foods and moving more are just a means to an end, you will eventually give up. Your mind, body and habits must change. If you stick with WW, as time goes on, you will become a different person and not just on the outside.

If you are the old you, only temporarily doing different things, then you will always want to go back to behaving like the old you. So you may not like exercise at first and you may not like fruits and veggies that much, but as your body, mind and energy improve, you will. When you finish a workout, you won't think, "How many calories did I burn?" you will think, "My body can do amazing things, I have lots of energy and I look better than ever!" If you stick with the program long enough, you will realize your new, healthy way of living is so much better. You may not even recognize the person you used to be.

You don't wear your weight on your forehead. But everyone can see the spring in your step, the smile on your face and the strength you have now that you are a healthy person. The weight will come off. If it isn't, we can go back to the basic formula of calories in, calories out and make the right adjustments.

I believe you can't have a strong mind without a strong body. That makes for a great "quality of life." Inside and out.