No, not really, not to lose weight. BUT, the question comes, do you want to lose weight AND feel better AND look better. Then wholeheartedly YES, you do NEED to exercise!
Dont despair. The exercise can be just about anything, such as walking in place stark naked in front of the TV while watching the evening news. Or walking up and down flights of stairs at work during the lunch break. Or parking your car at the far end of the lot and walking to the grocery store. There are many ways and many places you could exercise.
You wont know how much better youll feel until you actually DO it. And I dont mean kill yourself so you get hurt, and then quit. The key is consistency. Start slow. Start with 3 minutes. Three minutes doesnt seem very long until you actually try to walk in place without stopping for those 3 minutes, particularly if you carry extra weight. The key is committing to doing it EVERY day. As you do it, you get better at it. Three minutes easily becomes five. And before you know it you are exercising for 20 to 30 minutes and feeling great about it!
The more overweight you are, the harder it is to get started. One of my patients said, the hardest thing she ever did was open that door (to the local womens gym). The embarrassment of exercising in front of all those people was more than she could bear, at least in her mind. But she did it. She opened that door. Once she got started, it was OK. It didnt matter what everyone else was doing. She was doing it for herself. And she kept it up for a long time. Setting the time aside to exercise such that it fits YOUR schedule and YOUR interests is the key.
Exercise helps your skin “fit” as you lose weight. Exercise helps your heart. It helps your mental disposition. It helps so many things work better in your body that I cant even begin to name them all. Continuing to push your body without maintaining tone and balance and blood flow is like trying to run a marathon without training. You will collapse long before the finish line. You probably cant even walk 26 miles without some training, never mind running it. Life is (hopefully) not a sprint, but a marathon.
Its not possible to go and go and go. Im realizing that myself. I have been getting more and more out of shape by working long hours at the office, thinking things will get better if I just put in a little more time. But I was “spinning my wheels.” The longer the hours, the more inefficient I became. If I dont take care of Me, there wont be any more of ME left to take care of anyone else. So, yours truly decided to take care of ME and start exercising again. But what can I do on a regular basis, and when?
This is the thought process I went through:
The only exercise I truly love and can do every day is swim. I used to swim a lot when I had a pool at home. OK, so I dont have a pool any more after moving to Lufkin. Fine. I need to borrow one. Theres a very nice very warm pool at the local physical therapy place with a big bubble over it. Its open 6 AM to 9 PM. Surely I can find the time to go during those hours. It doesnt even cost that much to join. I just have to do it. Thats it! But when? Hmmm….joints are much too stiff in the morning. Id rather sit in a hot tub in the morning. Morning is out. During the day its much too hectic to try to break during lunch. It has to be in the evening at the end of the day before going home. Home is too far, I wont come back after supper. What time can I reasonable be done with office hours? 6:30. But what about supper? I can munch a light snack about 5 so I wont be too hungry, then finish charts and phone calls. I can eat supper after the swim. 6:30 PM it is. I was actually talking this through with a patient as we were both trying to figure out when we could exercise. We decided 6:30 works for both of us. That is so cool! I could even exercise with a friend. That evening we started! No dilly dallying around. Make up your mind and START. Come 6:30 Im “outta there” and in the pool. If I need to, Ill go back to work after the pool. Im going to be there every day but Thursday. Thats my day off, and I could be anywhere around Texas on that day.
Its been over a week and Ive managed to be there 5 out of the past 7 days. Wow, this is a run! I feel the buzz in my muscles already. I just have to keep doing it. Consistency is the key. If the locals here know where Im talking about, and you need a friend to exercise with, come join us! 6:30. Seriously!
Make your own commitment to your health, whatever it takes. No excuses! You know where you have to juggle life to make it happen.
