If you're unhappy with the condition of your body, most likely you have toyed with the idea of becoming physically fit. But creating a strong, lean and healthy body requires major lifestyle changes and the majority of people don't stick with it. We need motivation to exercise so how can you avoid this sad group of 'Starters~Quitters'?
You must began by becoming crystal clear on the reasons why you want to be strong and fit. If you don't have a strong enough "why" your chances of failure increase drastically. These reasons are individual but here are eight reasons to exercise you might want to think about.
1. Exercise & Weight Loss: Get Rid Of That Nasty Fat
Exercise is a proven and reliable way to reduce fat. Each body consumes a certain amount of calories every day and if your physical exertion requires more calories out than you have taken in, the pounds absolutely will come off. Muscle uses more calories simply to move through the day than fat does. So if you add muscle you are going to burn more calories, thus increasing your calorie deficit and your body will be forced to use stored fat as energy to maintain itself.
2. Fight Disease With Regular Exercise
Regular exercise helps to prevent disease. For instance, the number one killer in America is heart disease. It is primarily the job of the liver to metabolize fat and if this organ is itself surrounded by fat, it will be unable to do its job effectively.
Further, some types of fat, even when metabolized by the liver, transform into cholesterol. A percentage of this cholesterol is going to be the "bad" kind known as LDL, or low-density lipoprotein. It's a sticky, waxy substance that clogs the arteries and leads to heart disease, by-passes and even eventual death. Another side effect of clogged arteries is an often life-destroying stroke which can damage the brain irreparably.
3. If You Already Have A Disease, Lessen Or Eliminate It With Physical Activity
If you already have a disease, exercise can help reduce the severity. A great example of this is Type 2 diabetes which is rampant in our society. Whenever we eat a meal, much of it is turned into glucose, a sugar which is especially needed by the brain. The pancreas produces insulin which is carried into the cells of the body to produce energy. Too much food and too much sugar results in the body and not being able to properly use this insulin. The results: glucose is rampant in your bloodstream. Too much of this syndrome equals diabetes. One antidote is exercise which uses up much of this excess glucose and restores the balance of sugar and insulin. Untreated diabetes can result in blindness, amputation and death.
4. Exercise And Calm Are Best Pals
Huge numbers of people are treated with strong drugs for mental issues like anxiety and depression. None of these chemicals are devoid of side effects. A much better way to relieve these miserable symptoms is to exercise. When we move, we release chemical messengers called endorphins into our bodies. In fact, researchers believe that this occurs after only 12 minutes of exercise. Instead of an antidepressant, go for a walk!
5. Throw Your Sleeping Pill Bottle Into The Trash
Another welcome chemical is serotonin. Serotonin is a brain chemical that causes us to feel calm and peaceful. It has the further wonderful effect of combating insomnia and lots of serotonin is released when we exercise. So another benefit of working out is that we can sleep soundly and rest deeply at night. During our sleep, our body repairs itself and produces hundreds of dollars of chemicals like HGH, human growth hormone. With interrupted, or chemical-induced sleep, this powerful regeneration doesn't occur or is short-changed.
6. Your Self Confidence Will Soar
Exercise will make you more self-confident and you will feel much better about yourself. Yes, you will feel physically better which is awesome, but it is also very empowering to make a commitment and carry it out. Success in transforming your body will let you know that you can make other commitments and carry them out, too. The self-discipline that you will develop will be carried over to every aspect of your life.
7. Improve Your Social Life By Being Fit
Your social interactions with others may very well improve.
* First, you will get attention from others who wonder what you're doing to look so great?
* Secondly, when you feel more attractive you will have more confidence when you approach other people.
* Further, it not be "right", but the fact is that we are judged by appearance in our society. People tend to evaluate you more highly if you look good and will respond to you accordingly.
8. Best Of All: More Energy
The best reason of all to exercise is that your energy will skyrocket. Although it might seem contradictory, the best thing to do if you're fatigued and 'blah', is to exercise. It might seem that plopping down in front of the TV and resting is is the thing to do, but it's not. In fact, exercising raises your energy and increases your endurance. The increased oxygen and blood flow will cause your energy to explode. When we aren't physically active we become lethargic and sluggish. That's a miserable way to live life.
Perhaps all of these reasons to exercise are meaningful for you and are strong motivations for exercise? Perhaps none of them are the reasons you would like to be physically fit? Whatever your goal, you have some reason for wanting it and it's up to you to figure out exactly why you want to be strong and fit. So your first step in this epic and life-changing journey is not to put on your shorts and tank top but, instead, to be very clear about your motivations. And once you figure out what they are, review them frequently. That will keep you focused in a way nothing else can.
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burhan says
the holy grail in doing exercise is to make yourself live at the fullest. Since everthing works on one basic principle that is information and energy and there and half of your lifes problems are solved when you have energy flowing all your body through exercise
BlissPlan says
Feeling energy flowing through our bodies leads to a fabulous feeling of euphoria!!! It’s the only way to live and when we don’t have it, we’re only half alive.
Peter says
In the past, I really didn’t want to exercise but now may be I will change my mind to get the life better, lose fat, get more energy to feel more attractive and confidence. Thanks for your great post and great advice.
BlissPlan says
I don’t always WANT to exercise. I usually do, though, just because the payoffs are so tremendous. If only there was a way to get the results without having to bother to exercise … :-)