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I'm not telling you anything you don't know when I say that weight loss is achieved through eating healthy food and exercising regularly. But this is exactly what most of us seem to struggle to achieve. Could the key be in your attitude? With planning and a bit of creativity, I believe that exercise can become a natural part of your daily lifestyle, which doesn't hurt too much at all! By heeding advice and setting a resolve, you can do it too. Just try implementing these hints and enjoy the slimmer, fitter you! Don't be fooled. You do not have to buy the latest exercise machine on the infomericals. If you already have one such machine (or more than one!) that's well and good. Get it out and set it up somewhere it can stay set up. (It's not as effective if you have to fetch it out of storage and set it up every time you exercise). Make it visual and ever present and it will remind you to exercise. However, if you have not succombed to the latest abs firming gizmo, don't worry one bit. Get yourself a large exercise ball and you can exercise every muscle using that, for a fraction of the price. Exercise does not have to take hours out of every day. There are a number of brilliant daily exercise DVDs on the market that take between 15 and 20 minutes. If you can manage this three times a week or more you will be on your way to a better physique. Most people find that first thing in the morning is the best time to do their 20 minutes. At least there will be fewer interuptions and you will be able to spend your day knowing it's behind you, a great feeling! If you leave it til any other time you may find it playing on your mind during the day and you might feel as though it's hanging over your head. Unexpected things often come up and you'll find it squeezed out of your routine for that day. After you've missed one session you may feel a bit disappointed with yourself and less keen to continue. Does any of this sound familiar? Overcome such obstacles by choosing a time that's best for you, and stick to it. This is very important and a point easily missed by many: your exercise must be fun and fulfilling to you or else you simply wont keep it up. Afterall, we're only human and we have to be motivated to continue with our good intentioned plans. Here's one way to determine the exercise plan which is best for you. Sit down alone and jot down ten activities that you most enjoy in life. Now look again at these activities and consider ways you can make these activities more physical and ways you can naturally incorporate exercise. For example, if eating out is one of your enjoyments, choose restaurants near to a beach, lake, river or nature walk and schedule a pre or post dinner stroll as a habitual part of that activity. Do you love sunny days? Hire bicycles and take the whole family on a ride to remember. Do you enjoy sunsets? My wife and I love after dinner walks on our local beach during the summer (and don't forget to take the kids: you'll be modelling healthy lifestyle to them). Do you love time with the wider family? Organise a big ball game in a park rather than an all-you-can-eat-restaurant. Exercise does not have to be formal and inflexible. Your everyday routine provides limitless opportunities to get in shape and burn some calories. For example, those television remote controls can be put to one side and you can rely on the legs God's given you for a change! You can change your attitude about finding close parking places in shopping centres; why not actually choose a park some distance away from the shop doors? It will be less crowded and you'll steal a calorie burning opportunity as you carry heavy shopping bags (like dumbells) back to the car later on. Forget the lift, decide now to always take the stairs at work. Bus commuters, you don't have to get off at your usual stop. Consider getting off one stop too early and walking the last bit of distance. Radical, hey! See what I mean about changing your attitude? And lastly, if you have an office job (especially if you work with computers), always break up your day with several brisk walks around your block to take in the fresh air and get the blood pumping. Ladies, take walking shoes with you if your work shoes are uncomfortable. You can use competition to advantage, even if you're only competing with yourself. The key here is a little bit of organisation. Display a time chart somewhere you look often, such as your fridge door, and record every day the time it takes you to complete your walk. You'll be amazed to notice how much quicker you become with practice. This in turn will motivate you to continue. Make sure there's a column also to record your pulse when you walk in the door at the conclusion of your walk as this will show you your improved fitness levels, which will also delight and motivate you. In no time at all you'll be looking to increase the distance you walk within the same time period as you started. Exercise somewhere inspiring. The great thing about brisk walking is that you can choose your destination. Get in your car and go to a place you love. If you're very lucky you will live near a lake, beach, river, forest or scenic area. Perhaps your favourite place is a shopping centre. I know a lady who combines retail therapy with her need for company and exercise and so walks the length of her local shopping centre five times every morning! It's whatever works for you! Don't overdo it. This is often a pitfall of the enthusiastic. Always start small and allow your challenges to grow. If you lift weights which are too heavy or start jogging before you've mastered walking briskly, you're in for trouble. At the worst you'll injure youself or endanger your health and at best you'll be very sore and sorry the next day. So many times I've witnessed joggers (often older people) almost killing themselves along the side of the road. I wish they realized that a very brisk walk will do them more good than their excrutiating run. If you're looking for a form of exercise with suits nearly everyone, look no further than swimming. Swimming is great as a regular form of exercise as it's low impact (so you're unlikely to get injured), appeals to all ages and is quite a workout for your whole body. It's also lots of fun, it feels like pure pleasure in hot weather and can be continued throughout the cold months if you live near an indoor pool centre. Nobody but you needs to know how fast or stylishly you're swimming, it can be an individual challenge if that's what you prefer. Some people just thrive on competition and if that's you, ensure you are in some kind of team sport competition. Recognise that motivational quality in yourself and feed it by joining your local footy or netball competition. Team sports are useful for helping us feel obliged to turn up regularly; the rest of the team make us accountable, which helps keep us on the straight and narrow! If you want to see quick results in your physique, I would definitely have a whey protein based shake on hand and take this between 20 and 30 minutes after your exercise session. You'd be amazed at the difference this will make. During exercise you muscles basically tear and protein helps them to start rebuilding immediately. This leads to greater muscle tone and fat burning. Whey protein and L Carnitine is a winning combination if you really need to lose some weight. Why do all the hard work and not give yourself every advantage? A little creative thinking and a steadfast decision to put some little changes into action can be the start of a whole new you. It's not as hard as you think to live a healthy life. Any exercise must be supported by sensible eating, and is enhanced by drinking lots of water and a protein supplement after you're finished. If you put into action some of the advice given here, I am confident your slimmer physique and increased energy levels will be all the motivation you need to keep on exercising regularly for the rest of your life!
Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db
Colin Johnson has been a recognised exercise advisor and elite sports coach in a variety of fields. He highly recommends whey protein shakes for muscular recovery and development and L Carnitine for weight loss and increased stamina. You can get a unique content version of this article.
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