Non-Diet Reasons to Exercise.
How do you feel about exercise?
Is it something that you do every day?
You’ve made it a habit and it is part of your routine, or is it something you mentally wrestle with?
I always find the thought of exercising far more inspiring than the execution, for instance, of an evening I plan how I am going to get up and get dressed into my workout clothes, roll out my yoga mat and spend 30 minutes following an on demand class.
When the morning comes around I don’t feel quite as motivated.
What’s the Point?
Years of dieting and using exercise to lose weight but only experiencing short term or inconsistent results have turned many people off exercise.
Not having long term success with weight loss can make exercise seem like a waste of time, what’s the point? Especially if we are performing exercise just to try and lose weight.
This is where we need to work on changing our mindset, read this post, Mindset Shifts to add movement to your day.
Just as we should enjoy our food and find joy and satisfaction in our meals we should also find a way to feel this way about exercise.
With this in mind, here are some non-diet reasons to exercise:
Exercise for Happy Hormones
You want to take charge of your health and wellness you just haven’t got the motivation or the energy, you can’t find the time or based on past experience you think ‘nothing will change’, ‘I’ve done it all before’.
These are all self-sabotaging thoughts.
These thoughts lead to low mood, depression and anxiety.
It’s a vicious cycle because moving our bodies releases our happy hormones and neurotransmitters, Endorphins, Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin (more about these next week!) but until we start moving we can fall further into negative thinking and excuses.
How can we break out of this cycle?
Commit to some form of movement.
Make a plan as to how you are going to fit it into your day, start with 10 minutes if that is all you have.
Choose an activity you enjoy or do something you enjoy while you move, for example, walk while listening to a podcast or audiobook, watch your favourite TV show while using an exercise machine at home, enlist a friend and attend a class or team sport together.
Keep a diary or a journal to track how you feel, download my free Habit Tracker, to track your consistency (please note this is not a tool to punish yourself with, it is to observe your actions without judgement).
Exercise for Better Sleep
Not only will your mood improve with consistent movement as your happy hormones flood your body but you will sleep better.
Benefits of quality sleep include:
- Reduced levels of stress
- Increased immune function
- Patience towards others
- Higher productivity levels
- Less emotional eating issues
If you can get outside to perform your exercise all the better. Taking natural light into our bodies helps our circadian rhythm, telling our body when it is time to sleep and wake.
Exercise for Bone Health
As we age and our sex hormones decrease we become at risk of poor bone density and osteoporosis.
Exercising, especially weight bearing exercise such as kettle bells and weights and even our own body weight through exercise such as yoga all increase strength and balance and protect us from falls and breaks.
Our bones support us and allow us to move, they also protect our brain, heart and other organs from injury.
Exercise for Metabolism
One of the symptoms of Menopause is a lowered metabolism.
Exercising helps increase our metabolism by increasing muscle mass. This doesn’t mean you need to be ‘hench’ to use a term my 15 year old son is pursuing haha!
Firm toned muscles not only support our posture and can impact our self-esteem but they burn more energy from our food and drink. This energy helps us feel less tired and sluggish and impacts our digestion as well as helping us eliminate waste more efficiently.
If you are experiencing an increase in weight through menopause ensuring your metabolism is working efficiently is essential.
Exercise for You!
If you are exercise adverse it may help to reframe it in your mind as something you do for you, your self-care time.
Exercise can be a way to take a break from life and focus on the now.
Use the time to meet up with a friend to make the experience more enjoyable or go solo and really switch off and refresh your mind.
Try this…
I am a bit of a rebel. I don’t like being told what to do, even by myself, I know, issues!
Along with Intuitive Eating, try Intuitive Exercise.
You know what you like and what you have available to you. Maybe don’t schedule your exercise too far in advance, this way you will be less likely to talk yourself out of doing it.
Decide on the day depending on how you feel, what you have on your plate, how much energy you have and what the weather is doing!
The weather has a massive effect on which exercise I choose, if the sun is shining I might take myself off for a power walk but if it’s raining I’d much rather have a swim and pretend I am on holiday in the sauna.
The most important takeaway is to try to fit more exercise or movement into your lifestyle. Don’t do it for weight loss do it for the health of your Future Self.
If you would like support with your health and wellness and would like to know how I can help you then please arrange a virtual cuppa and a chat, I’d love to talk it through with you.
If you have enjoyed this post, share it via your favourite social button below, I am on a mission to help as many women as possible ditch diets and live their healthiest happiest life 🙂 I’d love your support in doing this.