Exercise, again

I am very excited to share an article that says being fit may be more important than losing weight. We heard this a few years ago, and then the message seemed to go back to weight loss and food/portions being more important. Now there is yet another study showing that for cardiovascular health it’s just as, if not more, important to be fit. In fact, if you are working out – exercising – on a regular basis, you are likely to experience better health overall.

This is especially exciting to me because I have believed for quite some time that exercise is more important than nutrition. I know that’s a bold thing to say, and I’m not condoning eating junk all the time, regardless of how much we exercise. I’ve just had this gut feeling that being active – consistently – puts us in better shape (pun intended) than being a couch potato who eats only salads.

I’ve mentioned a few times lately that I’ve been trying to take off some extra weight. This weight found its way to me over the past year, and I know why: my eating habits got a little loose and I started a full-time job where I mostly sit. Although I increased my walking somewhat, I still wasn’t able to take off the weight. Last Saturday I started attending a pretty intensive exercise class, and I can already feel the difference.

There is absolutely, definitely benefit to mixing things up in the exercise department. Use those muscles that are getting a little rusty, and step things up a notch (gradually). I avoided taking this class for a very long time, and now I have to admit I am very glad I’m going.

One of the excuses I used to avoid this class for a long time was that I didn’t know how I could keep it up over time. I realize now that I just have to make it a priority. If I’m traveling, I will have to find a similar class, or work harder on a treadmill, etc. If I miss it for a week, I’ll just start back up when I return. Sometimes fighting off the excuses is more work than exercising!

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