Most of us have too much to do: kids, jobs, friends, family. We’re pulled in a million directions. We find ourselves exhausted at the end of the day, we crash out on the sofa or in bed, watch TV, stuff ourselves with comfort food like chips, sweets or fatty burgers and French fries. Worst of all, we find that we have less and less energy to keep up with the hectic pace of our lives, not to mention the blow to our self-esteem when the calories and the inactivity add up to extra pounds, or flabby or non-existent muscles. Ugh. What if there was a way to invest in ourselves that paid off in more energy and more happiness? There is: EXERCISE! You can read more at Whittier Fitness Center
Research has shown that not only does increasing cardio-vascular fitness reduce the incidence of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, and other degenerative diseases, but being in shape gives us the endurance to get through 12 and 16-hour days filled with work, kids and household errands without having to resort to “crutches” like caffeine and sugar addictions. Imagine that? An energy “fix” that improves our lives!
Aside from increased energy and reducing our risk of developing life-threatening diseases, exercise is also a fantastic way to connect cross-generationally with your family. Children in America are at increased risk of being obese or developing eating and exercise habits that can lead to obesity later in life. In order to prevent or reverse this trend, we have to teach them at home the way to have proper balanced, healthy diets, and, just as important, we have to instill a love of exercise. Older people as well, benefit from the increased blood flow exercise can generate. Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other degenerative neurological conditions can be slowed or prevented when we exercise by helping the brain become more resilient.
For those with metabolic disorders, or a family history of diabetes, exercise helps by reducing overall body weight, lowering body fat, and increasing insulin sensitivity. Type 2 diabetes results when our bodies stop producing enough insulin to break down the sugars we are eating, these sugars careen through our blood streams wrecking havoc, causing inflammation in our organs and joints, weight gain, increased blood pressure, and ultimately shortening our life spans. Americans consume an average of 24 lbs of sugar per year. It’s in almost every bite of processed food we eat. Not good.
Exercise also carries with it additional benefits. Working out improves sleep quality (just don’t do it within 2 hours of bedtime!), it lowers stress by releasing endorphins and flushing toxins from the body, it strengthens the immune system, fortifies your skeleton helping to prevent or reverse osteoporosis, it can also reduce or prevent symptoms of pre-menopause in women, and help with erectile dysfunction in men. What’s not to love about all of that?
So, why not enjoy your life instead of just shambling your way through it? Choose exercise, something we can each do for ourselves, right now.