Thoughts on exercise

Went to the Healthier Weight support group meeting in Manchester today. The presentation was about the importance of exercise in the body energy balance. In essence, whether or not we lose weight is a function of total calories (energy) in minus total calories out. Since calories out is largely related to activity levels, the more exercise we do, the more likely it is that we will lose weight. Of course it is not so simple as that - it takes quite a lot of commitment, motivation and organisation on our part to make that exercise actually happen.

Personally, I have got into quite good habits when it comes to fitting little bits of walking into my daily routine. However, it's harder to find the time and energy to fit in 'bigger' bits of exercise like long hikes, going to the gym, swimming etc. One of the things that was clear from today's talk was that this kind of activity tends only to happen if it has a very regular place in our daily and weekly routine. This us where I struggle at the moment because my job us quite variable on a day to day basis. That means I start and finish work at different times so find it difficult to fit in visits to the gym etc on a regular basis.

This is where I find having daily and weekly targets on my pedometer helps. My daily target is 7000 steps and my weekly average target is 8,000 steps. I find it quite helpful to look at it during the day - if it says 5790, for instance, then I know I only gave to fit in an extra 1210 before bedtime! This evening I went for a walk-jog for 40 minutes or so - I quite enjoyed it but am tired now. Signing off to go to bed.