The Daily Mind

Daily Steps To Mindful Living

Movement & Fitness

Why Exercise is NOT the Key to Losing Weight


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Six months ago I weighed 93 kilograms (204 pounds). Today I weigh 83 (182 pounds). In just six months I have dropped a solid 10 kilograms and feel healthier than I have since high school. So how much exercise did I do to achieve that goal? Almost none.

In this post I am going to share with you how I lost the weight and why I am convinced that weight loss has very little to do with the exercise that you do. If you have your own weight loss experiences I would love to hear about them in the comments.

Why my teeth helped me lose weight

So here is the confession. About six months ago I got a new form of orthodontics called Invisalign. Invisalign is basically a series of invisible plates that you wear all day that move your teeth one by one. Every two weeks you change to the next plate and at the end of the series your teeth have gone from crooked to perfectly straight. Which I badly needed.

Anyway, the real kicker is that you can’t eat with them in. You take them out to eat (and drink) and you can only have them out for around 20 minutes at a time. Say goodbye to snacking, sugary drinks in between meals and, of course, say goodbye to second helpings after dinner.

These changes that have been “forced” upon me are the reason I lost 10 kilos so quickly. The secret to lasting and healthy weight loss is not exercise, it is the amount of food you are taking in.

Why exercise is not the answer

Prior to getting these plates I spent a lot of time exercising trying to lose weight. I didn’t have much luck. I would lose one or two kilos but the weight would always come back on as soon as I stopped the intense work outs. Why? Because I was still taking in way too many calories.

Let me show you some maths that I have been thinking about:

One can of Coke has around 155 calories in it.

Running on a treadmill for 20 minutes burns around 150 calories.

That means that after 20 minutes of exercise you have burned off one sugar drink and hardly any fat stores.

As you can see by this simple bit of maths, exercise is not the best way to lose weight. Diet is. It is your diet that will make or break your progress. It is simply too hard to burn off all the calories you need by exercise alone.

Why portion sizes will help you lose weight forever

I am now a firm believer that your portion sizes are one of the most important things when it comes to losing weight. And to prove this we can use a simple example and a bit of maths again.

Let’s say you use an extra large bowl for your dinner every night and fill it up so that you get 100 more calories than if you used a smaller bowl. Now, over a year that is 36,500 extra calories that you wouldn’t have had if you used a smaller bowl. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat so in one year you have added around 10 pounds of fat. And that is just from dinner.

It is really important to control your portion sizes and think of it as extra calories that add up over a year or over ten years. By just making your dinner smaller you will essentially save 10 pounds of fat in a year. It is very powerful.

Why you have to keep exercising

After all this diet stuff is said and done it is still vital that you keep exercising on a regular basis. The exercise helps to increase your metabolism and thus will assist your weight loss progress. It isn’t the main thing, but it will make a massive difference to the way you look and feel. This is especially true if you want to add a bit of muscle or tone – diet can’t do that. Exercise also helps you to feel better about yourself due to the large amount of endorphins that are released. These feel good chemicals go a long way to keeping you healthy.

Does anyone have any weight loss stories to share? I would like to know what has/hasn’t worked for you.

Heart Disease Hope: 13 Ways to Live, Eat and Work for a Healthy Heart


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Every 34 seconds someone in the United States dies from heart disease. That is 2,500 people a day! In my opinion there is not enough attention placed on the dangers of heart disease. Most of us are concerned about breast, prostate and skin cancer but these diseases kill far less people than heart disease. So why aren’t we more worried? Heart disease kills more people than any other condition. That is a fact.

This post is going to show you 13 ways that you can live, eat and work for a healthy heart. Each one of these tips is a powerful way to reduce your risk of a heart attack and help you improve the strength of your ticker. I hope that some of you take these tips to heart.

13 ways to live, eat and work for a healthier heart

1. Get out and move your body
Exercise is without a doubt the best thing you can do for your heart. This is a scientifically proven fact that no one can debate. It is vital that you get at least 20 minutes of exercise everyday if you want to have a healthy and fit heart.

You see, the heart is a muscle. And like any other muscle it needs to be exercised. If you don’t work out your biceps they soon go soggy and old and you run a greater risk of damaging or tearing them. The same is true of the heart. If you don’t get it pumping on a regular basis you are more likely to suffer a heart attack or some other form of heart disease.

Start by walking. Everyone can do this. You can park your car 20 minutes away from the office and walk the distance each day. That way it becomes part of your routine and is more difficult to avoid. Or, if you want to get really fit and healthy you can start jogging, doing martial arts, swimming or going to the gym. All of these things are a fantastic way to help your heart.

2. Start tackling your stress
We all get stressed. It is unavoidable. But if you do not start dealing with your stress it could wind up causing you some pretty serious problems. Research has shown that people who are highly stressed run a greater risk of heart attacks and coronary artery disease.

Scientists aren’t actually sure why stress causes heart problems. They know there is a link but they aren’t sure what it is. Some people say that stress itself is a direct cause for heart attacks while others say that stress makes other factors like cholesterol or blood pressure worse. Whatever the hard science says, it is clear that there is a link between stress and increase heart disease.

I have written many articles on stress as it is something I am constantly trying to deal with myself. The things that have helped me the most include meditation, exercise and overcoming procrastination. But these methods might not work for you. It is important that you learn how to deal with stress in your own way. It could be the best thing you ever do for your health.

3. Stop smoking right now


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I am going to speak honestly here. I hope I offend some people. Smoking is a filthy habit. I feel really sorry for smokers as they are willingly and knowingly inhaling poison – poison they know is killing them. This is not the 1920’s. We know that smoking causes cancer and heart disease. So if you are a smoker and you are reading this post then stop right now because all the tips in the world are going to be 100% ineffective if you keep smoking cigarettes.

Cigarettes contain over 4,800 dangerous chemicals. Can you imagine going into your chemical cabinet in the basement and sniffing 4,800 of them? You just wouldn’t do it. So why keep smoking cigarettes? Now, I am sorry for sounding so judgmental and harsh but it is because I care. I don’t want you to die an agonizing and painfully slow death of lung cancer. I don’t want you to die of a heart attack before you get to say goodbye to your children. I want you to live a long and happy life. So I am saying it like it is.

There is an upside. The upside is this: If you are a smoker you have an advantage over everyone else. You have the power to make one change that will massively improve your heart’s health. All you have to do is quit smoking. If you quit smoking today you will add years on to your life. Literally… years. No other “healthy heart tip” is as powerful as this one. You might have known by now that there are several cessation programs and devices(I have heard vaping is a very good way to start on the path of quitting) you can use but it all starts with the mindset and will power to abstain from puffing that death stick. Give those nicotine patches or portable vaporizers (like the ones at www.DaVinciVaporizer.com) a try. That would be a good start for you.

4. Make your diet mostly fruits and vegetables
Many years ago when I was in high school I read a book that talked about the advantages of eating a diet mostly based around fruits and vegetables. In that book the author spoke about all the people and cultures throughout history who did this and all the benefits that they enjoyed. And now science is backing up this information by telling us that fruits and vegetables help keep a healthy heart.

In today’s modern world we eat a lot of processed foods. Chips, candy, soda, take out, etc. All of these foods are full of sugar, salt and a thousand types of preservatives all of which are bad for your ticker. It is time to switch to a natural diet made of mostly fruits and vegetables. This will help you avoid heart disease and other illnesses like cancer and diabetes.

It is not as hard as it sounds. Think about all the beautiful things you can make from fruits and vegetables – potato curries, fruits salads, Caesar salads, roast vegetables, Asian stir fry and so much more. And the best thing is that you always feel amazing after eating them. No feelings of heaviness of bloating.

5. Lose weight – especially fat on your stomach
There is a massive campaign going on in Australia at the moment which is trying to educate people on how dangerous it is to be fat. In particular, the commercials are telling us that new science has shown that belly fat in particular can dramatically increase your chances of having a heart attack. Take a look: [Read more…] about Heart Disease Hope: 13 Ways to Live, Eat and Work for a Healthy Heart

8 Hacks to Help You Exercise Before Work Everyday


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It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.
– Aristotle

Every single person I know wants to be able to exercise more. The reason they don’t: too busy at work. Well that excuse just doesn’t cut it. Here are 10 hacks to help you exercise before work everyday.

1. Get to sleep at the same time each night
Many people think they need eight hours and if they don’t get that eight hours they are screwed. Well, this isn’t really the case. Science has shown that it is better to get up and go to bed at the same time each night. The consistency is important. In fact, thinking that you NEED eight hours can be more of an obstacle than a help. I know that when I used to get less than eight hours I was angry and frustrated. It was causing an obstacle.

Going to sleep at the same time each night will allow you to develop a new sense of regularity – this is how exercise habits are developed.

2. Wake up at the same time each morning
The second part of this plan is the getting up. You need to set your alarm for the same time each day. When the alarm goes off you should get up and not snooze it. Do not adjust the wake up time if you went to bed a bit later. This is all part of the plan. If you continually change the alarm time for your changing bedtime habit you will never get up with enough time to exercise.

If you can get up at the same time each morning you will have time that you perceive as “spare” and you will then be able to exercise in that time.

3. Book in with a friend
One of the best things you can do for your exercise habits is book in with a friend. When I started training early morning martial arts with my mate down the road I found it so much easier to get up because I knew he would be waiting for me down at the park.

It is a good idea to use other people to help you as long as you don’t “depend” on them.

4. Find a new exercise class
If you have been trying to get up in the morning to go for a boring old jog you might find it a bit hard. If, however, you have something interesting to go to like martial arts, gymnastics, hiking, etc. you will be more likely to get going. Try and be creative, and invite your friends a long.

5. Start small
If you are pretty busy and you really can’t get up early enough to have a long session you should start by just doing 20 pushups before breakfast. My mother always used to do 100 squats when she got out of bed. She said it was a great way to start the day, wake you up and burn a few calories.

6. Walk, jog or ride to work
One of the best ways to fit in some exercise is to walk, run or ride a bike to work. This is good for the environment as you save the green house gas emissions and it is good for your fitness and your waistline. The thing that is really good about this hack is that it doesn’t feel like you are exercising – it just feels like you are going to work.

7. Take advantage of day-light savings time
If you live somewhere where you have to wind your clock backwards and forwards for day-light savings time then you should take advantage of that special time every year where you get an extra hour of sleep because you wound your clock backwards. Instead of sleeping in you should get up at your “non-daylight savings normal” waking time and get running. It will be a much easier way to get into the habit.

8. Do it every single day
Don’t just do it once. Do it everyday. If you do it only a few times you will not develop the habit and every time you try to do it you will feel crap during the exercise session. Make sure you get up and exercise at the same time – even on the weekends.

Conclusion
Exercising before work will make you a better worker. It will make you more alert, energetic and much happier. Exercising before work will change your life for the better in ways you could not imagine.