SCALE NOT MOVING?
If the scale stopped moving it’s most likely because you stopped moving too! Rainy days and quarantines can make for a very unhealthy lifestyle for weight loss and health!
DID YOU KNOW…. Based on a study of more than 220,000 people, researchers found that the longer you spend sitting down every day, the higher your risk of dying prematurely, even if you engage in regular exercise. And if that isn’t scary enough then you should know sitting down for long periods of time isn’t just bad for your metabolism, it can also make you age quicker too. New research has found that sitting down for long periods of time even with regular exercise can make a person’s cells age prematurely. Yikes!
Why does this happen?… Because you are not meant to sit you are built to stand upright. Your heart and cardiovascular system work more effectively that way. Your bowel system also functions more efficiently when you are upright. You are also meant to move! When you are moving, your overall energy levels and endurance improve, and your bones maintain strength. Moving your muscles helps your body digest the fats and sugars you eat. If you spend a lot of time sitting, digestion is not as efficient, so you retain those fats and sugars as fat in your body. — Yikes again!
Interesting fact…. Your legs and gluteals, are the biggest muscles in your body and when used they burn the most calories. That’s why runners, long distance walkers, and lower body training will always have and create leaner bodies because they are working their legs and gluteals, and burning the most calories. These large muscles are important for weight loss and overall strength to help stabilize the body. Sitting for long periods can lead to weakening and wasting away of the large leg muscle and gluteal muscles. What happens when your leg muscles waste away?… you don’t burn as many calories because you no longer have the biggest muscles in your body and if that isn’t bad enough you end up with all fat and cellulite. Because prolonged periods of sitting reduce blood flow and that creates fat and cellulite. Just another big reason to get up and go…..
Live Longer!… Physical inactivity contributes to over three million preventable deaths worldwide each year. It is the fourth leading cause of death due to non-communicable diseases. It’s also the cause of approx. 30 per cent of breast, colon cancers, diabetes and heart disease. So next time you are at your desk and working 8 hours straight think about the damage you can be doing to your body. Set the timer and make sure you are moving. It’s something you have complete control over to change.
Feeling Sad?… We don’t really understand the links between sitting and mental health as much as we do the links between sitting and physical health. But we do know that the risk of both anxiety and depression is much higher in people that sit more.
Have I made my point yet?… if not, let me make it clear — it’s time to stop sitting and start moving! And walking your plate to the sink doesn’t count.
Move More In Quarantine….. An hour of exercise a day is just not enough in quarantine. Before quarantine you were exercising an hour a day and then you were running errands, work, sports, shopping, kids etc… Now you exercise and hour a day and you sit a lot more than you used too.
A SIMPLE FIX:
- Add one extra hour a of exercise a day (walk, bike, hike, HIIT workouts, or just dance with your family around the house for an hour — so much fun and good for everyone!). If you do it consistently for 7 days along with your current one hour you will see a big difference in your body and the scale.
- Don’t sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time. Get up do jumping jacks or jog in place. Do anything to get the blood flowing and the body moving. Just keep thinking sitting too long = loss of muscle, and lots of fat and cellulite.
Today is more challenging than ever because you are not always on the go. Being sedentary is definitely going to play a part in how your body looks and functions. So whether you are cleaning, playing with the kids, walking, biking, jogging, …. find the time to move and make the excuses to keep moving as much as you can. It will help you mentally and physically feel so much better today, tomorrow, next week and next month.
IT’S NEVER ABOUT HAVING THE TIME — IT’S ABOUT MAKING THE TIME
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
