By Debbie Rocker
There’s more to fitness than losing weight! What’s the use of having a great body if you’re unhappy?
And I know you think that losing weight will cure your unhappiness - but it doesn’t always work like that. You are going to have to tend to all areas of your fitness to be healthy and happy.
Here are three easy ways to lighten up:
1. Walk with weight. That’s exactly right; you’ve got to put weight on if you want to take it off quickly. Some people use hand and ankle weights – but that’s really not the healthiest way to load your body – it puts too much stress on the extremities and can alter your natural stride and spinal alignment.
Some walkers and runners use a backpack – again not so good for the body as the uneven weight distribution (all in back) is taxing in an unnatural way, bad for posture and again, may negatively affect your alignment.
I recommend a weighted vest - yes, this one is mine, and of course I think it’s the best one, but there are others, and I recommend that you do your research before buying one. The WalkVest evenly distributes weight around the mid-torso – it holds the weight secure - close to your body with a core conditioning belt which, as it says, helps condition your core, strengthen and tone abdominal muscles, and protect your lower back.
It allows for weight changes (adding and subtracting) in small increments (2 lbs). It holds up to 16 lbs of weight total, which is more than enough for power walking or running. Make sure, when looking in to buying any weighted vest - that it is adjustable, that the weights load around your middle evenly, and they are securely fastened.
When you exercise – or even just walk your dog around the neighborhood with that extra weight – your body burns excess calories, you sculpt and tone and build lean muscle faster, and you are able to build bone density to protect against osteoporosis.
You lose weight faster (we are lightening up here) when you work out with extra weight because your body doesn’t adapt to it the way it has adapted to your own body weight. So it works harder – it has to – to carry the extra weight. If you want to lighten up effortlessly – walk around with extra weight, and burn extra calories without even thinking about it.
2. Give up refined sugar. Wow, are you going to see and feel a difference in your body and your mood if you do this. Stop eating pastries, ice cream, cookies and candy, and don’t drink soda or alcohol for 14 days, and your body will shrink.
You will lose the puffiness that comes from ingesting too much sugar. Furthermore, you’ll feel clearer, you’ll be less moody, and, after 14 days, you may just want to clean up your diet for good. It has happened for me, and it can happen for you, too.
Lose weight and inches, feel and look brighter and lighter, and don’t be surprised, too, if your friends and family tell you how nice you are to be around.
3. Think positively. There is one thing you can be sure of, and of this I am certain – everything changes. So, if you are having a rough time of it – know that this, too, will change. And if you are doing/have done all that you can do to make a situation the way you want it to be – then you have to surrender to the powers that be, and get on with living your life as happily as you can.
Lighten up, let go, and let your efforts flower in their own time. Think thoughts of success, achievement, fulfillment, and happiness. See yourself attaining your goals and imagine the best-case scenario! If, on the other hand, you are not doing all that you can do to activate or change a situation (and I am not talking about forcing something that doesn’t fit – I mean doing what you responsibly and respectfully can do, and then getting out of your own way), then take the next step as soon as you know what it is.
When you do, you will feel better, happier, even lighter, just because you have taken the action.
Peace and Happy Trails to You.
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