How do I lose weight -Exercise

     

     
        The moment you hear word exercise, laziness sets in, you think that what if i don't continue exercise after I start, what type of exercise I should like going to gym / yoga / Jumba dancing / aerobic exercise etc. I came across many people specially women think the household works and office works, commuting from the home to office etc give enough exercise to their bodies. Moreover we here a word "no time to exercise". Most of us are guilty enough for not exercising .Let me give you a brief introduction of the existence of the habit of exercise from the ancient times.

Our ancestors never really did a set of exercises in gym, but they had to lot of physical work to survive. Survival of the fittest was a crucial throughout the human evolution. The interested one practised Yoga, Martial arts to be fit physically and mentally . According to many philosophers and historians in the west and east fitness, proper nutrition and spiritual balance were the basic fundamentals of healthy living promoted through the centuries. Women also used to do lot of physical works ranging from grinding, pounding grains to working in the fields, men worked from building empires to participating in wars.

GENERAL RULES FOR THE EXERCISE:


        Iam going to write few practical issues people face in terms of exercise and put forward few general guidelines one should be aware of before starting exercises.

Increase your exercise gradually

        If you are taking exercise for the first time, start with a low intensity cardio/ walk/ simple stretches/ basic yoga asanas and not to go for weight training, sun salutations, advance Pilates even if you have a flexible spine and joints. I see people going for 4 minute intense workouts like Tabata exercises, jumping, skipping etc on the 1st week of the exercises and ending up with painful joints and sore muscles, gradually increase the intensity and timings over a period of 2-4 weeks.

Breath deeply  

       You must be wondering where does your fat go when you lose weight, how will it disappear from your body? When fat is burned (oxidized) it converts into water and carbon dioxide. Ultimately you will lose in the form of sweat and the breath. You must emphasis on good breathing and try deep breathing while exercising.

Empty stomach

        Early mornings or late evenings are preferable timings of exercising. If not possible in mornings and evenings you should at least make sure that you have completed your meals before 2 - 5 hours of exercise. Few experts say that one can have a small snack or caffeine related drinks before your exercise to boost up metabolism, but for me I prefer to go on empty stomach. Diabetics or  people feeling low energetic before exercise can eat 1-2 dates / raisins/ 1 tsp of jaggery/ honey to energise themselves.

Exercise carefully

        Obese or overweight individuals, who also suffering with few diseases like arthritis or any other joint related issues should initially give importance for: 

• Milder forms of walk 10- 15 minutes/ yogic stretching.
• Sitting bicycles 10-15 minutes
• Joint strengthening exercises 10-15 minutes

Individuals with lower back pain, neck pain with a diagnosed vertebral disc issues should opt for:

• Slow walking 15-20 minutes
• Spinal strengthening exercises 20 -30 minutes
• Few abdominal strengthening asanas and back strengthening asanas.

        Healthy and young individuals can opt for 45 minutes to 1 hour exercise / weekly 6 days. One should maintain the increased heart beat during exercise for at least 10 minutes to get maximum calories burn. I have seen people exercising sometimes stop losing in spite of doing regular exercise, during those times change the activity to something different to again start losing weight. You can also try few changes in the diet to boost metabolism.

        I suggest yoga for individuals whose main reason for putting on weight is hormonal imbalance. Only yogic exercises in combination with pranayama, meditation, stress relaxing techniques can bring hormonal balance and helps in losing weight as well in maintaining.

Few exercise one can take up depending on the type and causes of over weight.

1. Cardio and weight training
2. Aerobic exercise
3. Yoga, pranayama 
4. Pilates
5. Jumba  etc

You can check for the specific Exercises or Yogasanas for abdomen / thighs / hips in next few blogs.