This Is The Best Time To Exercise If You Want To Lose Weight And Be In A Better Mood All Day
Amancio Mccrae
There are plenty of good reasons to be physically active. Big ones include reducing the odds of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Maybe you want to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, prevent depression, or just look better. Here's another one, which especially applies to those of us (including me) experiencing the brain fog that comes with age: exercise changes the brain in ways that protect memory and thinking skills.
This Is the Best Time to Exercise If You Want to Lose Weight and Be in a Better Mood All Day
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In a study done at the University of British Columbia, researchers found that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and your sweat glands pumping, appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning. Resistance training, balance and muscle toning exercises did not have the same results.
The finding comes at a critical time. Researchers say one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally. They estimate that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will have dementia worldwide.
Many studies have suggested that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) have greater volume in people who exercise versus people who don't. "Even more exciting is the finding that engaging in a program of regular exercise of moderate intensity over six months or a year is associated with an increase in the volume of selected brain regions," says Dr. Scott McGinnis, a neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School.
So what should you do? Start exercising! We don't know exactly which exercise is best. Almost all of the research has looked at walking, including the latest study. "It's likely that other forms of aerobic exercise that get your heart pumping might yield similar benefits," says Dr. McGinnis.
How much exercise is required to improve memory? These study participants walked briskly for one hour, twice a week. That's 120 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week. Standard recommendations advise half an hour of moderate physical activity most days of the week, or 150 minutes a week. If that seems daunting, start with a few minutes a day, and increase the amount you exercise by five or 10 minutes every week until you reach your goal.
If you don't want to walk, consider other moderate-intensity exercises, such as swimming, stair climbing, tennis, squash, or dancing. Don't forget that household activities can count as well, such as intense floor mopping, raking leaves, or anything that gets your heart pumping so much that you break out in a light sweat.
Whatever exercise and motivators you choose, commit to establishing exercise as a habit, almost like taking a prescription medication. After all, they say that exercise is medicine, and that can go on the top of anyone's list of reasons to work out.
As part of our work to promote better mental health, we have produced a pocket guide to show the positive effect physical activity can have on your mental well-being, including some tips and suggestions to help you get started.
At a very basic level, physical activity means any movement of your body that uses your muscles and expends energy. One of the great things about physical activity is that there are endless possibilities and there will be an activity to suit almost everyone!
It is recommended that the average adult should do between 75 and 150 minutes of exercise a week. This can be either moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, hiking or riding a bike, or it can be more vigorous activities, such as running, swimming fast, aerobics or skipping with a rope. Any activity that raises your heart rate makes you breathe faster, and makes you feel warmer counts towards your exercise!
For adults, physical activity can include recreational or leisure-time physical activity, transportation (e.g. walking or cycling), occupational activity (i.e. work), household chores, play, games, sports, or planned exercise in the context of daily, family, and community activities.
These activities can vary in intensity and include high-intensity activities, such as tennis, athletics, swimming, and keep-fit classes. They can be lower-intensity activities and sports, such as snooker or darts. Making exercise fun rather than something you have to do can motivate keeping it up.
Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.
A study asked people to rate their mood immediately after periods of physical activity (e.g. going for a walk or doing housework), and periods of inactivity (e.g. reading a book or watching television).
Exercise not only has a positive impact on our physical health but can also increase our self-esteem. Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth. It is a key indicator of our mental well-being and our ability to cope with life stressors. Physical activity has been shown to positively influence our self-esteem and self-worth. This relationship has been found in children, adolescents, young adults, adults and older people, and among both males and females.
Improvements in healthcare have led to an increasing life expectancy and a growing population of people over 65 years. Alongside this increase in life expectancy, there has been an increase in the number of people living with dementia and in people with cognitive decline. The main symptom of dementia is memory loss, a progressive disease that results in people becoming more impaired over time. The decline in cognitive functions, such as attention and concentration, also occurs in older people, including those who do not develop dementia. Physical activity has been identified as a protective factor in studies that examined risk factors for dementia. For people who have already developed the disease, physical activity can help to delay further decline in functioning. Studies show that there is approximately a 20% to 30% lower risk of depression and dementia for adults participating in daily physical activity. Physical activity also seems to reduce the likelihood of experiencing cognitive decline in people who do not have dementia.
Physical activity can be an alternative treatment for depression. It can be used as a standalone or combined with medication and/ or psychological therapy. It has few side effects and does not have the stigma that some people perceive to be attached to taking antidepressants or attending psychotherapy and counselling. Physical activity can reduce anxiety levels in people with mild symptoms and may also help treat clinical anxiety. Physical activity is available to all, has few costs attached, and is an empowering approach that can support self-management. Read more about how physical activity can help increase well-being and prevent or manage mental health problems, and get more information about how exercise can improve your mental health.
With an average of only 65.5% of men and 54% of women meeting the recommended physical activity levels in 2015, more people must be given the knowledge and support they need to make physical activity a healthy yet enjoyable part of life.
Once you have decided to be more physically active, there are a few points worth considering. Apart from improving your physical and mental well-being, what else do you want to get out of being active?
It can be a bit scary making changes to your life, and most people get anxious about trying something new. Some common barriers, such as cost, injury or illness, lack of energy, fear of failure, or even the weather, can hinder people from getting started; however, practical and emotional support from friends, family, and experts really do help.
Body image can act as a barrier to participating in physical activity. People who are anxious about how their body will look to others while they are exercising may avoid exercise as a result. For women, attending a female-only exercise class or a ladies-only swimming session may help to overcome anxiety as a barrier to initially starting to exercise.
Will you need support from friends and family to complete your chosen activities, or is there a chance your active lifestyle will affect others in your life? Find out how much it will cost and, if necessary, what you can do to make it affordable.
Setting goals to measure progress is important, which might motivate you. Try using a pedometer or an app on your smartphone to measure your speed and distance travelled, add on an extra stomach crunch or swim an extra length at the end of your session.
You can do many activities without leaving your front door, which involves minimal cost. It can be as simple as pushing the mower with extra vigour, speeding up the housework, or doing an exercise DVD in the living room.
When we're in urban environments or the office all day, we can experience sensory overload, resulting in tension and mental fatigue. Studies have shown that our minds and bodies relax in a natural setting. This increases feelings of pleasure and can help us concentrate and focus more effectively, according to studies in the National Library of Medicine.
Being outdoors can also have relaxing effects on our minds. Nature can provide a mental break by allowing us to temporarily escape the demands of everyday life. It can also boost your creativity and problem-solving abilities. For example, if you're having a mental block writing a paper or can't seem to solve a problem at work, step outside for a breath of fresh air. Take an easy walk around your neighborhood or office, and you just might find the answers you were looking for.
Getting out into nature can lead us to want to walk, bike, hike, or kayak more often. People typically engage in regular physical activity when they're in nature. So, stepping outside can help you keep a healthy weight or even lose weight by increasing activity levels.
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