Getting into the right mindset is key to sticking with your weight loss goals. Making exercise a priority is one piece of the puzzle for losing weight. Many people believe they do not have time to exercise, but exercise can be simple! One such exercise is walking. Walking is a great way to start incorporating exercise into your day. During the first month after surgery, we usually recommend for our patients to begin with slow walking and progress to power walking or even slow jogging! At Houston Weight Loss, we recommend for our patients to make their exercise routine variable so that your body doesn’t have a chance to get used to a certain routine. Here are some routines you can start doing today!
Brisk walking is good for weight loss but interval walking is even better for calorie burn. A study from Ohio University found that a change in pace results in more calorie burn.
To do interval walking, plan a longer walk once a week, which should probably take around 40 or more minutes and increase your pace at various intervals. For example: power walk for 2 minutes, slow walk for 1 minute – repeat for 30 minutes total. This variation in high vs low intensity confuses your body and can help you burn some calories!
Elevators are suffocating. Not really, but they definitely keep you from covering those extra steps you could cover by taking stairs. Studies have shown that people who take stairs burn more calories, strengthen their bones and have a higher metabolic rate.
Even if it’s not possible for you to climb that flight of stairs every day, you can use them every other day to bring a little sweat on.
Sounds complicated? It’s actually not. In fact, bodyweight exercises burn more fat in comparison with cardio.
Forward and back lunges, squats, push-ups, toe taps, and side lunges are all forms of exercises that include some bodyweight and definitely some walking movement side by side. The bonus, these exercises help you with maintaining lean muscle mass and having a more “toned” look!
Aiming to walk at least 10,000 steps per day is a great way to make sure you keep active. Wearing a pedometer can hold you accountable to walk more daily. There are many step trackers out there like Fitbit, apple watch, and more! On some, you can even have competitions with your friends to see who can walk more steps. What is better than a friendly competition to get more active?
If you have tried walking and exercise and still haven’t seen any changes on the scale, you might be in need of some medical help, perhaps a bariatric service.
For a free bariatric consultation, get in touch with us today!
