Moving Everyday
I know and you probably know, exercise is really wonderful for the body and brain. But, if you are like me and need a good book to convince you that exercise is good and beneficial for your body Spark is the book you will want to read. I personally own the book because I needed to be convinced that exercise was good for me. I also wanted to know the science behind why. One of the coolest things I learned from the book is a px for exercise. Author Dr. John Rately, asked a doctor if he could “prescribe exercise” for depression how would he do it. He came up with this Px (Found in Chapter 5 of Spark):
Exercise Px for Depression:
Low dose: 3 calories x body weight= calories needed to burn per week
High Dose: 8 calories x body weight= calories needed to burn per week
Medium Dose: 5 calories x body weight= calories needed to burn per week (I calculated)
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Someone who weighs 160lbs…
Low Dose: 480 calories per week
Medium Dose: 800 calories per week
High Dose: 1280 calories per week
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Once I read this book, I began an experiment. I begin tracking calories I burned everyday and then would total them at the end of the week. I kept track of how I felt each week as well. I realized that my sweet spot was 700 calories—1400 calories per week. When I didn’t move as much, I could tell my body needed more exercise.
I would encourage you to try something similar. Keep track of how many calories you are burning in a given week. You can find an app to log your exercise or housework. I would look at it at the end of the week and think about how your body felt…and find your sweet spot or your exercise px and try to maintain it. Once you do, you will know even without tracking that your body needs some more or less sometimes.
I enjoy different forms of exercise…I love running, I really enjoy working in the garden, housework I TOTALLY count as exercise, weightlifting but recently I really have found a great delight in walking.
Currently, my goal is to walk everyday. I have walked everyday for 21 days! Over the course of 21 days I have walked 24.41 miles. On average I am walking 20-30 mins a day. 21 days in, I am finally at a place where I look forward to my walks and if I have extra time, I walk longer. It’s been neat to see how many calories you can burn weekly just by walking as well! I do like to add some other exercises scattered in to make sure I reach my sweet spot but even without I can meet the target goal!
You can do it too! Walk with a friend or get someone else on board and hold one another accountable. You will feel better moving your body everyday. Who knows you may enjoy it and then start to search for ways to get an extra walk in!
Get your walk on!
—Chels
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