Exercise plays an important part in keeping our bodies lean and strong.  This is what living a healthy lifestyle the DietDitch way is all about.

On the DietDitch program we want you to enjoy your movement and work it into your everyday lifestyle. We are not necessarily about vigorous regimens of excessive huffing and puffing, but a little sweat is good and perfectly OK.

Benefits

The benefits of regular exercise are endless as you will see from the list below.

• Improves muscle tone
• Burns calories
• Promotes a healthy heart
• Gives you time to yourself
• Gives you time to think
• Promotes a positive mood – can be more effective than some medications
  
• Promotes a strong body that protects your joints as you age.

Recent studies show that we should be doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity every single day. Why? This is a no brainer – everyone knows this, however how do we get the motivation we need to kick-start this habit for life. You do not have to join a gym to get your 30 minutes a day. As we have said it’s as easy as starting with a 30 minute walk.

No Time?

This is the biggest EXCUSE for people to avoid exercise. We are all busy, so on the DietDitch program we suggest getting up 30 minutes earlier or leave your office at lunch time and walk around the block a few times.

30 minutes a day is not much to ask, after a couple of weeks I guarantee, you will be getting so into it you will be scheduling your appointments around it!  Try to make it a family thing if you have children and walking the dog/kids is great.

Just Move…

• Join a dance class.
• Go swimming
• Take up surfing, golf, tennis, rock-climbing etc
• Do 3 x 10 min workouts on an Exercycle
• Play sport in the backyard with your kids.
• Always take the stairs (oldie but goodie)

Strength Training

I love strength training and strength training can really become enjoyable once you get into it. You don’t seem to be using the same amount of effort as you do with cardio, but you still get masses of benefit from just 30 to 45 minutes twice a week. This is doubly important as you age because if we work on maintaining a healthy muscular system, it will go a long way to stop you from becoming frail as you progress into your senior years. Healthy muscles support your bone structure.

It is never too late to take up the weights and like all exercise – you don’t have to belong to a gym to do resistance training as long as you have a few free weights and a bit of stretchy band then Bobs your uncle. Small weights with more repetitions are best for women who want a lean looking body so start off with 2-5lb dumbbells.

However form and control are important so it is a good idea to have someone qualified to teach you the correct technique, and a few sessions with a personal trainer will help you do this and be very valuable. We don’t want you just flinging those dumbbells around all over the place. The Internet can also be a good place to start or an inexpensive exercise DVD will suffice.

Stretch Training

In the DietDitch camp we really like to stretch because when we work on our muscular system with cardio and weight training, our muscles are contracting continually. Stretching is important to release this contraction and to keep our muscles flexible.  Stretching can be done anywhere, and as with strength training, if you are not familiar with stretching techniques, it is easy to get what you need off the Internet or DVD’s.

We are not fussy about what you choose to use – gentle yoga is always good, or just the stretches you learned in high school are fine. However as with all exercise please don’t overdo it. Also don’t ignore pain as pain is your body telling you that something is wrong. Be gentle with yourself.

Please consult your health-care professional or doctor before adding an exercise program to your day.