Learning to Love Exercise

Often when February arrives many of us have fallen off of our New Year's resolution or healthy intentions for the new year. Reading this article reminded me that it's the little things that often count towards exercise goals.

 

This busy mom reframed her attitude towards physical activity by looking at the things she was doing throughout her day like taking the stairs up to her office, etc.. You may already be physically active during your own day without evening knowing it. For instance, when you are sitting on the couch you are expending energy that it takes to keep your body functioning, this is 0 MET (a MET is the ratio of working metabolic rate to resting metabolic rate). Cleaning the house from top to bottom or running some errands may expend 1-4 MET (depending on how vigorously you are cleaning) because you are working harder than just sitting on the couch. Something that resonated with me from the article was "Even vacuuming counts, if you do it with gusto". 

 

Reframing your mind to see that the little things do add up is important especially for those of us who sit at our desk for 8 hours a day. Getting up for small breaks to grab water or walk around the office does count toward your daily activity goals. 

 

To end with a quote from the article "When you have more energy and you're a happier person, you bring that much more enthusiasm and energy and performance to your role in your work, your patience as a parent, [and] as a partner to someone".

 

From Couch Potato To Fitness Buff: How I Learned To Love Exercise

 

Written by: Maria Godoy (NPR)