This post is about how if you want to lose weight fast you need to know when NOT to exercise…as in those times when it is better to do something else because you will not get the benefit of the exercise…
Or when you are stressed and are using exercise as an ESCAPE or like a burst value…letting off steam…
I know a lot of people say that it’s at times like these that you really appreciate the exercise and it does you good.
Well sometimes it will other times it won’t in ways you may not be aware of.
So why is it worth making sure you don’t exercise at certain times?
Well, it comes back to the idea that you have to listen and train your body’s rhythms to maximise when to exercise so that you more or less ‘go with the flow’
Going with the flow doesn’t mean using exercise as an outlet to let off stress for example…and it doesn’t mean that you always keep pushing just because you have it in your head that you want to lose weight fast…that you have to lose it quickly.
I’ll give you an example of how I found this out…
I remember when I was training for a half marathon. I had a 10K run pencilled in for after work as part of my training.
At the time I was working as an systems engineer and it was a pretty intense project with lots and lots of technical challenges.
Challenges that meant I sometimes needed to let off steam…
So I came home after a crazy day, got changed and warmed-up and off I went…
Now it was dark and cold, being in February, so I was wrapped up. And you know the way it can take a little time to get into the pace?
Well it took almost half the 10K to get into it…and then when I’d done it I looked at my time and it was much slower than the previous 10K…
A 10K that I had done on a weekend…
I remember there and then getting that realisation…
“I wasn’t really IN the run…I was thinking about work for most of the way round”
And what was the outcome?
A crap run with a worse time AND most importantly…NO improvement in my running pace or FOCUS…
All this because I felt I had to run even after that day at work.
From then on I learned to listen to my body and to PLAN exercise to suit. This also meant changing the schedule if I couldn’t focus on the exercise 100%.
So instead of letting work and stuff get me down I would look forward to and focus my energy on when I exercised.
I don’t use exercise as a quick fix or a diversion any more.
I realised that you need to listen to your body and give your exercise time the proper attention is deserves…
Even if you only do 15 minutes body weight training…
It all counts!
The other thing I noticed was that when you use exercise as a diversion you also tend to stress eat as well…like afterwards you “treat” yourself to a well-deserved feed rather than a normal dinner…
And as you know stress eating or treating yourself in this way always tends to involve more sugar and fat than you normally eat…
Which is okay once in a while..but all the time? Hmmm?
Belly fat loss is going to be HARD!
So as much as possible…get into the habit of NOT exercising when you feel stressed or frustrated with work or something similar. If you want to lose weight fast, know that there’s limit to the fast bit. Push too hard and you get no results.
Make the time for your exercise routine…so that you’ll be doing exercise when you are focused and relaxed.
Ask yourself…Is this because I am escaping or is this because I have put time aside to make this important?
If it’s escaping…have a cup of tea and read a book. If it’s time you have put aside then go workout. To lose you fat and get in shape you really have to listen to your body and act. Watch out if you are using workouts as a means to let off steam rather than what they should be for…keeping you healthy and burning fat!
Remember: One is a reaction…the other is pro-action!!
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