A New Year of possibilities

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2014, Fitness, Goals, Health, holiday, New Year, New Year Resolution, Resolutions, SMART criteria, Weight loss

As this final day of 2013 comes to an end, I find a few minutes to look back at a year that for some had ‘bad luck’ written all over it, and rejoice in what was learned and the family and friends that remain, while learning from the mistakes and less memorable moments.  Thankfully, another one of these ‘unlucky’ years won’t come by for another 100 turns of the calendar – long after these words disappear from the on-line stratosphere.

For those of you who have kept up with my inconsistent writing, thank you! Last year, when this project began, the goal was simply to learn the process and ‘get started’.  As 2014 begins, the goal is more specific – to write monthly.  Which brings me to the actual point of this post – resolutions vs. goals.

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Just move more…

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2013, Exercise, Health, New Year's Resolutions, Physical Activity, Sitting, Weight loss

Congratulations!  You’re one month into the year and I hope you’ve kept up with your New Year’s resolution; specially the one of being ‘MORE active‘.  Hopefully, you had a chance to read my previous post, which made you think that loosing weight should be secondary and that getting healthier and reducing the time we spent sitting is most important.I hope you acknowledge my challenge and noticed how much time you spend sitting during the day (leave a comment below if you did and do not mind sharing).  Research suggest that most people sit for about 9.5 hours a day, which is about 2-hours more than most people sleep.  Yes, you read that correctly, we sit more than we sleep!  Yet, we seem to always be “tired”… how could that possibly be so? (We’ll tackle that question on another post…)

More than just a "weight" issue

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2013, Exercise, New Year's Resolutions, Obesity, Physical Activity, Sedentary Life, Weight, Weight loss

It has been 11 days since the New Year and many of us are still actively involved, and determined, to achieve at least one of our New Year resolutions for 2013.  If you are like most people, losing a few pounds here and there may have made the list this year again.

By now, I am sure that you have seen several commercials about diets, exercising gadgets, and even one or two commercials or TV shows (there is no “coincidence” as to why NBC begins the ‘Biggest Loser‘ show in January) on losing weight and becoming more active.

On this post, I would like to discuss the latter – physical activity.  It is true that to achieve weight loss you must exercise and watch what you eat.  However, becoming physically active brings a multitude of other benefits that would also promote better health, even if you don’t “shed off” the pounds.  So, perhaps, we should simply emphasize becoming more physically active throughout the day and reduce the time we spend sitting.  I challenge you to record how much time you spend sitting today!  There is plenty of research discussing the ill effects of sitting and a sedentary lifestyle.

In future posts I will discuss the differences between physical activity and exercise and I will begin to ‘break down’ how to design a safe and effective exercise prescription for health.  So, stay tuned and don’t forget, your comments are always welcomed!