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Nutrition Hot Topic Nov/Dec 08
“Exercise to keep healthy over the festive season..”
We mention in our beating the festive bulge article, there are many ways to avoid gaining weight by watching what you are eating and drinking.
Another way is to use exercise. Remember what goes in to your body in calories will stay on you unless you are burning it off again. So, over indulging over Christmas might require more exercise than usual to help keep your weight in check. Those who are unfit and/or whose body mass index (BMI) is over 25kg/m2* will reap many health benefits from regular exercise. (Check your BMI here). However exercise, in moderation, is not only about weight loss, it also benefits your health in many ways.
How can exercise help you?
Exercise can help lift your energy levels, improve your mood by stimulating your endorphins or ‘happy hormones’, reduces tension and stress, prevent constipation and boost your immune system – all big benefits over the stressful party season. You will also be doing your heart a big favour by exercising it. Check out the Irish Heart Foundation advice on physical activity.
How much exercise can help your health?
For those of you starting to exercise, the recommended amount for healthy people, is 30 minutes of moderate or brisk activity at least 5 days a week and preferably every day of the week. If you're trying to lose weight, or maintain weight loss, you should get at least 60 minutes each day. If you can't find 30 minutes or an hour in your schedule, break up your activity into 15-minute increments. If you are just starting to exercise, start slowly, and build it up to 30 minutes per day. Be aware that if you have any medical condition or concerns about starting to exercise regularly, it is best to consult your doctor before you begin any exercise regime.
What type of exercise?
Moderate activities can include walking briskly, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing and also includes some household tasks, such as yard work, gardening and hoovering. This 30 minutes of moderate activity daily equates to anywhere from 600 to 1200 calories of energy expended per week or 85 to 180 calories per day. Also, exercise not only helps to burn more calories during the activity but also results in your metabolism being higher when you are at rest.
Let's put it into exercise perspective!
That handful of chocolate sweets eaten from the office chocolate box may be about 200 calories and 11g of fat. Considering that it only takes approximately 2 extra biscuits per day, over and above, what your daily calories requirements are, to gain 1 stone in a year – it’s hardly surprising that the extra amount people eat and drink over Christmas leads to weight gain of ½-1 stone. Someone who is just over 9 stone would need to walk at a brisk pace for almost 1 hour or play golf for a half an hour whilst pulling a golf cart or 40 minutes leisurely cycling to burn a handful of chocolate sweets off! And those who imbibe say with 3 pints would need to walk 3 hours to burn off the 600 calories!! For those already exercising, one hours running at a 10 min per mile pace will burn approximately 700 calories. Hill walking is often a pastime over the festive season and one hour can burn up to 500 calories.
So don't just wait for the big day to get some exercise in, start now, and continue exercising after Christmas so that you start 2009 in good shape, both in body and mind. Good luck and get moving!
* BMI is not always a good reflection of body fatness. A muscular or fit person might have a high BMI when in fact their body fat is at a healthy level, as muscle weighs more than fat.
When we are ready to lose weight, we all do things differently: some like to go it alone, some like to join forces with a friend or two, whilst others find a group setting most helpful. Whatever you prefer, we have an approach to suit you.
