I have a friend who is always telling me that she cannot lose weight because of her entire family is overweight and she must have inherited a “fat” gene. While I do believe that our genes play an important role in our overall body shape I do think that there are always things that we can do to keep ourselves slimmer and healthier regardless of our genealogy. “Finnish researchers studied a group of “mismatched” identical twins-one obese, the other normal weight and found that the obese twins were well on their way to diabetes, with a worrisome degree of insulin resistance. Since their genetic makeups were exactly the same as their siblings’, the problem had to lie somewhere in their lifestyles. They discovered that the difference was exercise-without it, genes that help convert food to energy were suppressed, leading to insulin resistance and weight gain.”
One exercise that I enjoy and that most people can do is to go for a walk. “ As a matter of face, University of Copenhagen researchers asked 10 volunteers to reduce their steps from an average of 10,500 per day to 1,300 (10,000, or roughly 5 miles, is considered ideal. The participants’ belly-fat levels increased by 7 percent after just two weeks of cutting back. Study authors say that skipping the gym doesn’t cause obesity; being sedentary is the real issue. “
It is nice to know that you can get the benefits of exercise by keeping physically busy and just walking. So next time take the stairs instead of the elevator or park your car a little further away and walk-the benefits really do add up.
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walking is a great way to burn off some weight. I one had a job as a security officer working second ans third shifts. I did a lot of walking and ended up losing 30 lbs.
ReplyDeletei love walking too, it is a very relaxing exercise. and yes, i love taking the stairs, i consider it my aerobics :) i love walking to the nearby high school and climb up and down their stadium many times, :)i know i have to, since i love to eat, i must burn the calories i eat somewhere.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, it feels good to know we are helping ourselves stay healthy.
So you mean that's not an excuse? I do have hypothyroid so experience a much, much slower metabolism than most but I also realize exercise is the key. Doing as much as I need to is a whole different story though! This post does provide extra motivation though - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love walking. Walk as much as possible, everyday. Great information, Heidi! Your polar bear picture is particularly cute!
ReplyDeleteGreat motivating post! I am going to the gym tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteHi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteWalking is my favorite type of exercise to do. I really enjoy it and It tends to help take away some of my stress also. My bills, tend to stress me out sometimes, but I know we all have bills to pay.
Genes may play apart, but if we can, we need to try and help ourselves. Walking is good for us. Another great post! Your blog is awesome! :-)
Only Heidi could tell all of her readers to take a hike and get away with it!
ReplyDeleteI love walking, and I'm happy to say I always make sure I walk over 10,000 steps a day. It's so much easier then people think it is.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher during the week I rarely leave this one room, I just make sure between classes I walk around the halls, during class I never sit. Adding a few extra steps here and there are great for your heart and the weight will fall off.
Walking is great. I find it to be a good way to clear my head as well as to get some exercise. Thanks for another great reminder of ways that we can keep healthy :-)
ReplyDeleteWalking...I might have 2 million miles on my poor feet. I love it! :-)
ReplyDeletegeezzzz walking is really the least i do daily..i sit all day and night long. i could only walk few steps then sit again..this is my greatest challenge then but mmmmm let me figure out how would i battle this...hehehe so no wonder i easily get tired and dizzy and all..oh my i urgently need walk to exercise!:)
ReplyDeletehave a great day!:)
"It's in our genes" can be a very easy excuse to NOT exercise. That's unfortunate. Walking is such a simple thing to do and it's good not only for weight, but many other health related issues as well, including osteoporosis.
ReplyDeleteI love walking and cycling. A great way to reduce weight.
ReplyDeleteFruity
Thanks for the post! You may not believe this, but I just picked up a pedometer to measure steps, and as we speak I have 4835 steps today! I am tracking my daily average for the next two weeks so that I can get a baseline. I will then be gradually increasing until I get to the goal of 10,000 per day. I need to drop 18 lbs!!!
ReplyDeleteWalking is one of the best exercises. Low on impact, and easy to do, and can be done anytime and anywhere!
ReplyDeleteNice post. Physical activity is important and walking is one of the best. I need to get some fresh air now that you mention it.
ReplyDeleteI just posted this same fact (that it's not your genes, it's YOU) on another blogger's blog.
ReplyDeleteI totally believe that. My fam is full of overweight people, and I'd be just as big as all of them if I didn't exercise and watch what I eat (most of the time!)
Walking is great, and I like to amp it up by wearing hand weights when I do it. Burns calories like mad! :)
I need to walk more, I used to be all over the place now I am on butt on my computer. I need to get up and exercising more, great post. Thanks
ReplyDeletei love walking, and often, i take the stairs instead of the elevator unless i have to go up 20 floors, lol.
ReplyDeletelove reading your posts when i think "i can do this one". makes me feel brilliant. thanks for the encouragement to keep on walkin'!
ReplyDeleteI think that the excuse that your genetics make you fat is absolutely ridiculous. Whilst some people find weight loss a lot easier the simple fact is that if you consume less calories than your body burns you will lose weight - no matter what genes you have.
ReplyDelete