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The Mental Benefits of Exercise
By Wendy L. Walsh Ph.D.
Exercise and The Single Woman - You know you have to keep Moving Girlfriend. Here's why:
1. What are the mental benefits of exercise?
Exercise produces endorphins, the "happy" brain chemicals. And the effects of endorphins --- uplifted mood, increase in energy --- can linger for hours after a work out. Studies have show that exercise is one natrual way to treat depression, especially if it's done outdoors in bright sunlight, which also positivly impacts brain chemistry. Finally exercise places one in a positive environment, using away from people and opportunities for less healthful living, and exposes one to healthy role models and environments. That's a huge part of why exercise helps us feel good.
2. Does it take a lot of exercise to reap these benefits or can even something small like a 10-minute walk give you some of them?
Walking, in particular, has been shown to have positive benefits on mood, even more so than more strenuous exercise. To ensure that your cadrio vbascular system is getting a good pump, twenty or thirty minutes is ideal, however, if you're pressed for time, ten minutes walking is still better than ten minutes of sitting.
3. Why does motivation to exercise often decrease mid-way through a program or after you've lost some of the weight you're trying to lose?
Fisrt, it's important to know that there are five distinct stages to the human process of change. They are: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
Precontemplation is the stage at which change might be wished for by no behaviors are in place that will make change happen soon.
Contemplation is the stage in which people are aware that a problem exists and are beginning to come up with a plan that might make change happen.
Preparation is a stage where thought meets behavior. One begins to look at fitness magazines, become aware of unhealthy food habits, maybe even begins to look at heal clubs and gym alternatives. People in this stage are intending to take action soon.
Action is the stage in which individuals really change their behavior, experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems. Action means you are doing it, devoting time, energy and money to fitness.
Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse. This stage often begins about six months after innitiation of healthy behaviors.
The vulnerable period of change is actually BEFORE the maintenance stage when new habits have not yet become automatic.
4. What are some psychological tips women can use to get themselves to exercise at times when their motivation is lagging?
It's important to remember this: The brain is attracted to chaos more than routine. Radical, sweeping, detailed changes are often easier for people than small, tiny, steps. For example, people who make moderate changes in their diets get the worst of both worlds: They feel deprived and hungry because they aren't eating everything they want, but they aren't making big enough changes to quickly see an improvement in how they feel, or in measurements such as weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. I say, if you're losing ground in your diet and exercise plan, then you don't have enough "chaos" to keep your brain interested. Mix it up. Try a different activity at a different club, at a different time, with different people.
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