Body Size or Exercise: Which Matters Most?
Active Advantage
If you can overcome the obstacles that leave your activewear gathering dust, regular physical activity provides an impressive array of health benefits, regardless of your size. Thirty minutes of moderate activity each day (or at least 4 or 5 days a week) can help to:
- Reduce high blood pressure
- Prevent heart disease
- Reduce risk of stroke
- Lower cholesterol levels
- Reduce total and visceral fat
- Improve cardiovascular function
- Reduce risk of colon cancer
- Prevent osteoporosis
- Reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improve health outcomes for those with diabetes
- Reduce risk of depression, elevate mood
- Support restful sleep
- Reduce tension and increase energy
Check out the activity level of people in your state with this map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Weight Not, Want Not
Whether you hit the gym, hit the road, or sneak in a few minutes of Frisbee each weekend, try not to focus on losing weight. It's more important to your health and well-being for you to be active than to stress too much about your size. In fact, research suggests that people who are overweight today are healthier than most normal-weight people were a generation ago.
To be sure, weight loss is a smart goal if your weight is hurting your health. If you're obese, even if you currently have no signs of poor health, research suggests you may be at high risk of developing diabetes and heart disease in later life. If you want to lose weight while you're getting healthier and more fit, you may need to increase the amount or intensity of your activities. For example, if you don't see results after 1 or 2 months of 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 days a week, spend more time exercising, or try adding a few more vigorous activities to your life without reducing the time you spend being active.
Regardless of your size, however, by working with your body to incorporate physical activity into your everyday life instead of working against it, you're improving your health and making your RealAge younger. Before long, you'll feel healthier, look healthier, and be healthier.
