Week 5: Liz’s Response

I have mentioned before that I believe in the 80/20 concept, meaning that if you eat in a careful way 80 percent of the time, you should have 20 percent flexibility to spend some extra calories in a way that you feel is worth it. But in order to be able to have that 20 percent flexibility, there needs to be some form of calorie burning in your routine — otherwise known as exercise.

Now here is the important part. Do not make this mistake. Many people have an all or nothing approach to exercise. I hear this everyday in my office. Often people think about the type or amount of exercise they used to do when they were younger or had more time or before they had arthritis or an injury — and think, if I can’t do that amount then I might as well not do any at all. Or they think about going to the gym for a set period of time, let’s say an hour, and if they don’t have that full hour to go, they don’t go at all. Another pitfall is thinking that you must get to a specific location in order to be active — for example the gym or an exercise class. And yet, the facts are that any type of movement will burn more calories than sitting on the couch!

Sometime people look at the six-minute workouts or the 10-minute workouts and they question, What can that really do for me? So they end up doing nothing. I can promise you that 10 minutes of exercise per day will add up to a heck of a lot more calories burned than not doing it at all. We can all find 10 minutes in our day for a little exercise.

I think the most important thing about exercise is consistency. So if you consistently do 10 minutes of exercise, let’s say four days per week, it will accumulate. And the best part is that at some point, it will likely build up to more exercise, because as you lose weight and become more active, the easier it will be, and the better you will feel while doing. The hardest part is getting started. So start with 10 minutes. You won’t regret it!

Week 5: Liz’s Response