It’s that time of year….life just gets a bit more crazy — family gatherings, parties, shopping, school programs on top of all our other normal responsibilities. Though it is a fun time of the year, it is also a stressful time of the year. L And it is so easy to let our good habits slide when things get crazy. Habits like exercise and making good food choices are easy to put off until “things calm down”. Not a good plan. Exercising, eating right and getting enough sleep are critical to managing stress.
This week – let’s talk EXERCISE
You know and I know that exercise is important to our health. You know that research tells us that we need to exercise. I am not telling you anything you don’t know. So, just consider this a gentle reminder. J
We need to exercise if we want to be at the top of our mental game. It improves our ability to learn, remember more, and our overall brain function. Most importantly, it decreases stress! Stress lowers our ability to think clearly and exercise lowers stress, so that means you need to exercise! A simple deduction really J
Do you need more convincing about why you don’t want to skip your workout this time of year? Here are a few more reasons:
· Exercise increases your energy so you are able to perform tasks faster and more efficiently.
· It boosts your memory,
· Elevates your mood,
· Increases your attention span,
· Helps you feel better on these dark cold days, and
· Makes you more alert.
And since all of us have jobs that require us to learn fast, deal with stress, be alert, pay attention, remember important things and keep a positive attitude, all of us need to keep or put a regular exercise habit into our week. Period.
Remember, you don’t need to kill yourself or workout for crazy long periods of time. You just need to move at a pace that increases your heartrate for 30 minutes a few time a week. Walk the halls, put on some music and dance, practice yoga, join the gym, purchase an at home workout program, take up cross-country skiing…..whatever you enjoy. Find something and just do it!