Benefits of Exercising

July 1, 2014 | All Articles, post-tsb-team |

Let’s start by defining Exercise, it is an activity that requires physical effort. It has the ability to help patients lose weight by the burning of calories. We exercise to sustain and improve our overall health and fitness. Exercise is an essential part of any weight-loss program and should become a permanent part of your lifestyle. When you exercise it helps to build and maintain muscle mass, increases your metabolic rate, improves heart and lung function, as well as circulation, reduces stress and depression, helps boost confidence, helps aid in prevention of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and also decreases your risk of developing certain cancers. Bariatric surgery provides patients with a wonderful tool to help aid in weight loss but surgery is not a cure, physical activity plays a very important role in assisting patients to lose the maximum amount of weight and to maintain that weight loss.

This being said, how do you get started exercising? First, you’ll want to be sure that you are healthy enough for physical activity. Then choose a workout that you enjoy enough to stick with. Some examples of exercise include walking, jogging, running, swimming, biking, hiking, the list goes on.

Try to incorporate one of these types of exercise into your daily routine. Walking is an especially great way for almost anyone no matter what age to increase their physical activity and using a pedometer can be a fun and motivating way to walk. A pedometer is a device that attaches to your clothing and tracks how many steps you take in a day. Jogging or Running are additional ways that you can incorporate physical activity. Start off with walking first and as your stamina increases you can advance to jogging or running. Since it is the summer, Swimming is great for this time of year, especially on these hot humid days swimming in the pool, ocean, or lake is a great way to burn calories and stay cool. Just be sure to wear your sunblock to prevent any sunburn while swimming. Bicycling or riding a stationary bike can be another especially great form of exercise. This type of exercise is a better option for those individuals that have arthritis and/or any joint related issues because biking puts less stress on the knees, ankles, and spine. No matter which form of exercise you chose each is super beneficial to aid in weight loss and we will highly encourage that our patients incorporate some type of physical activity into their daily lives especially after bariatric surgery. It will help you to achieve your weight loss goals as well as to improve your overall health.