How Long Do I Have to Exercise Before I See Changes?
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Short answer: probably a lot longer than you want.
Long answer: I tend to cover a lot of nutrition, food marketing and diet issues, but fitness is also a crucial factor in overall health, so I’m eager to discuss exercise issues in greater detail. Truth is I spend a fair amount of time coaching, speaking and writing in the fitness world, particularly triathlon but weight loss to some extent.
Exercise is a vital component of not just weight loss and weight management, but stress relief, energy, sleep, aging, disease prevention, bone health, and on and on it goes…but it’s easy (and maybe more fun) to exclusively focus on the nutrition and diet issues and forget that we have to move our lazy buns once in a while. Leaving exercise out of the wellness equation is far more destructive to your health than any number of diet “sins” you might commit. Notwithstanding the fact that I believe our standard American diet is largely responsible for most of our health problems and most common causes of death, the importance of exercise cannot be overstated.
We don’t exercise for many reasons.
Eating is not a habit, but a necessity. After all, no one really forgets to eat for very long. And it’s usually rather enjoyable to change food selections and to modify our diets for the better, for we get immediate psychological rewards: control, accomplishment, tangibility. Exercise is also a necessity, but as it’s no longer integral to our daily lives – few people plow an acre of sod nowadays – it feels like a chore. No one likes a chore, and establishing a chore as an ingrained habit is tough. Life’s rewards require elbow grease, and that will never change. If exercise were easy or yielded quick results, I suppose everyone would be doing it. Exercise is certainly worth the effort, and not in spite of the challenge, but because it is a challenge. The long-term health rewards of exercise – outside of the brief blast of endorphins following your workout – are not always initially apparent and certainly not immediate.
If we don’t view exercise as an unpleasant chore, we view it as a means to an end: getting a leaner or sexier body. Those fitness infomercials feature guys with six-packs and Christie Brinkley for a reason – we all want to look like that. But the reality is that even the fittest folks are not necessarily going to end up looking “like that”. You can only maximize what you’ve got. I believe that we have to stop thinking of exercise as a vanity tool and remember that it’s simply a basic necessity of life. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be excited about using exercise to lose weight if you hope to shed some extra pounds. But we fall off the proverbial treadmill over and over again because we’re getting on it for the wrong reasons in the first place – exercise is about far more than weight loss.
So, how long before you see results?
You really can’t fight your genes. I witnessed one young woman I coach become sleek and toned after seemingly two sessions with weights and a few rounds of yoga – it’s easier when you’re young, of course. Another guy I work with exercises day in, day out, and has for two years now; although he’s fit and lean, he will never look like Bruce Lee no matter how hard he tries. (It’s worth noting that if you start your children on exercise – such as a sport – from an early age, they’ll develop muscles that will stay with them for a lifetime, even if they gain a little weight down the road as we all tend to do.)
There is some justice: the longer you exercise, the easier it will be to make changes to your shape. That said, results are different for everyone. It’s a complex equation of existing muscles, your natural build, metabolism, fat distribution and many other factors. You actually do get an immediate health boost from exercise, but let’s be honest: how many are really after that? Most of us give up on exercise after a few weeks or even a few days because we don’t see the desired physical results. People like the aforementioned young lady are rare; most of us have to put in months before seeing any real improvement.
The point is, if you’re asking that question – how long before I see results – the answer is almost always: much longer than you want. Hang in there; change will happen. We all want to look good, and many of us want or need to lose weight. Those are healthy and admirable goals. But while exercise can and does help with these goals, at the end of the day, we’ve got to realign our thinking and remember that exercise, more than anything, is just a necessity for health, and despite what the marketers would have us feel, that is reason enough.
Please share your thoughts on exercise, your challenges, and your successes, with me in the forum. I’d love to hear your perspective.
Technorati Tags: motivation, reasons to exercise, health benefits of exercise
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
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Hello.. It feels wonderful after reading your post. Honestly, I am extremely depressed about my weight gain right after my wedding. I don’t know why I gained so much within a few months. My brother keeps making fun of me and I am extremely depressed about it. My husband keeps touching my fats and told me to lose it for the sake of my health.
So, I was determined to lose them. However, i still hear negative comments from people and it hurts.
I am currently participating in some aerobics class. I am telling myself to do it at least twice a week. Also, I am doing yoga.
Do you think this is enough to lose weight efficiently? I am eating but i reduce the amount that i take in.
Do you think this will help?
Twice a week is a great start! Try to go with a friend or someone that will make it fun! Don’t think of it as a chore, think of it as a game. And if aerobics doesn’t do it for you, find something else — but keep moving! Twice a week is a great start.
My girlfriend and I started exercising recently too. We started by walking 2 miles a day, 3 days a week. But it turned out that we were having so much fun with it, that we upped it to 4 days a week and are now contemplating adding weekends too! We’re just using the treadmills at our local fitness center, but the point is, find something you enjoy and it won’t seem like such a chore.
Stick with it. You’ll start feeling better before you start looking better, but you’re on the right path.
I’m wondering if you started any medication(i.e.the pill) before your wedding- could make you gain weight.
I’ve been walking for 2 months now and i have only lost 2 pounds.I walk 3 miles every morning and 2 miles every evening I have also cut back on my eating I walk every day of the week please tell me what I’m doing wrong in the weight loss dept.
I see women walking miles and miles and not losing anything. They’re also not putting much effort into their exercise routine… In order to lose weight and see results, you need to push yourself. You need to sweat. You can’t just stroll around for a few hours. It’s just not effective. Maybe you should add some ankle weights and carry small weights when you are walking- really add something that makes working out slightly uncomfortable and you will see much faster results.
I have been hitting the gym 5-6 days a week in the mornings doing 30-45 minutes of cardio and also some weight lifting as well. I am well into my 4th week and have only lost 3 pounds. I am really trying to focus on the fact that this is for health reasons and not just for seeing results, but I did think I would see more results in doing as much as I am. I am sweating too; high intensity, plus doing a spin class in the mix which is really fun. I am cutting back on sweets and eating snacks. Is there some kind of diet/energy pill that will help speed up results or is there anything else I should be making sure I’m doing. My side/back fat is really what I want to get rid of as well as upper thigh fat! Thanks.
hi natalie.when you go to the gym,your fat turns to muscle which is heavier than fat.you may not lose alot of weight for a start but your shape will be changing
Holy necro posting!
First, fat does not really turn into muscle. Also, a pound of fat weighs as much as a pound of muscle haha, but I know what you mean, I’m just playing.
What you said is true perhaps Natalie has lost 5 pounds of fat and gained 2 pounds of muscle. Besides, if you lose 3 pounds every 4 weeks where will you be in 6 months… 20 pounds!
Second, if you are exercising to loose weight you are wasting your effort.
The amount of calories you burn while exercising is very small compared to what you can control with your diet.
Use what you eat to control calories and loose weight(fat).
Use exercise to promote physical conditioning and support your weight loss goals.
I have been exercising 5x week for 4 weeks, without changing my diet. I eat healthily, but think my portions could be smaller as I’m not seeing any changes yet. I’m doing a kickboxing class on mondays, body pump Tues & Thurs, Wed- 30 minutes on elliptical, and Fridays kickboxing with a punching bag…these are all 60 minute classes with the exception of my “free cardio” day of 30 minutes on the elliptical. I take weekends off…I figure 5x per week is enough. Is this a good workout plan?? I want to make sure I’m covering my bases! Am I doing enough????
Thanks for your advice…