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The calls for exercise get a bit tedious after a while, don’t they? We know, we know . . . we should be exercising every day, doing hot yoga, be able to kick any booty at boot camps. Not to mention running half-marathons and outscoring the kids at hockey. Sometimes it just sounds all so exhausting. And time-consuming.
The most annoying thing about exercise enthusiasts is this – they’re right on every level. One of the best things regular exercise does is to optimize our hormone levels – those lovely little superchemicals that make our bodies hum. The power of your metabolism – healthy thyroid, pancreas, and adrenal glands– so outweighs your willpower and discipline that to compare them is laughable. Hormones working at the right levels – neither too high or too low – give you that healthy glow, trim midsection and ageless sex appeal. Oh, and they help prevent chronic disease and protect immunity.
Still, there’s another really compelling reason to work on your relationship with exercise. Your mood, focus and ability to deal with stress are all positively affected by regular aerobic activity. Exercise can create the same stress response in your body as being cut off in traffic. The difference is that you control your stress level during exercise. The trick is to find the level of exertion just before your heart rate skyrockets and your stress hormones kick in. Exercising here regularly shifts your trigger point for stress over time, allowing you to stay calm and in the flow more often.
Marie Forleo, business guru to thousands of women entrepreneurs, has served up a no BS antidote to “I don’t have time to exercise”. Ten minutes, six times a day. She reminds us that we are our own most important business asset. And she’s funny as hell.