The Skinny on Exercise

By now, I'm sure you've heard the disturbing statistic that children being born today have a lower life expectancy than their parents. It's sad, for many reasons, but primarily because it's entirely avoidable.

However, while most of the US is eating itself to an early demise, there are a few niche areas of the population that are experience an increase in life expectancy. You guessed, the _____ city dwellers of New York and _____ Amish.

What a bizarre statistic, right? On one hand you have New Yorkers eating bagels by the dozens and loaded with cream cheese, giant slices of pizza that is so greasy it runs down your arm and off drips off your elbow every time you take a bite, and of course fresh sushi to round it out to keep it lean.

On the other hand you, you have the Amish. who eat a traditional breakfast of pancakes with real butter and syrup, bacon, ham, eggs, biscuits, toast with fresh jam and big glass of whole milk. And that's just for breakfast. They love to bake cookies and pies and they make a special type of cured meat called Lebonon Bologna which is absolutely amazing.

Granted, the Amish eat zero processed foods but they eat a tremendous amount of calories. New Yorkers are know to be foodies, they like to consume as well. So how is that both of these groups are living longer than us? Think of it this way, what to the Amish and New Yorkers NOT do? They don't drive.

They're extraordinarily active. The Amish work in the fields from sun up to sun down, both the women and the men. In the same breath, a New Yorker walks an average of 3-5 miles per day. And if you've been to New York, they walk a brutal pace. I dated a New Yorker once, I could barely keep up despite being 7 inches taller.

On the other side of the coin, you have the rest of us, the commuters. In 2013 there was a comprehensive study done in Australia that compared the associations of usual daily driving time (time spent in your car) with health-related behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep) and outcomes (obesity, general health, quality of life, psychological distress, time stress, social functioning). What do you think was the conclusion?

Yep.

Findings suggested that longer driving time was associated with higher odds for smoking, insufficient physical activity, short sleep, obesity, and worse physical and mental health. Additionally, the associations consistently showed that those individuals who spent greater than 120 minutes of driving per day had the strongest and most consistent associations with the majority of these undesirable outcomes. You can view the study here.

You don't need a fancy gym membership and a personal trainer to get enough exercise to keep you healthy and thin. You just need to get out of your car and away from your TV.

So in honor of our New York and Amish friends, I've developed a workout that you can do to make you feel just like them one of them...

1. Take the stairs.
2. Don't take two laps around the parking lot looking for the best spot. Take the worst spot and use your legs.
3. Take your dog for a longer walk.
4. Cut your own grass... cut your neighbors grass too.
5. Ride your bike to the grocery store. Have them delivered. Then ride your bike home to unpack them.
6. Commercial workouts - These are exercises I give to my chiropractic patients. While you're sitting in front of the TV, hop onto the floor and do a couple planks or wall sits until your show comes back on.
7. Exchange your office chair for a swiss ball. You'll be shocked what it will do for you core.

These may seem silly to some of you, but they're simple things you can add to your routine to make your weight loss sustainable. If you're consistently in too big of a hurry to park in the back of the parking lot to at the grocery store, you need to more changes than this. You need to make your health a priority or it will fail you one day. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be next week, but it will happen. Maybe not in the life-threatening form such as a heart attack, but I can assure you, if you're living a sedentary lifestyle and you're more than 25 pounds overweight, the clock is ticking on a bi-lateral knee replacement. It's an unfortunate truth.

FAQs on Exercise

1. Can I lift weights on HCG 2.0 - I'll repeat what I said in the book, if you had a weight lifting routine prior to starting HCG 2.0, by all means continue. However, I'd would focus on less weight and more repetition. If you're on the 2.0 protocol, your goal is weight loss, not to increase muscle mass. Lose fat, maintain muscle.
2. Can I do cross fit? - Same as above. If you were doing it before then you can continue. However, keep in mind that if you do intense cardio that raises heart rate, it actually forces your body to be more efficient with it's calories because you're burning so many off. The more calories you burn, the more you body fights to keep them. All human physiology is based on efficiency. This is often misunderstood because of shows like The Biggest Loser. That show has a lot of content to fill, so they make those poor people sweat a lot. I suppose it makes for dramatic TV, but it's not ideal for weight loss.
3. Howabout walking? Walking is great. It's the ideal exercise for weight loss. Remember what I said about the pace that New Yorkers walk? That's the pace you should be walking. You want to walk at a pace where your breathing becomes slightly strained. This is the perfect pace to burn calories, but not raise heart rate. Form more on walking, click the blog here.
4. What if I get dizzy or light-headed when I'm working out? If you experience any symptoms typical of low blood sugar, such as dizziness or a feeling of general weakness, take a break and drink some water. If the symptoms go away, continue your workout. If not, you may have to take the day off. However, it’s rare that a patient is unable to continue their workouts while on HCG 2.0. The additional protein that is allowed and the ketone calories supplied by the HCG, is normally all that is needed.