Move It, Love It

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Today, I want to give you the meeting summary from my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

Move It, Love It
How to start — and stick with — an exercise plan.
Article By: Melissa Sperl

You've heard it a million times: Consistent, moderate exercise is a key component not just of weight loss, but of good health in general. It can help reduce your risk of developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Also your Leader will have told you about the feel-good benefits of exercise. It can help relieve stress, boost your energy and self-esteem, and improve your sleep and brain function.

But you already know all this, so why is it still so hard to get out there and get going?

Motivated to move 
"No time" is a popular excuse, but what it's really about is a lack of motivation. You've probably heard your Leader or other meetings members talking about a powerful solution to this problem called Motivating Strategy from Weight Watchers Tools For Living.

Motivating Strategy helps you use your imagination to determine the goals you really want to achieve and then take steps toward them — whether those steps are tracking PointsPlus® values, eating more fruits and vegetables, or exercising.

It works because it connects you with an action's positive results. For example, use Motivating Strategy to find the motivation to be more physically active, and you'll envision what it feels like to be a physically active person — what you look like, the things you get to do and wear, the way you spend your time and relate to others.

Once you're motivated to be more active, it's time to take those crucial first steps. Here are some tips for getting started:
1. Choose activities that you actually enjoy. You're not likely to keep up any exercise you dread doing.

2. Start small and work your way up by increasing your intensity or the amount of time you spend doing the activity.

3. Think about the season. Now that summer is around the corner, how can you take advantage of the nice weather?

4. Buddy up. Do you have any friends or family members who are also trying to get fit? Can you do an activity together?

At your next meeting, ask fellow members what they did to first add activity to their lives and then how they stepped it up. In the meantime, here are ways to make exercise a daily habit.