Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Weight Loss Tip: Remember to Breathe

Continuing on the theme of breathing...

Although it doesn't seem like something we have to remind ourselves to do, we sometimes do have to remember to breathe.

In yesterday's post I discussed how getting more oxygen into your body will help you to lose weight even if you eat exactly the same foods and don't move your body any more.

So the additional weight loss tip is reminding yourself to breathe when you are moving your body about.

When we exercise it is quite common for us to hold our breath...at exactly the wrong time! When exercising we want to be sure to stoke our body's furnace and get rid of the toxic waste product...in order to do that we must breathe deeply and often.

What we tend to do instead is be thinking about the exercise...focusing on remembering what we are doing...the steps, the motions, whatever and we will actually hold our breath. Or the exercise requires exertion and we believe that if we hold our breath we will somehow be able to get through it more easily.

That is all wrong thinking...we absolutely need to power our body with oxygen--especially when we are exercising.

For the next week, when you are exercising, whether it is walking to get the mail, doing the bounce and shake program I recommend, or swimming, bicycling or lifting weights...no matter what it is, pay attention to your breathing. At first you may not be able to get the same level of exercise in because you are focusing on your breathing. That's okay.

Be aware when you hold your breath. Consciously force yourself to breathe in and out during the entire workout.

This will do a couple things for you...one is you will be stoking your furnace for the entire day, and you will also be expelling more of the gasses that build up in our bodies when we exercise...you will actually begin to feel stronger and less tired after exercising because you are giving your body the oxygen it craves!

So for weight loss success--remember to breathe!

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