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Change your mind

Think effortless exercise

'Your body is a machine that's designed to keep moving; stop for long periods and it simply loses its power to stay fully mobile,' says Vicci Bentley, author of Lose Ten Years in Ten Minutes a Day.

Yet despite the fact that gym membership is soaring, most people still don't take anything like enough exercise. According to the World Health Organisation, 63% of men and 75% of women do not meet the current government recommendation of 30 minutes of moderately intense activity, five times a week. 'We've lost so much physical activity from our everyday lives that an hour or two in the gym a week can't possibly compensate,' says Neville Rigby of the International Association for the Study for Obesity.

Part of the problem is lifestyle. Where our Stone Age ancestors regularly used 1,200 calories or more to hunt, kill and butcher an animal, we sit at computers all day and use washing machines, online shopping and cars to take the strain that people used to take with their bodies.

Taking up a calorie-burning hobby is one way to get started. Dancing, walking, playing tennis or football are all fun and fit-making (see Help and info for further reading and weblinks). A sluggish existence makes you more vulnerable to coronary heart disease, depression and other illnesses, so getting enough exercise is clearly crucial. But if you can't face the gym, what's the alternative?

Going for the burn

Experts agree that the biggest impact you can make on the number of calories you burn each week is by rethinking the way you get from A to B. Never drive if you can cycle, don't cycle if you can walk, don't walk if you can run, don't use the lift if there are stairs. And you can do much more, by tweaking your daily routine.

'It's about making active choices,' says Charlie Foster of the Health Promotion Research Unit at Oxford University. 'Do your shopping online and you use 17 calories. Walk a mile to the shops and back, carrying shopping, and you burn up 311.' According to the Unit, there are other savings you can make in your daily life: drive three miles to work and you lose 24 calories. Cycle three miles and you lose 135. Microwaving a ready meal burns up only three calories. Cooking for 30 minutes uses 67.

These may look like tiny numbers, but the effect is cumulative and soon adds up to useful and effective extra exercise. Consistently add on little bits of physical effort, and over a week you could easily use up more calories than the 430 – similar to a one-hour gym workout. That not only has a lasting effect on fitness and health, but as it becomes a habit you won't even notice you're doing it. You won't feel it in your pocket, either. Compared to gym membership, getting off the bus early, or sprinting up the stairs costs nothing, and might even save you money.

For further reading and weblinks on effortless exercise go to Find out more.

Treat mind and body as one
Think effortless exercise
Find real happiness
Love your body
Eat intuitively
Age fantastically
Retrain your brain

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