EXERCISE IMPROVES LIFE EXPECTANCY

     If you are at a healthy weight with a BMI between 20 and 25, you  may feel like that healthy weight ensures you of a long life.  But a 2012 study published in the journal PLoS gives a warning signal to couch potatoes who so far have managed to stay at a healthy weight.The study found that 30 minutes a day of exercise could add extra years of life and as much as 4.2 years could be added for those willing to spend as much as an hour a day of exercise.  

     The study participants who were sedentary and over the age of 40 were almost twice as likely to die during the course of the study.  The authors noted, "This finding may convince currently inactive persons that a modest level of physical activity is 'worth it' for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control."

     Even those people who are severely obese can benefit from exercise. A Mayo Clinic cardiologist, Francisco Lopez-Jiminez, who was not involved in the study said, "We have to set priorities with patients.  First and foremost is to get sedentary obese people to become as active as they can and not to use their weight as a measure of their success.  Sometimes we tend to focus too much on the weight issue and to little on the exercise part of it."

     The enormous scale of the study which culled data from six major study groups totaling more than 632,000 people adds reaffirms a sedentary lifestyle is more dangerous than obesity in negatively influencing health.  You may not be able to lose weight today, but you can start moving today.  If you need motivation, hypnosis can help you get moving, improve your life expectancy and BE WELL.