Exercise does not just burn calories; it resets your appetite, your mood, your sleep cycle, and even your ability to handle sugars.10
Step 5: Exercise and Rest
Okay, so work or family obligations have got you completely stressed out. You’re not sleeping well. You wake up tired, and drag through the day. And you haven’t had any sort of physical activity in about as long as you can remember.
Now, what if someone offers you something absolutely delectable to eat? It is solid calories, loaded with fat and cholesterol, with absolutely no nutritionally redeeming value. What do you do? Well, needless to say, you jump right in. Your resistance is shot. Your ability to say no to temptation is long gone.
When you are aiming to start on a healthy path, exercise, rest, and sleep can make all the difference. When you’re feeling fit and well-rested you are much more resilient in the face of temptation.
So, if you’ve lost track of what it means to be physically fit, if stress has you in its grip, or if you can’t remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep, let’s fix things.
A New Way of Thinking About Exercise
First, let’s erase everything you ever thought about exercise. Whether your image of exercise is slogging down the roadway at 6 A.M., sweating through one weight machine routine after another, pumping free weights, or self-consciously donning a fancy outfit for an aerobics class in search of a svelte physique, let’s set all that aside for the moment. Yes, exercise burns calories. But there is a whole other side of exercise that is far more important. It might actually surprise you how few calories exercise actually burns. Next time you’re at a gym, jump on the treadmill and run flat-out for a mile, or as close to it as you can. Then, as you catch your breath and mop your sweaty brow, push the little button that tells you how many calories you’ve burned. You’ll discover it’s all of about 100. There are more calories than that in just half a small order of McDonald’s french fries, or thirty M&Ms, or half a 20-ounce bottle of Coke. In a few minutes of eating, you can take in all the calories you’ve burned, and then some.
The point is this: Exercise does indeed burn calories, but your body is so efficient at conserving energy that the calorie burn is actually pretty modest in any given workout. To get exercise’s calorie-burning advantage, it has to be a regular part of your life, so that it adds up to something that really counts. And it has to be done with major changes in what you eat, not instead of them.
But exercise is not just a way to burn calories, it is much more than that. Exercise is like a giant reset button on your body. When you have a good workout several vitally important things happen: it blocks appetite swings, it resets your mood and your exercise-rest cycle so you can sleep properly—which strengthens you against cravings; and it puts you in a different relationship with your body.
If you’re new to exercise, the first thing you’ll discover is a curious effect on appetite. You’ll find that you have much less desire to stuff yourself with food. Exercise demagnetizes your refrigerator. Although your body will naturally seek to replenish the energy it has used, exercise has a powerful antibinge effect. Partly, this is because, as we saw in chapter 8, exercise makes your body more sensitive to leptin’s appetite-taming effect. But it also tires your muscles just enough to block the fidgetiness and restlessness that lead you to the refrigerator.
Exercise lifts moods. After a good workout, your body feels like more than a number on a scale. You can feel the work your muscles have done, the air in your lungs, and the heat in your skin. You feel better than you do on sedentary days. You are much more motivated to stick with healthier habits. You feel calmer and more resolved. And, of course, if your workout was vigorous enough, you’ll get a bit of the natural endorphin effect that dissolves pain and anxiety and, at its extreme, brings on the “runner’s high.”
Exercise is also a powerful sleep aid. If your muscles are tired, they push you to sleep so they can get their overnight repair work done. If you are sedentary, your sleep will be more fitful.
Exercise also has another effect: it shows you your future. After a brisk walk, if you feel a bit of fatigue and you need to rest, well, this is how in the not-so-distant future you will feel all the time. You have just glimpsed your old age. If, however, you increase your stamina so that, after walking a longer distance or working out for a longer time, you feel energized rather than fatigued, then this is how you can expect to feel as the years go by.
But don’t think the benefits of exercise are all in your head. Exercise tunes up your body from top to bottom.
Researchers at Laval University in Quebec found that just three weeks of exercise improved insulin sensitivity dramatically. This is important. In case you’ve forgotten what we covered in chapter 7, sometimes insulin falls down on the job of moving sugar from the bloodstream into your cells. When that happens, your body produces larger amounts of insulin in an effort to move sugar to where it belongs, and, in turn, that ever-larger amount of insulin seems to interfere with weight loss. But the good news is that exercise helps cure the problem. The Quebec researchers found that, after three weeks of exercise, peak after-meal insulin levels dropped by more than 20 percent.1 Any kind of aerobic exercise does the job, whether it’s walking, biking, running, dancing, an aerobics class, or any other.
So exercise does not just burn calories, it resets your appetite, your mood, your sleep cycle, and even your ability to handle sugars. So, how do we begin? We begin slowly. And we’ll add big doses of fun and company. Let me show you what I mean:
Be Patient with Yourself
Start slow. This is not the Olympics. We are beginning a path that leads to health. If you have been sedentary for some time, are over forty, have gained a few extra pounds, or have any health condition, you are not ready for a vigorous workout.
See your doctor before you increase your physical activity. Your doctor will be especially interested in two things: your heart and your joints. Pushing too fast with an overly strenuous exercise program can spell disaster. Take it slow, and gradually increase your activity.
Having said that, don’t be a wimp either. Sauntering along a park path can be delightful, but your body does not recognize it as exercise. So long as your doctor has given you the go-ahead to get your heart pumping, make sure you are quickening your pulse a bit.
A good starting point for most people is a half-hour walk per day, or, if it works better for your schedule, go three times a week for an hour. If your doctor has advised shorter walks than this, follow his or her advice. And to be sure it happens—put it on your schedule, just as you would a doctor’s appointment, and don’t let it slide.
From there you can increase your time and your vigor, and you can add other activities: biking, rollerblading, dancing, tennis, running, or whatever calls to you.
Make It Fun
If exercise machines seem like torture devices to you, go for a walk instead. Or join an aerobics class. You’ll find them for all ages and all levels of ability. If it’s fun, you’ll stick with it.
One of our research volunteers, Brenda, has arthritis, and finds that swimming is exactly her cup of tea. In a water aerobics class, she stretches, then does a series of exercises with gradually increasing intensity. For the rest of the day she feels invigorated and more limber, with less pain in her joints.
Exercise does not just burn calories; it resets your appetite, your mood, your sleep cycle, and even your ability to handle sugars.
It might interest you to know that you don’t have to do your exercise all in one bout. In a recent study, a research team asked a group of people to exercise for forty minutes a day. But they asked half of them to do it in one continuous bout and others to do it in ten-minute sessions four times a day, using a home treadmill. The people doing the shorter sessions lost weight just as well as those who did the single long exercise bout.2 You can do much the same thing, either with a treadmill, as the research team used, or with a quick walk before work, at lunch, after work, and in the evening. It almost feels like you’re not exercising at all, but your muscles know the difference. The key, though, is to schedule it and stick with it, so you don’t keep pushing it aside. So exercise when you want and in the way you want.
Do it with Other People
You’re not the Lone Ranger. Exercise with someone else. Not only do our friends distract us from whatever complaints our muscles may make, they also keep us from canceling our exercise sessions. It’s easy to skip a daily walk if you’re by yourself. But, if your exercise buddy is arriving in an hour you’re going to do it. Two of our research participants made a pact to support each other as they exercised, but they lived nowhere near each other. So, the one on her stationary bicycle telephoned the other who was on her treadmill. Even over the telephone wire they could keep their resolve, support each other, and make the time go faster.
Letting Stress Go
When we’re stressed by depression, loneliness, anger, or boredom, food offers quick and easy solace. In chapter 11 we will look at ways to shore up friendships and family relationships, which are—or should be—our number-one stress fighters. But there are other easy destressors anyone can use. Here are some you might try:
To relax your mind, start with your muscles. Progressive relaxation relaxes the muscles in a specific sequence, and when your body is relaxed your mind follows suit. These techniques are quick and easy and you can do them at any time—at work, at home, and even on the subway or bus. You’ll feel more in charge of emotions and less likely to turn to the refrigerator for comfort. Many people prefer to do relaxation techniques in the morning before work and in the evening before dinner. Or you might use them after exercise, when your muscles are a bit tired.
Here’s a simple, five-minute technique: Sit comfortably and close your eyes, if you can. (However, this method still works if you are seated at the head table of a thousand-seat banquet and can’t close your eyes.) Focus your attention on your breathing and intentionally slow it down, like that of a person sleeping. Notice how air entering your nose makes a cooling sensation. Now, imagine that, as this cool air flows in, it gathers up your stress and carries it away as you exhale. As you breathe in, imagine the air flowing into your nose and up around your cheeks and forehead, carrying a cooling feeling throughout your face. As you breathe out the air carries away all the stress in the muscles of your face. Imagine the air actually touching each of these areas and carrying away stress, like lapping waves gently washing away sticks and pebbles.
Now, work your way down your body, a bit at a time. Breathe in and imagine the air flowing to the sides and back of your head. As you exhale, tension in these areas passes out, too. Breathe in again and imagine the cooling air relaxing your neck muscles. As you exhale, out goes the tension. Now imagine a breath of air passing to your shoulders, and, in turn, carrying tension away. Breathe slowly and calmly. Focus, in turn, on your upper arms, lower arms, and hands, and then your chest, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, calves, and feet. When you’ve finished, sit quietly for a minute or two before getting up. You’ll notice a profound sense of relaxation that deepens each time you do it. The whole exercise can take just a few minutes, or longer, if you prefer.
A variation on this technique is to momentarily tighten each muscle group and then let it relax. This is especially useful for people with chronic tension, who have trouble spotting where their muscular tightness is. Just follow the same sequence, starting at the head. You’ll gently tighten the muscles of your forehead, then let the tension go. Then do the same with your cheeks and jaw, then your neck, your shoulders, and so on. Just tighten them for an instant before letting all that tension go.
Andrew Weil, M.D., taught me what must be the fastest and easiest stress-reducing exercise ever devised. It is deceptively simple, but it really does work—apparently because it focuses your attention and slows down your breathing, causing a relaxation response as a reaction. Start by placing the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, on the slight ridge about a half-inch behind your front teeth. Leave your tongue there through the entire exercise. Breathe in through your nose to a count of four. Then hold your breath for seven counts. Open your mouth slightly and exhale to a count of eight, letting your breath make a whooshing sound past your tongue and teeth.
Do this exercise four times at whatever pace is comfortable for you. You can do it anywhere—driving, walking, waiting for a meeting to start, or whenever—as many times a day as you like. You’ll notice it takes the edge off your anxiety.
There are many other very easy stress-reducing techniques. Exercise, yoga, or meditation in the morning and evening can work wonders for restoring your equilibrium. For details, let me refer you to my previous book, Foods That Fight Pain, which applies these techniques, along with diet changes, to headaches and other day-to-day symptoms. You’ll find they work beautifully for the anxieties that encourage cravings.
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
When it comes to beating stress, there’s nothing like a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, many people don’t get the rest they need. Mike was a fifty-six-year-old accountant who was gradually losing the battle of the bulge. He never slept well, and every morning he dragged into the office feeling more or less miserable. He drank a fair amount of coffee to get his brain in gear for the day. Unfortunately, morning coffee led to a midafternoon slump, which brought him back to the coffee pot. And the caffeine was not entirely out of his bloodstream by bedtime, so it ended up aggravating his sleep problems.
Chronically exhausted, he found his ability to resist junk food was nil. His main goal in life was just to get through the day, and even though snack trays or fatty lunches with clients ought to have set off his internal alarm bells, he found he just couldn’t awaken that part of himself that was able to say no to these indulgences.
If you’ve gone through a patch of being unable to sleep well for days on end, you know it makes life feel as if it’s not worth living. You have little interest in much of anything, much less sticking to any kind of diet. But it is indeed possible to turn things around. Here are the keys to a good night’s sleep:
Steps That Help You Sleep:
• Physical activity. Sleep is not just for your mind—sleep is nature’s way of resting your body, too. If your muscles are not tired because you are getting no exercise during the day, there is less physiological reason for sleep. So you’ll want to tire your muscles a bit to trigger the sleep response. Go out for an evening walk, or use a stepper or treadmill at home. Or try exercises specifically aimed at large muscle groups, such as push-ups or squats. Once you feel the fatigue in your muscles, you’ll know you are almost certain to sleep better.
• Stretch and yawn. Children stretch and yawn as their day draws to a close. While most of us think of these signs of tiredness as having no physical function, it is worth noticing that they help ready the body for sleep. Most animals, of course, do exactly the same thing as they prepare for slumber. Cats and dogs stretch out their legs and make a big yawn. When I was a medical student, my pet rat—a refugee from a laboratory—used to stick out her little white leg with a big yawn and then curl up to sleep.
Many adults no longer go through these sleep preliminaries, either because they are not physically tired or because alcohol or caffeine has disrupted their normal physical rhythms. But if you intentionally bring them back you’ll find you sleep better. Here’s how: About a half hour before you go to bed, stretch out your arms the way you did as a child, and open your mouth to simulate a yawn. At first, you’re just going through the motions, but you’ll soon end up triggering a genuine deep muscle stretch and yawn. Do this four times before you go to bed and you’ll notice a definite effect on sleep.
• Nap during the day if you need to. Many people imagine that daytime naps interfere with sleep. But scientists have studied this question, and just the opposite turns out to be true. People pie who nap during the day tend to be a bit less wired at bedtime and have an easier time sleeping.
• Win the lottery. Like it or not, worries intrude on sleep. Whether they relate to finances, family matters, job responsibilities, or personal problems, you’re going to have continuing challenges with your sleep until the situation is resolved. So, while you’re waiting for lottery winnings to escort you to some sunny, carefree spot, you’ll want to do the best you can to follow the other tips listed here.
Things That Interfere with Sleep:
• Caffeine. Everyone knows that caffeine can disturb sleep, but what they may not realize is how persistent it actually is. Caffeine is part of our national biochemistry—the average American has two milligrams of it circulating in every liter of his or her blood plasma at any given time. And while a morning cup of coffee wakes us up and gets us going, coffee drinkers can also get irritable, sometimes so subtly they may be the last to notice. That cup of joe also worsens premenstrual symptoms. Unfortunately, many coffee drinkers find that their daily caffeine habit does nothing more than cure their withdrawal after the previous day’s hit.
Caffeine should not be a source of worry if it is causing no problems. But if you’re not sleeping well, be aware that the half-life of caffeine is about six hours, which means that, if you have a cup of coffee at 6 P.M., fully half its caffeine is still in your bloodstream at midnight. A quarter of it is still circulating in your body at 6 the next morning.
Luckily, when you aim to set it aside, caffeine does not put up much of a fight. Decaffeinated coffees, teas, and colas are widely available and much more palatable than in years past. A gradual transition minimizes any withdrawal. Within a couple of caffeine-free days, you’ll be back to your old self. The biggest problem with breaking a caffeine habit is that you’ll lose the drug that has kept you alert and feeling well in the face of the stresses of daily life. When caffeine is gone, you’ll find that regular exercise and an adequate night’s sleep make you feel more like yourself.
• Alcohol. Think alcohol makes you sleep soundly? Just the opposite. A few hours after you have a glass of wine or beer, alcohol converts to closely related chemicals, called aldehydes. Where alcohol had a calming effect, aldehydes are stimulants, accentuating anxieties and interfering with sleep. So the pleasant somnolence induced by an evening glass of wine can be replaced by the worries of the world arriving at 4 A.M. Alcohol can also lead to low blood sugar, which can further aggravate sleep problems. If you’re looking for an extra reason to minimize your alcohol use, its biggest problem may be its effect on cancer risk. Even one drink per day, if it is every day, increases the risk of breast and colon cancer.3
• High-protein foods. That big bean burrito may be packed with protein, but have it for lunch, not dinner. When you have high-protein foods in the evening they can disrupt your brain’s ability to produce serotonin, the mood-regulating chemical that also helps you sleep. Here’s why: Serotonin is made from an amino acid (protein building block) called tryptophan, and, while many high-protein foods contain tryptophan, they contain even more of the other amino acids that compete with tryptophan for entry into the brain. So, the more turkey, chicken, beef, or eggs—or, for that matter, bean burritos—you eat, the less tryptophan gets into the brain and the less serotonin you make during the next few hours. Instead, let your dinner be a bit starchier, and the natural sugars that are released from it will stimulate more serotonin production in your brain, letting you sleep more soundly.
If you’ve been physically inactive and stressed and you find yourself tossing and turning during the night, you can break out of these patterns. When you get into a groove that includes regular exercise that’s fun and sociable, along with times to decompress during the day, followed by a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel alive and well and will be much less likely to fall prey to dietary indiscretions.