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Exercising is the long lost secret to a long healthy life. Most don’t want to hear it. They want to know what fatty foods are ok to eat and not die from, what pills to pop daily, and maybe they want to hear something as simple as going to bed before 11pm consistently.

The secret to a long lasting and healthy life is to live a healthy lifestyle which consists of eating good food, but the biggest and most important secret is exercising regularly. I have my moments where I slack and gain weight and when it is time to get back to losing and shedding those pounds I begin to research more about the best ways. Maybe this time I will find a hidden secret that will make my quest that much easier.

I did stumble onto something in my quest that was actually a little nugget of truth that might help all of us out when we start exercising to get back into shape and shed some pounds. So what is it?

Exercise in the morning if you can. There are so many added benefits to exercising in the morning that studies show 80% of all people who exercise in the morning lose weight and actually keep it off. And we all know losing weight isn’t really too difficult, it’s keeping that weight off….

I can’t remember the percentage of those who exercise in the evening who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off but it was something dramatically lower like 23% or so…

So what are some of the benefits?

First off the simple fact that getting up in the morning before everyone else and hitting the gym or going jogging is a lot more difficult to interfere with. Exercising in the evening and last minute things pop up, ultimately keeping us from going out to exercise. A friend or family member calls just as you were heading out the door. Maybe someone unexpectedly stops by. Maybe you want to sit back and watch a movie or tv show with the family. People are awake and living their lives in the evening and so getting up before everyone else allows your schedule to not be interrupted. I have a wife and 5 kids. There are times it is just inconvenient for me to go for a walk in the evenings. Some experts say to think of it as a morning meeting you just can’t miss.

Now onto the more physiological benefits. We all have read and know that exercising does so many things for us. One of those many things is the release of endorphins and other chemicals into the body. This stimulates brain activity, increases metabolism, and your ability to burn fat quicker peaks.

So how do you benefit from this in the morning more so than at night? Good question. Studies show that these chemicals put you on a high. They say the best time to pump iron is immediately after aerobic activity. When you exercise in the evening, jump in the shower, and head off to bed you feel pretty good… This is because those natural chemicals are really at it’s peak. But when you head off to bed you in a sense are not putting that to good use. Well it won’t hurt you but you can benefit from this during your waking hours.

For instance, heading off to work instead of sleep allows you to be more up beat and think more clearly during the work day, ultimately burning more calories because of this. You aren’t as hungry so you eat less throughout the day. If you exercised in the evenings all these benefits would be happening while you were dreaming about stuff. You are not going to be as active (since you are sleeping) therefore less fat being burned…

Another cool things I read was about a new study regarding sleep patterns and the quality of sleep by those who exercised in the morning and with those who exercised in the evenings. They found that those who exercised in the morning actually had better quality sleep, and therefore not needing as much sleep. This made it easier for them to wake up early and do their exercising.

Those who exercised in the evenings still needed their normal amount of sleep.

So if you are one of those people who can easily choose when to exercise and your ultimate goal is to lose weight and benefit from a healthy hour walk on a daily basis, you should seriously consider waking up an hour early and getting out there.

I have begun doing this and I tell you right now I am NOT a morning person. The first couple days I felt I was really dragging, but now I look forward to getting up and it feels great. My body is almost expecting me to get right up and get out there. I feel more up beat throughout the day. I do admit, that when 8 or 9pm comes around I am spent. I am not wanting to stay up until 11pm or Midnight watching TV or jumping on the computer. By 9:30 or 10pm I am in bed and I sleep through the night, whereas before I would wake up several times. I wake up at 5:30am and go for an hour walk. It feels good.

Just do it!

-sillydad