Exercise - The Most Powerful Drug

Exercise - The Most Powerful Drug
Exercise is a key component to looking and feeling your
best, but, especially for women over 40, shaping up and
losing weight requires some real "sweat equity".

However, that sweat is well spent because exercise not only
burns the "gristle" but it also improves your mood and
fights disease.

Exercise: Your Secret Weapon

A brisk walk, hike or stretching and toning session will
release endorphins into your system and give your mood an
immediate boost. (If you can't get any exercise in and your
mood is spiraling down you may be suffering from low blood
sugar, so grab a healthy snack to get your body back to
normal. You can also practice breathing exercises to
relieve stress).

Studies show that in addition to being an important part of
your weight loss program, exercise can help you to fend off
serious diseases, including some forms of cancer.

Any amount of moderate physical activity will improve your
health, but when you extend your workouts to 60 minutes you
will experience the following benefits...

First of all, exercising at your maximum heart rate will
enable you to lose fat. Besides being ugly, fat also
produces hormones that speed up the growth of abnormal or
unhealthy cells. With weight loss, you actually reduce the
opportunity for unhealthy cells to survive.

With less body fat, we experience a loss in estrogen. Don't
panic, because that can actually mean your body won't
produce estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells. You
could actually reduce your risk of breast cancer by up to
20 percent by exercising and losing weight. And, you can
also reduce the risk for endometrial cancer, or uterine
cancer, by 30 to 40 percent with regular exercise.

During exercise your body's insulin level drops which
reduces the risk of tumor growth. You can reduce your risk
of pancreatic cancer by half if you walk or hike for a
total of four hours or more each week. (Yet another benefit
of walking!) If you walk for a total of six hours or more
each week you can lower your risk of colon cancer
drastically.

Regular exercise helps to reduce inflammation in your body.
Chronic inflammation can trick your body into stimulating
tumor growth. If you can believe it, one study determined
that in 20 percent of cancers, inflammation played a major
role and made cells more susceptible for malignancy. Along
those lines, in more than 20 percent of ovarian cancer
cases, chronic inflammation is attributed as a cause.

It's no secret that smoking wrecks havoc on your body
including your skin, hair, and internal organs. The good
news is that female smokers (reformed and practicing) who
get at least moderate exercise each week, reduce their
likelihood of contracting lung cancer by 21 percent.

Not only does exercise play an important part of a
successful weight loss plan, it's an investment in your
long term health. So get out there and start moving!

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Debbie endeavors to encourage women to take care of their
bodies and feed their minds with good positive thoughts.
She shares her expertise on natural weight loss for women
over 40 at her blog http://weonadiet.com .