Jake: Hey, I’m Jake of Body by Jake with your health and wellness tip of the day. And you know, when we say health and wellness, we mean, Dr. Art Mollen. Dr. Mollen is here. What do you say buddy? Great to see you! Another question, and it’s a beauty, I have to say, How can I stay motivated to stick with an exercise program?
Dr. Art: Well, I think you have to see small changes. So for people to actually get on an exercise program and stick with it, and whether it’s losing two pounds a week or maybe five pounds a month, stick with the program long-term. I think there’s a lot of ways you can actually measure how well you’re doing.
Number one: you want to check your blood pressure and see if that’s going down. You want to check your cholesterol and see if that’s going down by sticking with the program on a regular basis.
You’re going to see these changes and that’s going to keep you motivated. People who exercise regularly, they’re going to sleep better. You know, I’ve had patients who have come in and said to me, you know, I’ve been taking sleeping pills.
It’s like you got to get off the sleeping pills because I want you to start exercising on a regular basis and that’s going to make the change for you. And that’s going to keep you motivated to want to do this on a long-term basis.
So if you see those improvements in your overall health…I’ve had patients who come in and they say “well, I’ve had indigestion. Can I get a pill for that?” Exercise is what you need for that! You don’t need a pill for the indigestion. So you want to exercise and when they see that going away and it improves their digestion then they’re going to be a little more motivated.
Look for small changes in your overall, you know, weight, your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your blood sugar, all of those things. If they change, then you’re going to continue to be motivated to exercise.
Jake: And finding something you like to do is pretty important, huh Dr. Art?
Dr. Art: Absolutely. It has to be an exercise that you like. A lot of times, I’ll tell people well, you should run every day. And they say “I hate running.” That’s fine. Well, then lift weights, you know, then, you know swim, bicycle.
You have to find an exercise that you like. If you find an exercise that you like, you’re more likely to be motivated to do that exercise long-term and kind of stick with it. And the other thing, it has to be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re not going to do it.
Motivation is something a lot of people think it’s often an internal thing inside of your body, you know, but there are certain factors that can actually be a catalyst to keep you motivated and galvanize your spirits to want to continue to exercise long-term.
Jake: Well said as always, Dr. Art, beautiful! Been great seeing you! Stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit.
