The Exercise Effect

Exercise. We all hate it on occasion. We love it on other occasions. We are too lazy to do it the vast majority of the time. As I tell my friends on days I don't work out, "Well, at least I ran to the fridge and back a couple of times between episodes on Netflix." But to get 30 minutes of running in using that method, I would need to watch 120 episodes of Friends. So...I usually venture out everyday to do a little bit of exercise on top of my 13 second between-episode sprints. But at the end of the day, no matter what we call it or how we do it, exercise is good for us. And the research continually suggests that exercise, coupled with a balanced diet, is the best way to a long and healthy life.

However, I am noticing a weird phenomena. Many health professionals either ignore healthy eating or ignore exercise when they counsel their patients to improve health. But in actuality, health is a two-pronged approach between calories in (eating) and calories out (moving). This balance is needed to lose weight, gain weight, and maintain weight. This balance is essential for gaining muscle, growing properly, and most other aspects of health. 

And all of these things would incredibly easy except somehow people have it in their brains that exercise is so gosh dang hard. Which, in some cases, is entirely true. Exercise can be boring. It can be monotonous. It can be time consuming. Yes, it can even hurt. You can be sore. You could feel like throwing up. 

Need I say more?

But in reality, exercise isn't limited to being in a gym or running for hours on end. Though gyms are handy, particularly during the winter months, they are not essential for exercise. In my dietetics program, we prefer to use the term movement instead of exercise. We've found that the second you tell people to exercise, they imagine terrible days at the gym where you run on the treadmill that goes no where and simply just want to die of boredom. The way my gym is set-up, most of the cardio machines face either the street, the basketball courts, or all of the super buff men lifting weights...so at least they give you something to look at. Which is why when I go to the gym I bring a book with me and read. Sure, I look like a dork, and I've had people whisper "Nerd" as they pass me, but at least I am entertained.  

But most of the time, the gym is just as boring one day as it is the next. 

This is where the term 'movement' comes in. 'Movement', for some odd reason, tends to not imply 'exercise'. Usually clients identify 'movement' with activities they enjoy that gets them, well, moving. Does exercise get us moving? Yes. But so do a number of different activities that most do not classify as 'exercise'. Some of these include: walking, hiking, playing a number of different sports, playing on a playground or in your yard with your kids, swimming, biking, jumping rope, dancing, and even playing some Wii games (I once got sore from playing Wii tennis for hours on end, and don't get me started on Just Dance). 

I recently experienced the significance of the word 'movement' when I got an injury. I am a long distance runner, and I somehow tore the tendon connecting my hamstring to my knee (yes, I say 'somehow' like I'm ignoring the fact that constantly running isn't the reason I tore the tendon in the first place). But wow, did that hurt. I found that I couldn't run, and it became hard to walk, but I found that I could bike without too much pain. So I started doing that. I would bike around the city I live in, bike to work instead of driving, and eventually found that I love biking. At one point, I was on my bike every day. As my knee got stronger, I eventually moved to hiking. I still occasionally run, but I no longer force myself to. I would much rather do something that I find fun and that makes me happy.

Now that I've said all of this, what I say next may seem to contradict it. The importance of resistance training is also backed up by research as a way to increase bone strength and maintain bone mass as we age. To be clear, resistance and strength training does not mean we all need to be crazy ripped body builders who have to turn sideways to enter door frames. It simply means that the 1980's workout videos where all of the spandex-clad women walk around with ankle weights have a bit of merit to them.

Research is finding that resistance training, which is using your own body weight instead of added weight as resistance, is beneficial in maintaining bone mass. Therefore, those 1980's workout videos of the spandex-clad women doing squats and lunges in their living room also have a bit of merit to them. 

To be clear, spandex is not required to reap the benefits of strength and resistance training. 

But at the end of the day, just as with eating, we need to be happy with our exercise (AKA movement) routine. We should never eat or engage in exercise that doesn't provide some joy into our lives. Just like with me, sometimes what brings us joy changes based on the circumstances we find ourselves in. As always, as we stay in-touch with our bodies, they will tell us what to do. 

Get out there and move!


This week I made the delicious decision to make Thai peanut noodles. And I swear, if my stomach was bottomless, I would have eaten the whole pan in one sitting. In fact, I would have just eaten all of the sauce in one sitting. The noodles just make it harder to get the sauce to your mouth. This recipe is very versatile--you can add things or change ingredients based on your likes, dislikes, and spice tolerances. Enjoy!

Thai Peanut Noodles

-2 cups peanut butter
-1/4 cup sriracha
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-2 Tablespoons olive oil
-1/3 cup sugar or honey
-1 can lite coconut milk

Put all ingredients into a medium sauce pan and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Serve over noodles of your choice (I prefer to spiralize zucchini into noodles to add vegetables to the dish).

Garnish with cashews, peanuts, or fried chow mein noodles.