Register for
Do You Exercise For the Right Reasons?by Elizabeth Crane with Dana
Dovitch, PhD, OBGYN.net Editorial
Advisor |
| OK, get out your pencils
and a piece of paper and answer the following eight
questions—truthfully! 1. You should work out this amount of time per week in order to be healthy: a) three or four half-hour sessions (about two hours total) plus a diet of vegetables b) three or four half-hour sessions (about two hours total) plus a weight-lifting routine and an aerobics video in the morning c) three or four half-hour sessions (about two hours total) plus a diet including proteins, carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables (and a cookie) 2. You already know exercise is healthy. What do you expect to gain from a healthy exercise habit? a) I will feel better, fitter, sexier, taller and happier. b) I will have a great bod and I'll feel good. c) I will look like Cindy Crawford and the boys will follow me around like puppies. 3. You have a cold, so you have to skip your workouts for a whole week. In order to make up for it, you: a) re-schedule your weekend so you can do an extra workout both days b) take a diet pill and figure it'll all come out even c) vow to be more regular once you're well and forget about it 4. You and your girlfriend sign up for a class on getting fit. She tries to avoid going by making one lame excuse after another. You tell her: a) "You're going to get so fat! Get off your butt and sweat off those ugly pounds!" b) "Hey, if you don't exercise you'll never be happy with the way you look and feel! I know it's hard, but we signed up to do this together and I think it'll be worth the effort in the long run." c) "Come on, I can't wait around for you! I have to get over to school to run my laps." 5. Your friend tells you that the cute guy in Spanish class wants to go out with you but he thinks you could stand to lose a few pounds. You: a) tell your friend you can't date anybody because it would mess up your scheduled workout. b) shrug, call him a loser, and go about your business. c) skip lunch and hope he'll notice that you're dieting. 6. You set up an exercise schedule that includes jogging, swimming, aerobics and yoga. When you find you can't perform all of these exercises and still walk to class without staggering in pain, you: a) decide you need to cut back on your food intake so you won't feel so "heavy." Besides, this will make the exercises easier. b) tell yourself that you're not a quitter, so you take a couple aspirin, suck up the pain, and continue your exercise routine. c) figure you're over-shooting your fitness goal and decide to ramp up to all these activities by choosing one to do for now, then adding more as you feel able. 7. Your friend wants to start an exercise club. You tell her: a) "Sounds fun. I'll bring my favorite workout music and you can bring a video." b) "Sounds fun. I'll bring my "Buns of Steel" tape and teach you all my improvements on it." c) "Sounds fun, but I'm not doing anything that makes me look dorky in front of other people." 8. You're in gym class and you have to do a pull-up in front of everybody. You can't. After class you: a) cry over the humiliation and resolve to start a diet immediately so you'll be able to do it next time. b) cry over the humiliation and resolve to add a chin-up bar to your workout routine so you'll be able to do it next time. c) cry over the humiliation and resolve to stay up late every night with your chin-up bar so you'll be able to do twenty by next week. |
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| Scoring 1. a 5 / b 1 / c 3 2. a 1 / b 3 / c 5 3. a 1 / b 5 / c 3 4. a 5 / b 3 / c 1 5. a 1 / b 3 / c 5 6. a 5 / b 1 / c 3 7. a 3 / b 1 / c 5 8. a 5 / b 3 / c 1 Wispy Wannabe (30+ points) Warning: You might be on your way to an eating disorder. It's time to deal with your body issues now. You do not have to be skinny in order to be happy! There are a number of terrible long-term effects a poor diet can have on your growing young body, says Dana Dovitch, Ph.D., a licensed marriage and family therapist. She says that under eating creates metabolic problems and bone loss 20 years down the road. You have to keep your body your whole life—you should treat it a little better. In case you also over exercise to look thinner, check out the section on Fitness Fanatics below. A healthy diet and reasonable fitness regimen will get you farther in the long run than all the fad diets in the world, Dovitch says. Glow Girl (18-30 points) Balance and common sense are key. Exercise is a healthy activity you participate in because it brings you all kinds of good things like a toned body and a healthy glow that says you're fit. It's OK to want to be attractive, to want to be sexy and slender and beautiful. What you want to get right, says Dovitch, is the idea that you define your own beauty. The goal is a long-term one: being happy with your body, for life. Here's a tip to keep on track: Talk to a woman whose body and health habits you admire. Ask specifically what she does to keep fit, and see if you can copy that. Don't ask your girlfriends—they're likely to be as puzzled as you are. Ask your doctor (she won't call you parents) exactly what makes up a healthy diet, and exactly how much exercise you should be doing. Having good information can be enormously helpful. Fitness Fanatic (8-18 points) Staying in shape is obviously important to you, but don't overdo it! Over exercising can be as harmful as under exercising (see the Wispy Wannabe section above to find out if you're at risk for an eating disorder). Dovitch warns that if you're exercising a lot, you must eat more to fuel all that activity. Too often girls cut back on their calories and exercise like crazy, and then they wonder why they feel weak and dizzy. If you're experiencing symptoms like weakness, dizziness, or a racing heartbeat, get help from a school nurse or see a nutritionist. Fitness and exercise should just be part of your daily life—not the whole point of life. If you're doing too much physical exercise, it could be you're missing out on something else, Dovitch says. Relax a little and try participating in something that doesn't get your heart pumping but that stimulates your thoughts and your emotions. |
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| Top 5
Reasons To Exercise For Your Health Good habits for life: The body you have now is the only body you get—take good care of it That healthy glow: Nothing enhances your beauty better than shining health It's fun: Meet people, take up a different exercise style and find a whole new interest Physical attraction: Let's not underestimate the attraction of guys who respect a powerful physical presence I can do this, I'm in control: Take a power trip—it feels good to be in charge of your body |
| Elizabeth is a freelance writer based in San Francisco. Dana Dovitch, Ph.D., is a licensed marriage and family therapist based in Los Angeles. |
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