Exercise

Any exercise program should first be approved by your physician, since he or she knows your medical condition, medications and the level of exercise that is safe for your condition.

For individuals with anorexia nervosa exercise should be eliminated during a refeeding program to promote weight gain and not overtax your cardiac muscle (heart)--(it just increases your needs for calories and makes it harder for you to reach your goals). It also increases the risk of sports injuries that may make it impossible for you to do even moderate exercise.

For individuals with bulimia nervosa, exercise can deplete you of important electrolytes, just as purging does, and must be done under medical supervision.

For individuals on blood pressure medication, or with cardiac issues, your cardiologist or physician should give you a specific heart rate goal to stay at during your exercise routine.

For individuals who are overweight and want to lose weight exercise is an important component of the weight loss process. Some studies show that individuals with a tendency to overweight need to exercise more than an average weight person to maintain or achieve a normal body weight. This may mean daily exercise, but again caution is the key and your physician should clear you of medical risk and give you an exercise heart rate range as a target during your exercise. You will need to start slowly and work gradually to add more exercise to your routine.

Remember that people never needed exercise in the past, they simply worked! So take that into consideration and try to do something interesting and useful while you strengthen your body. Maybe its a moderate amount of yard work, or a refreshing walk. Maybe a stroll with your camera to catch a beautiful sunset-- once you achieve your weight goal you really don't need to work hard at exercising, find a fun active thing to do and you'll do it regularly for real fitness. Children fall into this category, they should be encouraged to play, ride bikes, walk and play sports they enjoy to build a life long enjoyment of motion.

Individuals with arthritis may find that swimming or water walking make workouts easier on the joints and therefore easier to continue on a regular basis.

I use the American College of Sports Medicine Fitness Program for in office clients starting an exercise program for the first time with their physician's approval, it is a balanced approach to fitness that takes into account your current level of fitness and builds on that to maximize your strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness.

Always check with your physician and monitor your exercise heart rate to make sure you are not overexercising or underexercising and therefore not achieving maximum fitness levels.