Exercise for your well being

There has been some recent press regards the efficacy of exercise for weight loss.  I find that it helps dramatically with my sense of well being.  I don't start out feeling good.  About half way through my workout, I start to feel better.  It really helps me deal with my mental dementors.  Cardio is so helpful.  Also, yoga helps me with my sleep.  So, we know that it takes a lot of mental work to get through the difficulties of weight loss.  For me, my mental out look is dramatically improved with exercise so therefore, my ability to stick to my healthy eating plan is improved through exercise.  It is tough enough to lose weight, why would you want to do it without the free, once a day, dose of exercise?  While the research is probably true, I don't think its wise to just drop your exercise routine (unless you are over training!) if you find that it helps you deal with life.  Also, it helps your body to stay fit.  There are many aspects to fitness but cardiovascular fitness is one of them.  You need to exercise the heart muscle to keep it fit and able to do what you want it to do.  You also need to exercise your other muscles to keep them fit.  I prefer a once a week circuit workout and to use yoga for the rest of the week.  Thats just me.  Thats just my personal preference.  Do what works for you.  

Treat physical activity the same way you treat your diet.  Keep a careful and honest journal of what activities you have performed.  Watch how your rotation has an effect on your ability to live life.  Pay attention to things like duration, time in THR, whether or not you did intervals, and how many calories you burned.  Correlate this with your diet journal which details carbs, protein, fats, and what kind of foods you were eating at what time of day.  Again, correlate all of this data with how you feel at what time and also keep track of sleep and stress level.  These things matter.  This is how you can learn what the right balance for you really is and how to maintain that.