Quiz time!
Question: You work out because…
a) your doctor told you to
b) the muffin top isn’t going away by itself
c) you want your pre-baby weight back
d) it makes you feel good
If you answered a, b or c, research shows you’re 40 per cent more likely to give up on fitness than someone who answered d. “Basically, if women are exercising just to lose weight or because they ‘should,’ they won’t be that successful at it,” says Michelle Segar, lead investigator of a recent study at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The study followed 156 women between the ages of 40 and 60 with various types of fitness goals: some had appearance-driven and medical motivators such as improving body shape and preventing disease; others had such motivators as reducing stress, feeling good and maintaining weight. Perversely, the women who exercised simply to maintain their weight worked out more than those who originally set out to shed kilos.
“We can only try to guess why,” says Segar. “One reason could be that a woman who’s trying to lose weight rejects her own body in some way, whereas a woman who exercises to maintain her current body tends to see exercise as a reward rather than a punishment. I also think our approach to fitness has been directed by marketing that aims to make women feel bad about their bodies instead of teaching them to celebrate themselves.” According to Segar’s research, a guilt-and-shame workout often leads to a fitness dead end. We’re better off mentally reframing exercise in terms of its wonder drug benefits — from increasing energy, improving mood and sleep, to reducing stress and enhancing our ability to concentrate. “But the bottom line is,” says Segar, “if women are just putting in time burning calories at something they don’t enjoy, how long do you expect them to do it?”
Need some fitness tips? Check out our Lazy Woman's Workout for tips on essential moves that won't take all day.
This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of More
