Hi. I’m Elly, a registered nutritional therapist. I’m working with Weight Loss HQ by Treated to give you all the helpful info you need to make your weight loss treatment successful.

In this video, I’m going to help answer the question: If I’m using weight loss treatment, ‘What exercise is best for me?’

The answer is pretty simple – basically, the exercise that’s best for you is the exercise you’ll enjoy most and stick to.

Ideally, it’s better to get a mix of cardio activity, like running or swimming, and strength training, like lifting weights or bodyweight exercises. The recommended guidelines for adults are 150 minutes per week of moderate activity – like brisk walking or riding a bike. Or, 75 minutes of vigorous activity, like running, swimming, or playing a team sport like football, with strength training exercises on two or more days each week.

But to exercise enough to help you lose weight, you don’t necessarily need to fit into this mould of someone who goes to the gym to lift, or run on the treadmill.

If you like these activities, great. But, and this is especially the case if you’re starting out with exercise, throwing yourself in at the deep end by joining a gym can be daunting, and ultimately demotivating in the long term.

Instead, think about some activities you know you like doing – this might be country walking, or hiking, or even walking the dog. Try to do these as regularly as you can – at least two to three times per week – and gradually, start to make these activities longer or more intensive.

For example, you might take a longer circuit on a country walk, or try a hike that’s mostly uphill. And from there, you might feel like you want to turn your walk into a jog when you feel more able to, or increase how often you do these activities even more.

Similarly, strength training doesn’t have to begin and end at the gym. If you’re doing it at home, you don’t even need weights or a bench – exercises using body weight, like squats, push-ups or sit-ups, can be just as effective as the movements you would do in the gym.

And again, if after a while you want to work on a specific body part or increase the intensity of what you’re doing, buying a set of dumbbells or taking a trial period at the gym can be a good way to progress to the next stage of exercise at a time that’s right for you.

So my advice for you on exercise is to start off with something you enjoy, at your own pace. To help make your weight loss treatment be more effective, it’s a good idea to push your body to do more. But if you set yourself a target number of minutes one week and don’t quite hit it, try not to be disheartened, or feel like you need to make up your minutes the week after.

The key to exercise is to do it as regularly and consistently as you can. And finally, listen to your body, and remember not to rush yourself.