You already know that you will lose your love handles with regular exercise and eating clean, but check out the side effects that you will be pleasantly rewarded with…
You feel hungry, but crave healthy
Your body is like a machine – the better fuel you feed it the more efficiently it runs. When you get into a habit of eating clean, you will lose your love handles and cravings for processed food at the same time. Then adding in regular exercise (which helps with stabilising your blood sugars), you’re hungry, but you’re suddenly searching for healthy food options over unhealthy processed foods. Of course, you will still crave certain foods, as that is an evolutionary mechanism of your body signalling the need for specific nutrients. However, you now listen to your body and would rather nourish it with delicious healthy food. Your body rewards you with looking good and you’re a little proud of yourself for reaching for that sweet, crispy apple instead of plastic wrapped junk. Win-win!
You can do more than ever before
Sometimes it feels like exercise never gets easier, but in reality, you are just pushing further, harder and more intensely than when you started. You also find that you are annoyingly satisfied with having sore muscles and learn a whole new language to describe them (apart from cursing!). Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the muscle pain and stiffness you feel from hours to days after strenuous exercise. It is the result of micro damage to the muscle fibres. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and is associated with muscles becoming familiar with the exercise stress, adapting and reacting accordingly, meaning you get stronger. To you DOMS now means a good workout and progress. While the achy muscles may give your movement a very awkward style of its own, before long you will lose that body fat and your love handles to reveal your toned body.
You have that glow
Regular exercise makes you sweat more, improves your circulation and relieves stress, all of which lead to beautiful, glowing skin. Unfortunately, stress takes many forms and is often associated with making your skin appear aged and wrinkled. Luckily, exercise is a proven stress reliever. Sweating, combined with improved circulation from exercise has many benefits. You clear toxins from your pores and promote the cycle of rehydration, leaving your skin looking plump and youthful. Add clean eating and drinking lots of water and your skin will start to glow!
You become a sleeping beauty
Many studies have found that regular exercise can improve the quality and duration of your sleep. Research published in Mental Health and Physical Activity journal concluded that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week provided a 65% improvement in sleep quality. The ‘active’ participants also noted they felt less sleepy and had greater clarity during the day. Adequate sleep not only enables your body to meet the demands of the following day, it is a valuable time for recovery when repair and growth of your muscles occur. Physical exertion helps you nod off into the land of sleeping beauty instead of tossing and turning the night away. Win-win again!
The compliments flow
This is probably not so much about how you look, but how you feel. When you feel that you are making progress, like when you lose your love handles or see some ab definition, your increased confidence is projected and you are instantly more appealing. A 2013 study in the journal Cognition and Emotion found people are naturally attracted and drawn those who appear ‘happy’. The initial weeks of regular exercise and eating clean may feel difficult with you fighting off cravings, sugar headaches, feeling cranky and lethargic, but sticking to this healthy lifestyle beyond three weeks makes these troubles fade away, improving your feelings. Active8me offers a FREE 21-day trial of the mobile app, but the real results and lasting benefits come afterwards, during the main program . See below what some of the Active8me community are saying has happened to them by getting in shape…
Lose your love handles and feel the love elsewhere, here are some notable comments from our Active8me community:
“I feel like my mind is so much sharper. I’m making better decisions and worry less about insignificant things, I really think this has to do with getting fitter” – Jasmine C.
“I am FINALLY starting to feel that post-workout buzz. It motivates me to do those workouts that I sometimes don’t think I have time for…” – Siti L.
“hmmmm, I have more lycra workout gear than party clothes?!” – Nicole H.
“I can walk up the stairs at my work without feeling out of breath. Even talking to my friend as I go. I never thought they would get easier!” – Sharifa L.
“You get inventive with post- workout hair styles” – Christine G.
“I just feel stronger. I mean, I feel stronger with everything. My body, my choices of food, even stronger with my time as I really want to fit in my exercise routine, which I never thought would happen” – Aminah P.
“I haven’t really lost weight (on the scales), but I’ve lost body fat and my work skirt is now loose around my waist. Awesome. ” – Nadia S.
“At first my friends teased me about my lifestyle change, now they ask me for advice, lol” – Jane P.
Tell us, what are some of your positive side effects of getting in shape?
