Fat Burning and Happiness

One might think that being skinner would lead to greater happiness, but actually it’s the process of becoming skinny that does a better job of affecting the mood.

It’s the exercise part of your fat burning program that makes the most difference. Recent studies have shown that people who exercise regularly are consistently happier than those who don’t.

This is no surprise to those who are exercise addicts – they know the body produces endorphins – a morphine-like chemical that makes the brain happy – and reduces the levels of stress hormones like cortisol.

But you don’t have to be an addict to feel happier from exercise – even three times per week for 20 minutes seems to show improvements in people’s overall happiness levels. More exercise raises these levels even further until about 5 sessions per week when the effects seem to taper off.

What kind of exercise works best to make you feel happier? Cardio or resistance exercise both seem to work, but cardio releases more endorphins and has a longer lasting effect than resistance training.

The intensity of the workout also has an effect, but this could be partially explained by goal orientation. If a person works out hard, he or she can feel more satisfaction from a job well done, which further increases happiness levels. Think about it – aren’t you happy when you are able to meet your personal goals?

Since meeting exercise goals has an effect on happiness, it makes sense to set them to modest levels. Not only does this make your goals easier to reach, but protects you from adding stress – a great happiness diminisher.

Indeed, another of the researcher’s recommendations for happiness was related to how much you try to take on. The more activities you plan, the easier it is to stress and get stressed out. They recommended limiting planned activities and sticking with just the most important – even at the expense of long term goals.

This could mean taking a different job, refusing a promotion, reducing your hours at work to exercise more, or any number of popularly perceived “career stoppers”. Money and advancement are not the only things in life, and your time, once spent being unhappy, can never be regained.

More and more – especially in today’s younger generations – it’s about leading a happy and fulfilling lifestyle rather than a high-stress big money power career.

More than just a means to burn fat, exercise can also be away to avoid isolation. People who socialize with others are more often happier, than those that don’t. In today’s hermetic world, outside of work, many have little social interaction.

Exercise programs offer this opportunity and can provide a much needed outlet for human contact. Many people form long lasting bonds with people they meet in gyms and fitness clubs. I met my wife of ten years in the gym.

Another recommended means to increase happiness is keeping a gratitude journal. This allows you to note down and expound on the things you are grateful for. Your children, your health, your garden, your pets – anything you enjoy and may be taking for granted.

This journal can be done daily or just once a week, but the idea is to remind yourself you have significant things in your life to be grateful for. This can also be used as part of your fat burning diary where you keep track of your caloric intake and fitness goals.

Reducing expectations also seems to be key to happiness. Those who expect much and get less are frequently unhappy, compared to those who expect less and generally receive the same as those who expect more.

The Danes – now considered the happiest people on the planet – are not known for laughter or giddiness, but they experience high levels of contentment thanks in part to chronically low expectations and their general outlook on life.

These low expectations can also be a huge benefit for your fat burning program since they will prevent you from becoming frustrated when progress seems too slow. Progress is in the process of burning fat, not so much the final result.

Many fat burning experts recommend tossing the mirror and the scale – especially when starting out – to avoid constant progress checking and disappointment that things aren’t moving along as fast as we might like. It’s better to have modest goals, achieve them and set new ones rather than set impossibly high goals and never reach them. This doesn’t mean you can’t reach your goals, but setting them closer and easier is better in terms of being happy than long term, hard to reach goals. Once you reach your short term goals, you can set new, slightly higher ones.

Another surefire way to be happier is to help others. This can take many forms, but for those with a fat burning program, the best way might be encouraging others to join you in your healthier lifestyle. Getting somebody to start exercising may be the single most helpful thing you can do for them over the long haul. If they stick with it, it could even mean an extra 10 years of life.

So if you’ve been looking for an excuse to get off the couch and into the gym, look no further. Spending several hours per week will not only make you slimmer and more attractive, but it’s likely to make you happier as well.