This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at MNSU chapter.

With the new year right around the corner, this is the BEST time to start up your new fitness routine. With the holidays and loads of unhealthy food right at your fingertips, move your body and don’t wait for January 1st to start or for Monday to come around, just do it! And please for the sake of this being the only body you have, move your dang body. 30 minutes, that is all it takes. If you don’t have time, MAKE TIME. Wake up an extra half hour earlier, rearrange your schedule and manage your time more efficiently, but please don’t tell me you not having time in the day to move your body and get your heart rate up for 30 minutes is your excuse. Go for a walk, lift some weights, do yoga, go to open swim, hike, the options are endless. But darling, you only get one body and you better treat it like the temple it is.

This is a topic that is really important to me. Why must you ask? Because I have been in slumps where I don’t workout for periods of time or I don’t feel motivated enough to move my body. And you know what that leads to always? Me hating my body, me hating food because I know that I should not be fueling myself with that garbage, my mental health going to trash. You see, when you move your body and get your heart rate up it has PROVEN statistics to improve mental health, increase your energy levels, vital for your muscles and bones, helps your skin and helps increase brain health and memory. With more benefits as well!! So..why wouldn’t you work out? Easier said than done, right? I get it. I do. It all starts with you though, nobody will show up for you, nobody will do the exercise for you, no one will lose the weight for you – YOU have to do it!

Aside from feeling better about yourself and because you should move your body at least 30 minutes a day, here are some benefits to working out regularly:

Stress Reliever

Working out is a great way to relieve stress. Whether that is weight lifting, which has a significant impact on relieving stress, running or even doing yoga. This is a really great outlet to let everything out and to just sweat it out. You will find after you sweat it out, you will be much less stressed and in turn feel better about yourself as well.

Makes You Happier

Exercise helps increase in the production of your brain’s endorphins. If you don’t know what endorphins are, they are what produce positive feelings and reduce pain. There is proven research that exercise helps people suffering from depression and anxiety. The effects of exercise on the mood is exponential and I don’t think people realize it. Just moving your body thirty minutes a day can help so many things.

Weight Control

Weight control is huge. Inactivity is one of the top reasons people gain weight which may or may not lead to obesity. Eating healthy is only one part of the equation when it comes to weight loss. When you exercise regularly, you will build a much higher metabolism which will help increase the amount of calories you burn overall. I think if anyone is looking to lose weight this is one step of a two step equation; eating healthy and moving your body.

Brain Health

Exercise can also improve brain health, brain memory and thinking skills. It helps stimulate the production of hormones which enhance the growth of brain cells. This is vital in older adults. Exercise is proven to increase the size of the hippocampus in the brain which serves to increase mental function. Exercise is also shown to reduce changes to the brain that can cause Ahlezeimer’s and schizophrenia.

Combat Health Conditions/Diseases

Lack of regular exercise is one of the main reasons someone may get a chronic disease. Regularly exercising it is shown to improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness and body composition, which in turn decreases blood pressure and blood fat levels. It can also lead to belly fat, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even early death. Exercising regularly is no joking matter when it could cost you so much as these diseases listed above. You just need to find what you like and stick to it! You will benefit from it so much in the long run and you body fifty years down the line sure will thank you!

Skin, Bone, Muscle Benefits

Exercise plays a huge role in your muscles and bones, and even skin! Lifting weights and doing resistance training, you will help build bone density so later on in life you will help minimize osteoporosis and other conditions that may involve the bones. In skin health, exercise can promote your body to help produce natural antioxidants which help protect your skin cells. It can also stimulate blood flow which can help the appearance of skin aging.

Helps Sleep

If you have trouble sleeping, this is for you! Exercise is also proven to help with sleep and getting yourself to relax. This, then, makes you more energized throughout the day due to a deeper sleep. It can help both quality of sleep and insomnia.

It’s Fun & Social!!

Once you find something you like to do while getting your body moving, you will find that it is fun!! I love and look forward to going to the gym everyday because it pushes me past what I am comfortable with and challenges me in others. I also like how it is a great way to get active and it has benefited me in the long run. Not only is it fun, but it is social as well. I go to the gym at about the same time every day so I end up seeing the same old “regulars” everyday then too. Since I go in the morning, it tends to be the older crowd there with me. I have got to meet a couple older people that end up chatting with me whenever I see them. It is a fun camaraderie in the gym and I swear they are always hyping me up.

I have seen within myself, first hand at what all the benefits of working out has done for me. I have so much more energy, I have lost some weight and gained more muscle, I do sleep better and my skin is clearer than ever! I love working out, but that didn’t happen overnight. I struggled with finding what was right for me or what I liked to do. I had to hold myself accountable if I ever wanted to see results and I had to be self disciplined. Coming from me, if I can do it, anyone truly can.

So please, don’t wait until the New Year to make that resolution to lose that weight or finally get back into that fitness routine you have always been talking about, start tomorrow instead! There is something for everyone in the fitness world, you just have to find it! You got this!

Reference: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise#section8

The Importance of Moving Your Body at Least 30 Minutes Daily