How much you enjoy your workout?

It is a proven fact that anything we do should be convincing and joyful to our mind, otherwise we tend to treat that as a burden. Same applies to physical exercising too. It is true that physical workouts energize our brain and keep it active. But, several times it is our brain that dictates thoughts like, "you have worked out a lot", "you have spent a lot of energy", "you need to reward yourself now." etc.,etc., The net result is what we commonly observe, that is, a person regularly into an exercise regimen may still be gaining weight instead of losing simply because he or she has the tendency to "reward" oneself more than required after the workout.

Now, what has the recent two studies of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab say on this? In the first study, they took 56 adults on a 2-km walk around a small lake and some were told it was going to be an exercise walk and some others told it was just a scenic walk. After the walk they were served lunch. The observation was, those of who believed it was an exercise walk ate 35% more chocolate pudding for dessert than those who believed they had been on a scenic walk. In the second study, 46 adults were given mid-afternoon snacks after their walk. Those thinking they had an exercise walk ate 206 more calories of M&Ms, which was over twice as much or 124% more than those who thought they were on a scenic walk. This Cornell University study was published recently in the journal Marketing Letters.

Study author Carolina Werle, a professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management in France, said in a Cornell news release that "Viewing their walk as exercise led them to be less happy and more fatigued, and this study also explains why some people gain weight by eating more after exercise programs."

So, what is to be done? According to study co-author Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, goal must be to make exercise more enjoyable. He says, the bottom line for beginners or veteran exercisers is this: "Do whatever you can to make your workout fun. Play music, watch a video, or simply be grateful that you're working out instead of working in office. Anything that brings a smile, is likely to get you to eat less."

Another good idea may be to get hold of a good companion for workouts and change the exercise pattern when monotony strikes!

Watch the informational Video: What to eat before and after a workout?

12 minute workout plan for women - XBX

XBX plan, also published by Royal Canadian Airforce, is a modification to 5BX plan to suit women. The plan recommends 10 exercises and needs only 12 minutes! This plan also does not need any special equipment to follow. The plan publishes a series of progressive levels which can be followed to add difficulty but still needs only 12 minutes!

Here is the XBX plan.