Does it matter if I'm a healthy weight, but don't exercise?

[goldenstar9]

Hello!

So, when I had my baby a year and a half ago, I was about a stone and a half heavier than my normal weight. Very gradually, I lost it and now have a BMI of 19.7. (I'm 5"7 and weigh 9 stone).

I don't drive and live in a big city, and so I walk most places. I usually get about 10,000 steps in a day. But I don't do any kind of weight bearing or cardio exercise. As I'm a SAHM, I struggle to find the time. Of course, if I really was motivated I could go for a run at night when my husband has finished work, but it's the last thing I feel like doing at that time of day.

Is it very unhealthy that I basically never get my heart rate going? Are the risks of being slim but unfit similar to those of being overweight?

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ws4d9lPzHpYJv0VbfU72S?si=6b3wCUY_SMCDQXDQlnzhJg

This is interesting!

There's wat too much emphasis on weight.

Your weight is comprised of fat, muscle, fluids, tissue etc. If you're constantly on the go you're probably getting all the exercise you need. But you need to eat a decent diet to get your nutrients.

You're probably thinking of skinnybfat where lank, lazy gits are a mess inside. (Visceral fat keeping those vital organs snug.)

Walking is weight bearing exercise!

If you actually walk 10k every day (so around 8 km) it’s great weight bearing exercises and a very natural way to stay active! You can make sure that you walk faster for about 30 minutes every day and then you have the cardio part.

Exercise to compensate for the lack of activity is a relatively new thing, for centuries people would get their dose of outdoor exercise by walking everywhere and working physical jobs.

I'd strong recommend taking up some form of strength building exercise - not so much for right now as for your future. Having greater amounts of muscle has been proven to help in all sorts of ways as you get older, including lowering risk of osteoporosis and other bone issues. Not to mention it's easier to get up when you fall over if you're stronger!
You've got the cardio down with 10k steps to be honest - if you don't enjoy another form of cardio, then it doesn't matter too much. But building strength is really important for the future.

At your age it probably doesn't matter. You are young, so any possible chronic or genetic health issues aside, you will probably be fine.

However age sneaks up on us very quickly! One minute you are at your physical peak as a mid thirties woman. The next day you will wake up in your late forties and suddenly be peri menopausal with the aches, pains and weaknesses that can bring.

Factor in regular yoga/pilates/swimming/dance/stretch classes, or better still a mix of all of these (in person or online) and you will be reaping the benefits for the rest of your life. I'm in my sixties and go to classes with people literally half my age. Thanks to 40 odd years of regular and varied exercise I am just as mobile and strong as those younger women.

Years ago when DH and I were working out family finances we were scrimping and saving as much as we could but I refused to give up my gym membership. It seemed very self indulgent but it saved my sanity at the time and has paid dividends in my being strong and active in retirement. It's also paid off that my now adult children watched me work out regularly throughout their childhood and have a very positive and proactive approach to exercise.

Incidentally, when I became fully menopausal at age 54 I thought my life was over and I let my gym membership lapse for 3 years. I became so sluggish, stiff and unhappy that I treated myself to the local 'posh ' gym when I turned 57. My mood lifted within weeks and I've never looked back.

Walking is great and if you are young you have this benefit of youth, as you get older, women need to keep up their muscle strength to prevent frailty so you might want to consider something like resistance weights when your child is older.

Exercise is good for your cardio vascular health too so you could try walking faster and getting a bit out of breath. I like to challenge myself how quickly I can walk a mile and this gets my heart rate up.

It's very hard to do cardio and high impact exercise with small children about but it is important. It's beneficial for your mental health as well as the more physical obvious benefits. Jo Wicks changed my approach to this in lock down and I've not looked back. Try his 'HIT 20 min workouts' (search on YouTube). Not much space needed and although may seems tough at first, you get fitter quite quickly. Highly recommended . The walking titre doing is very beneficial but hard to do a decent speed if children are small. Good luck