Movement: Where to Start - The Bariatric Counseling Center of San Antonio

The Meaning of Movement

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions exercise? It could be running, lifting weights and other professional sports. That is how society frequently thinks of it, but in reality movement and exercise already exist in our everyday lives.

It may sound strange, but movement can involve everyday tasks such as going to the grocery store, gardening, cooking and doing laundry.

Often, we overthink what exercise and movement need to be. Yes, going to the gym and running are classic definitions of exercise, but adding an extra lap on the outside aisles of the supermarket involves movement as well.

What Is Mindful Movement?

At the Bariatric Counseling Center, we teach mindful movement. This philosophy promotes the theory that we can choose to increase motion or add simple activities during the day that won’t impede our lives while still providing external and internal benefits.

Mindful movement does not have to involve spending an hour at the gym every day. It can be as simple as:

Parking in the back of the lot and taking a longer walk to the store.
Opting to take the stairs halfway instead of taking the elevator the whole way up.
Choosing to get up and take a walk during commercials while watching television.

How Intensive Does Movement Need to Be?

Your daily movement should be enjoyable, actionable and sustainable. If you can say “yes” to meeting these criteria, then you know that this is something that you can stick to — and won’t be nearly as daunting as going on a one-mile run or lifting weights for an hour.

If you aren’t sure where to start, take this as your challenge to add 100 steps a day for one week, then 200 steps the next week…and so on. Movement doesn’t have to change your schedule to change your life.

At the Bariatric Counseling Center, we offer the following programs:

Healthy lifestyle
Mindful eating
Healthy meals and meal preparation
Mindful movement
Bariatric support
Overeating support
Weight loss counseling