One of the most sensitive questions I have to ask the people that I coach is “Are you active enough?” Getting more physically active is one of the best quick weight loss tips anyone can give you – but it’s only a good tip if you act on it.

Many of us tend to over-estimate how active we are. This isn’t because we’re lazy, though some of us do prefer to curl up with a good book. To me, the confusion comes from the different ways we can define being active.

Ask anyone about their day and they usually reply that they’re tired because they’ve been busy and active. We naturally associate tiredness with a physically active day. When you probe a bit deeper, though, you often find that their day hasn’t been physically active – it has been active in quite a different way You can, in fact, be geographically or mentally active, but experience very little physical activity.

Here’s the scenario for a geographically active day. You wake up and think about the things that have to be done. You need to drop clothes off at the dry cleaners, pick up dog food, get to work, get across town for a lunch meeting, get back to the office to finish a report, grab something for dinner at the supermarket, get home, unload the car, cook dinner, then get things ready for tomorrow.

It gets to 8pm.You’re tired. You’ve had a busy day and you’ve been all over town but you haven’t moved your body much – the car may have moved, the bus may have moved and the train may have moved. You’ve been geographically active but not physically active.

Here’s the scenario for a mentally active day. You wake up early, even though you may have been up half the night wondering how you’re going to get everything done! You think about the things you need to do. The monthly report needs to be completed before 1am, and the sales director wants figures by 11 am .You’ve got a dinner party to plan for Saturday night, and you need to do the online shop by midday to get the home delivery service to deliver by 5pm on Friday. Your tax return is late so you need to get on with it. You also need to speak to the family about the arrangements for Christmas or that special occasion.

It gets to 8pm. You’re tired. You’ve had a busy day. Your brain has been all over the place, rushing around to get everything done – but you haven’t moved your body much. You’ve been mentally active but not physically active.

Our days will always be geographically and mentally active but we have to encourage ourselves to be more physically active – which is one of the best quick weight loss tips I can give you.

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