Your mom always said you needed more fresh air and sunlight… Was she right all along?

In a time when most adults spend 90 percent of their time indoors, new research is continues to back up Mom’s theory. Perhaps the missing ingredient to your weight loss plan is right outside your living room window.

In particular, new research published in Scientific Reports shows that spending 120 minutes per week outdoors can boost self-reports of health and well-being. The association only grew stronger with exposure over two to three hours.

And the best part of all? It didn’t seem to matter whether study participants spent a solid block of 120 minutes outdoors, or broke up that 120 minutes throughout the week. If 20 minutes per day is all you can manage, you can reap the same positive effects.

While the study only addressed the positive association between time outdoors and feelings of health and wellness, the study’s author surmises that the link is due to stress reduction, social opportunities, and increased activity (exercise).

Another study, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, showed that spending 20 minutes outdoors produced an energy boost equivalent to drinking one cup of coffee. And of course, this boost would come without the side effects of caffeine!

If you exercise anyway, why not do it outdoors? As 2017 research showed, those who exercise outdoors will feel more alert and less fatigued after their workout session.

Give it a try, and let us know how it works for you! You might even find that exercising outdoors motivates you to do it more often, and benefits your weight loss plan.

And about that weight loss plan: Give us a call, and we’ll schedule an appointment to review your health and wellness goals. Paired with a nutritious, low-calorie diet, your new outdoors exercise routine can help you renovate your lifestyle.