Golf Tips

Some people lose weight playing golf and others don't. But if you walk the course on a regular basis you will inevitably become a lot fitter than might otherwise be the case, and you are quite likely to lose weight.

If you've been reading any of my earlier articles you'll already know that I love the game of golf. I am absolutely passionate about this game and firmly believe that it should be a daily habit - for me, that is. I'm open to making it a twice daily event on occasions as well, without fear of experiencing a negative overdose. For me, there is no such thing as playing too much golf.

When the weather is remotely conducive to playing golf I find it really difficult to stay indoors. My golf clubs flash at me in my mind like beacons and I itch to get out of the door and off up the road to the golf course. I like to live on a daylight hours schedule; if its daylight, I prefer to be outside. I can catch up on work when it's dark or too cold, windy or wet to play golf.

One day last week I played with someone who asked me if I knew how many calories you burn by playing a round of golf. She, like me, walks the course. Part of what I enjoy about golf is the walking; to feel your body moving and stretching as an incidental to this game is a great plus. When I'm not as energetic and agile I will take a cart and I hope I'm still playing golf when I'm in my eighties and nineties. That's another great advantage of this game. You can play golf no matter what your fitness level is, within reason.

Reverting to the question of losing weight by playing golf, I'm not sure how many calories are expended and this is of course a matter of relativity. What I do know is that I get to walk around out of doors, in the fresh air, in beautiful surroundings, with good company for four hours at a time. I play Palo Alto Hills when I'm in California and Mount Murray when home on the Isle of Man...and every other course I can get to play between times! Both of these courses are a little hilly, as the names imply, and I'm sure I burn lots of calories as I skip between shots.

I'm sure that playing golf keeps me fit because of the way in which I play. I walk, I don't tend to eat hamburgers as a "light snack" on the way round (although I did have to sample one of those at the Olympic Club in San Francisco the other day - they are renowned for their intriguingly shaped and delicious examples), and I don't sit still for very long. I know that I can eat a lot more without putting on weight when I play golf regularly. I also have more energy and feel a whole lot more relaxed to boot.

The key to losing weight is to eat healthily and exercise naturally. When I was asked about how many calories you burn playing golf, it made me realize that I don't often think about the exercise or calorie burning benefits of playing golf; I just enjoy golf, and keep slim and fit as a side effect - it's a free bonus! Now, if someone said to me that I must walk so many thousand steps every day, or had to walk for a couple of hours every day just to stay fit, that wouldn't motivate me at all.

The moral of the story is that if exercise happens as a by-product of doing something you enjoy it becomes easy to do; you won't need an exercise motivation mp3 to get you going!

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3 downloads for health and well-being.