Want to lose weight and get fit for the New Year but not sure where to start? According to fitness company Fitness First, we’re far more likely to do it on two wheels than on two feet! After analysing the three million exercise sessions that took place in Fitness First studios around the country in 2005, group cycling classes were found to be the nation’s favourite workout – ahead of traditional classes such as aerobics, step, circuits and even yoga and Pilates. Fitness First’s National Health and Fitness Manager, Kevin Yates, says, ‘I’m not really surprised by the dominance of group cycling. It’s fun, suitable for exercisers of all fitness levels and provides an excellent total body workout – all of which are great motivators.’

WLR says:

Cycling is a fantastic aerobic workout that burns calories and helps tone up legs and bums. In fact, an hour of brisk cycling burns around 500 calories. Do this every day and you’d lose approximately 1lb of body fat each week – that’s more than 4lb a month, and almost 4 stone in a year! Meanwhile, research has found that regularly getting on your bike helps to pedal off the years as well as the pounds – cyclists tend to have a fitness level equivalent to someone 10 year’s younger.

But the thought of getting rained on, honked at by buses and cycling through heavy traffic on cold, dark winter days is all it takes for most of us to leave our bikes locked in the shed.

That’s where group cycling classes offer a solution. The 30-45 minute classes involve ‘going for a ride’ on stationary bikes across different types of terrain. Just like an aerobics class, the sessions are led by an instructor and set to music. Everyone can work at their own pace, making the classes suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels – and because you’re in a group, you’re far more likely to stay motivated. Check out your local fitness centre to find out what’s on offer. Or to locate your nearest Fitness First club log on to www.fitnessfirst.com

Be a boozer loser

If giving up alcohol is on your list of New Year resolutions, you might want to think again. A new US study of more than 8,000 people reveals that drinking small amounts of alcohol may actually stop you getting fat! The research, published in medical journal BMC Public Health, discovered that those people who consumed one alcoholic drink a day were half as likely to be obese as tee-totallers. Unsurprisingly though, as alcohol intakes increased, so did waistlines. Binge drinkers and people consuming four or more drinks a day were far more likely to be overweight or obese. The authors conclude that there’s not enough evidence to advise tee-totallers to start drinking in an effort to shift those pounds. However, they also say, ‘The evidence reported here argues against a strategy of promoting complete abstention, at least among those who regularly consumer alcohol.’ In other words, there’s no need to give up the odd tipple when you’re trying to lose weight!

WLR says:

This survey is certainly interesting but it doesn’t change the fact that most alcoholic drinks are packed with calories and no other nutrients. A single measure of spirits alone provides 50 calories, while a 175ml glass of wine provides 115 calories and a pint of ordinary strength lager 165 calories. Meanwhile, a pint of strong lager contains around 250 calories. As this research suggests, you don’t have to ‘give up’ booze completely – but you do need to count the calories. After all, it’s not called a ‘beer belly’ for nothing!

Shake off those ‘fat’ days

Ever had a ‘fat’ day and found that rather than making you more determined to stick to your diet and exercise plan, its leaves you with a devil-may-care attitude that sees you seeking solace in the fridge? Fortunately, scientists may have found the answer by creating a gadget that tricks the mind into believing you’re thinner than you actually are.

Researchers from University College London attached a vibrating device to the wrists of 17 volunteers, which simulated the sensation that the joint was flexing even though it remained still. Next the participants put their hands around their waists while the researchers scanned their brains to identify the part of the brain involved in body image. The study discovered the highest level of activity was in the posterior parietal cortex – the part of the brain that assimilates sensory information from different parts of the body. But best of all, the volunteer’s thought their waists had shrunk by up to 28%!

WLR says:

This research has been carried out predominantly to improve our understanding of the part of the brain that’s involved in causing body image problems in people with eating disorders. Nevertheless, it’s interesting that such a simple device helped people to feel significantly thinner. This alone, may have important implications for helping people to lose weight. Regardless of what the scales say, simply feeling thinner is often all it takes to give us the motivation we need to stick to our diet and exercise plan.

Unfortunately, there are currently few vibrating devices available for attaching to your wrists, so for now, you’ll need to deal with ‘fat’ days using more traditional methods. Before heading for the fridge, reflect on your successes so far. Think about how much weight you’ve lost, how many inches you’ve dropped and how much more toned you feel. Look at old photographs of yourself before you started out and try on old clothes that are now too big for you. This should be enough to help you turn that ‘fat’ day into a ‘thin’ one – and leave you reaching for the fruit bowl rather than the biscuit tin!

A bum note

Here’s yet another good reason to lose weight. Doctors have discovered that longer needles may be needed for administering injections to bigger bottoms. Researchers from Dublin studied 50 people and found that overweight women were less likely to receive the full dosage of drugs because of their fleshy bottoms – quite simply, the needles weren’t long enough to reach the muscle with the result that the drugs were less effective. Dr Chan, who led the research, said many of her patients were receiving little, if any, benefit from injections administered to the buttocks, because of obesity. ‘The amount of fat tissue overlying the muscle exceeds the length of the needles commonly used for these injections,’ she concludes.

WLR says:

This is an interesting study and clearly more research is needed. The bottom tends to be the main site for many injections such as painkillers, vaccines, contraceptives and anti-sickness drugs. This is because there are few major blood vessels, bones and nerves that can be damaged by a needle and the muscle underneath the layer of the fat on the bottom has a rich supply of tiny blood vessels that can effectively absorb the medicine. Our advice is to use this information to spur you on to shift those pounds once and for all. And in the meantime, if you need to have an injection in your bottom and are still a long way from reaching your target weight, ask your doctor for advice.

Dieting by intuition

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Health Education, surrounding ourselves with our favourite foods may actually help us to lose weight – providing we only eat them when we’re hungry and stop when we’re full! Dr Hawks, who led the research, wanted to see whether people lost weight when they were allowed to eat whatever they wanted when they were hungry – a concept he calls ‘intuitive eating’. He’d already lost 50lb and kept it off for five years by surrounding himself with all the ‘unhealthy’ foods he craved. Amazingly, his research showed that intuitive eating was linked with a lower body mass index and higher levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol among female students. Dr Hawks suggests these findings provide support for the idea that intuitive eating can help people to lose weight.

WLR says:

The results of this small study need to be interpreted with care and more research needs to be done before we start recommending people surround themselves with crisps, cakes and chocolate – and eat them whenever they feel hungry. We agree it’s important to learn to recognise feelings of hunger and fullness and to avoid eating emotionally, for example, when we’re bored, tired or miserable. And we don’t believe in denying ourselves our favourite foods when we’re trying to lose weight. But the concept of ‘intuitive eating’ does little to teach us about the importance of a balanced, healthy diet that’s sustainable for life. Typically, many of our favourite foods are high in fat, sugar, salt and little else, with the result we could be left short on essential vitamins and minerals. Meanwhile, these types of foods typically provide us with a short-lived burst of energy, quickly leaving us feeling hungry again so that we need something else to eat. Our advice is to stick to a daily diet that’s packed with fibre-rich carbs, five fruit and veg, lean protein-rich foods, low-fat dairy products – and a daily treat, whether that’s a packet of crisps, glass of wine or bar of chocolate.

Don’t ditch the dairy

In the past, many people avoided milk and dairy products to help shift those pounds. But over the years, more and more research has shown that low-fat dairy products – and specifically the calcium they contain – actually work with our waistlines rather than against them. Now, a Portuguese study of more than 37,000 adults has added more weight to the science by revealing that men and pre-menopausal who drink the most milk are less likely to be obese than those who drink the least. The same relationship wasn’t found in post-menopausal women, which the researchers say may be due to hormonal differences, and needs more investigation.

Meanwhile, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that drinking skimmed milk can half the risk of high blood pressure. Spanish researchers followed the diets of 6,000 people for two years and discovered that those who drank skimmed milk and ate other low-fat dairy products were 50% less likely to suffer from high blood pressure than those who consumed little or no skimmed milk or dairy products.

WLR says:

The calcium in dairy products is essential for healthy bones, but increasingly, research shows it may also have other important health implications, particularly in terms of helping people to lose weight and lower blood pressure. We recommend including at least half a pint of skimmed milk in your daily diet. This contains just 100 calories but 340mg calcium – around half the amount of calcium needed by most adults for good health. Use it in tea and coffee, drink it on its own, use it on cereal or blend it with fruit to make a smoothie. And if you don’t like milk, have two small pots of fat-free fruit yoghurt instead to ensure you get the calcium – and weight loss benefits – of dairy products.

Turn it off

Research from New Zealand has confirmed that watching large amounts of TV makes children fat. Worse still, the study reveals that TV viewing has a greater impact on body mass index than even diet or inactivity. The research, published in the International Journal of Obesity, followed the viewing habits and weight of children at regular intervals between the ages of three and 15 years. ‘Our research showed that time spent watching TV is a significant predictor of body mass index and being overweight,’ says researcher DR Hancox. ‘Significantly reducing the amount of television children watch would be an important first step in an attempt to tackle the current epidemic of childhood obesity,’ he concludes.

WLR says:

If you’re concerned about your child’s weight you might want to follow in the footsteps of the popular BBC show Honey, We’re Killing The Kids and start removing TV sets from your home, particularly your child’s bedroom. Encouraging the whole family to get off the couch and be more active will make big differences to everyone’s health and waistlines. And remember that children will follow your example, so if they see you skipping Corrie to go for a swim, they’ll be more likely to do the same.