Christmas Challenge Weight Loss Tips: Week 3
Hope you had a good second week on the Christmas Challenge.
By now, you should be well and truly into a new way of
eating. But if you really want to look amazing this Christmas,
it's a good idea to be more active too. As well as burning extra
calories, exercise will help to tone muscles and lift your mood,
so you look and feel amazing at all those parties.
This week, I've put together some top tips to help you boost
your activity levels.
1. Find out what's available
Before you even think about putting on your trainers, do some
research to find out what's on offer in your area. Look in your
local newspaper for ideas, call your local leisure centre to
find out the facilities and activities they offer and check out
adverts in local shops.
Once you're clued up on what's available, make a list of the
activities you think you'd like to try - and then go along for a
trial session. Don't just limit yourself to the gym, pool or
exercise classes, either. You'll probably find your local area
offers loads of other fun activities to help you shape up. Why
not try a dance class, learn a martial art, join a netball team
or go hiking with your local rambling club?
2. Make fitness work for you
Be realistic when you devise your fitness plan. There's no
point saying you'll go swimming three times a week if your
nearest pool is a 45-minute drive away - chances are you'll
never get there!
Think about those activities that don't require much planning
or organisation and will easily fit into your lifestyle. For
example, if you have young children, take up an activity where
crèche facilities are provided, or plan to exercise when they
are at playgroup. You'll be far more likely to succeed if you
add activity to your lifestyle with the minimum of fuss!
3. Get your timing right
Forget about spending hours in a high-impact aerobics class
or sweaty gym. You'll still see great benefits if you simply
divide the total amount of time you would normally spend
exercising into smaller chunks of 10 minutes.
Fitness experts recommend we aim for five 30-minute sessions
of exercise each week, but there's no reason why you can't do 15
10-minute sessions instead. And as well as helping to boost your
energy levels throughout the day, exercising in this way also
has the advantage of taking your attention away from food so
you'll be less likely to nibble.
Try some of these 10-minute workouts:
- Stepping - step up and down on the bottom step of your
stairs at home to burn fat and target the muscles in your
bottom and thighs.
- Skipping - it's a great workout for your heart and lungs
and the act of jumping also strengthens bones, which can help
to prevent osteoporosis.
- Walking - it might sound like an easy workout but just
three 10-minute brisk walks each day amounts to a whopping
54,750 extra calories burned in a year. That's enough to help
you lose more than 1st of pure body fat in a year!
- Running - if you want to up the calorie-burning stakes,
pull on your trainers and run on the spot or go for a quick
spin around the block.
- Bouncing - invest in a rebounder, listen to your
favourite, high-energy music and bounce away the fat.
4. Take 10,000 steps each day
Fitness experts recommend that for long-term good health and
weight loss we need to do at least 10,000 steps a day. To see
how many steps you do each day - and to work towards increasing
the amount you do - invest in a pedometer. This little gadget
calculates the number of steps you take along with the amount of
calories you've burnt.
Here are just a few ways you can increase your daily step
count:
- Walk to the shop, school, pub or post office
- Park on the opposite side of the supermarket car park so
you have to walk further to and from the entrance
- Ban all lifts and escalators
- Plug the phone in upstairs so you have to run up steps
every time it rings
- Go for an evening or weekend stroll
- Browse around the shops at lunchtime
5. Make exercise fun time for all the family
Get your family involved in your fitness plan. It's not only
great for helping you (and your partner) to shape up, but it
also teaches children the importance of leading an active
lifestyle. Plus most of the activities you can do together are
great fun, helping to reduce tension that can lead to family
arguments.
Take the whole family swimming or go for a family walk at the
weekend - keep the pace brisk by putting babies and toddlers in
prams and encourage older children to ride alongside on bikes.
Or how about going for a cycle? Even simply playing games such
as swing ball, football and bat and ball burns calories and will
help to tone muscles - and your kids will love you for it, too!
6. Don't let your social life or love life
stop you from exercising
Instead, combine the two by meeting up with friends or your
partner and doing something active rather than sitting in a bar
with another bottle of wine and plate of nachos.
Here's how to make fitness more fun:
- Go for a relaxing sauna and swim with your friends - but
save the chatting for the sauna!
- Take a romantic walk in the park with your partner
- At the weekend, cycle to and from your local pub for a
delicious (low-cal!) lunch and glass of wine
- Get together with friends for a night on the town and turn
into disco divas on the dance floor
- Find a partner and have a game of squash or badminton. It
might be hard work but it will really burn those calories
7. Turn your commute into a workout
One of the easiest ways to build the recommended 30 minutes
of exercise, five times a week, into your life is to make the
most of your daily commute by cycling or walking to and from
work.
It might sound like a lot of effort, but if you already spend
30 minutes a day or more sitting in a bus, train, tube or car,
you're missing a great opportunity to burn fat and lose weight.
And getting on your bike or walking may even save you time!
Better still, exercising on your way to and from work will help
boost energy levels and give you time to prepare for the day
ahead, or help you wind down after a hard day in the office.
8. Make your lunch hour work for you
It might be tempting to spend an hour reading your favourite
mag or gossiping with work mates while you tuck into a huge
sarnie, crisps and chocolate bar. But you can use your lunch
hour to get fit?
If you're super organised and have a gym or leisure
facilities nearby, you may just have time for a quick 30-minute
swim or workout. Or pull on your trainers and energise your mind
and body with a brisk 30-minute power walk. Even a 45-minute
stroll round the shops will burn calories - and it's a great way
to get some of those chores done like going to the bank or
chemist or treating yourself to new clothes.
9. Don't worry about days when you really
can't fit in any exercise
Just make sure you take every opportunity during the day to
build in as much activity as possible.
This means walking fast every time you go anywhere, taking
stairs two at a time, cycling to the newsagent rather than
driving and taking items upstairs when necessary rather than
piling them up at the bottom of the stairs to take en masse when
you're next passing! |
