Losing Weight with a Diet and Exercise Plan

Everyone these days seems to want to lose weight quickly. It’s all about cutting calories and watching the weight drop off.

Reality however is that people who lose weight slowly and steadily are more successful at keeping it off in the long term.

Healthy sustainable weight loss isn't just about controlling what you eat, it's also about your ongoing lifestyle activities, and that includes exercise.

The Best Diet and Exercise Plan

The key to successful weight loss is all about burning more calories than you take in.  We all know that cutting calories with an effective diet plan can get good results, but you can also boost your weight loss by getting more active.

For the best results on any diet plan, it’s important to find ways to use up more calories through exercise.  Experts recommend that you should try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Increase your calorie allowance through exercise

All forms of exercise have a calorie burn associated with them, and we have records from housework to Zumba to make sure that any form of exercise, no matter how small, is accounted for.  After all, it all adds up!

With our extensive record database, you can record the different exercises you do and find out how many calories you burn.  This enables you to include your exercise in your weight loss plan and earn more calories for bigger meals or more treats.

Our exercise diary is a great tool for logging your exercise and you can:

• Create fitness plans online and see how many extra calories you can have as part of your program.
• See how many calories you burn doing different exercises.
• Record your exercise as a diary and see how many extra calories you can eat.
• See how many calories you have left as it is fully integrated with our food diary.
• Create exercise plans so it’s easy to add activity in the future.
• Get access to our extensive database which includes sports, gym exercises, general daily activities, exercises from fitness DVD’s and much more.

How can I start an exercise plan with my diet?

You don’t have to go all out and join a gym to get more exercise, indeed many people who are starting their journey feel self conscious and prefer to get active at home.  Just being more active in your daily life can have an effect on the amount of calories burned.

Do something that you enjoy. Most fitness experts agree that you’ll have more success sticking to an exercise plan if you enjoy it, plus it’s important to find activities that fit into your lifestyle.

Try to vary your exercise;  your body needs to be continuously pushed in order to burn fat and tone muscle. It’s important that you keep pushing yourself and varying your routine. This might mean trying some different cardiovascular machines if you go to the gym, or increasing the intensity of your workout, such as walking for a longer distance in the same amount of time.

How to Start Exercising

Our bodies are designed to be active, and anything that you do will count towards your exercise quota.

Plus, with just a little motivation, it’s easy to get some form of exercise  nto your daily routine.

How Much Exercise?

• If your job is office-based you should aim for one extra hour of exercise each day.
• If your job means you stand a lot or move around in a relatively small space, such as hairdressers, shop assistants or security guards, you should take an extra 30 minutes of exercise a day.
• If your job is very active, such as plumbers, cleaners or construction workers, you’re probably already doing enough exercise at work.
• Remember too, that you don’t need to do all that extra activity in one go – or start off with a whole hour. Begin with just 10 minutes a day and build up from there – after all some activity is better than none.

If you want to see for yourself how it works, take a 24 hour free trial and have a play with our Diet and exercise Planner.

People with a Plan

Alison, Nick, Kai and Marylin all joined a 12 week weight management programme at their local gym. Here's their brief case studies:

Alison’s Story

At 53, Alison is 5ft 7 and now 11 stone. A well-dressed, attractive slim figured woman it is hard to imagine her at 17 stone. An overweight child, Alison spent much of her adult life yo-yo dieting and trying every known diet, even including having her jaws wired together! Alison depressed with her size settled for comfort eating and baggy clothes.

In March 2002, Alison’s husband, a member at Holmes Place persuaded Alison to accompany him to the Club and give it a go. Alison, convinced that everybody would be looking at her and her size, made her husband stand behind her whilst she mastered the treadmill.

To overcome the fear of people watching her, Alison resorted to wearing her reading glasses – the blurred vision meant she couldn’t see what anyone else was doing!

Alison joined the 12-week diet and exercise course and the combination of support, knowledge and motivation meant Alison shed her weight and now extols the benefits of exercise and using Holmes Place. Alison regularly uses the gym equipment and enjoys several classes including Spinning.

Nick’s Story

46 year old Nick had a wake up call! An Independent Financial Insurance Advisor, Nick felt a need to look at his own health when claims were coming through for life insurances Nick had sold to clients younger than himself. Nick saw an advert for Holmes Place and joined.

As a man used to numbers and figures, Nick can relate to calorie counting and enjoys graphs and tracking his weight loss. He has learnt to cut out snacking on sweets and chocolates whilst still enjoying occasional treats. As Nick says “No foods are out of bounds and you can vary your diet within your calorie target and make up for business lunches or binges with increased exercise – a pint of beer is equivalent to 18 minutes on the rowing machine whilst a Big Mac is 50 minutes.”

Nick has achieved a 29 lb. weight loss to date and is a healthier and fitter individual.

Kai’s Story

At 38, Kai is a mother of two and has a hectic, full-time job. Finding time for exercise needs some planning!

At 18 stone, Kai knew she had to focus on weight loss – problems with her knees showed her she needed to lose weight. Having tried the SlimFast diet in the past, Kai quickly lost motivation and became disheartened with dieting.

Terrified of joining a gym because of her size, Kai took the plunge at Holmes Place and has not regretted it. The Instructor allayed her fears and showed her the correct use of equipment and gave her lots of motivation.

Learning the facts from the diet myths, Kai found the information given empowering. She has introduced exercise into her daily life, walking as much as possible and now uses the gym, particularly Cross Trainer and Treadmill as much as possible.

With a 32lb loss to date, Kai is combining calorie counting and regular exercise on her way to meeting her health and fitness goals.

Marilyn’s Story

Marilyn has learnt through calorie counting: an awareness of foods and how much she is eating. This knowledge has made a significant difference to food choices and portion sizes.

At 54, Marilyn experienced painful knee problems caused by her weight, which forced her to address the issue. Following a healthy diet and fitting in exercise, particularly walking, whenever she can Marilyn has enjoyed a 1 stone loss to date.