Just 60 seconds exercise will burn away your fat
STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS
1. Keep junk food out of the house. However strong-willed you are, there is always the risk that if the food is close at hand you will eat it.
2. Weigh yourself regularly. Daily is better than weekly, and weekly is better than monthly. One large study found that those who weighed themselves daily were, on average, 6.5kg lighter over two years than those who weighed themselves monthly. I weigh myself most days and, if the numbers start to creep up, I respond.
3. Buy yourself a set of new clothes when you finish the diet. You deserve a reward for all your hard work.
4. If you do start to put on weight, take action quickly. Go back on to 800 calories and knock the weight regain on the head before it really sets in.
5. Keep active — this is something most successful long-term dieters do.
6. Monitor yourself. If one of the reasons you did this diet was fear of diabetes, self-testing with a finger-prick monitor will keep you in line.
7. Join an online community and share your data. A study by Northwestern University in the US found that online dieters who logged on regularly, recorded their weigh-ins and ‘friended’ other dieters, lost the most weight and kept it off long-term.
8. Get others to join you on the diet. People who lose weight with a partner are far more likely to keep it off. If your partner isn’t supportive, find friends or an online community to help you through the hard times.
9. Always try to sit down for meals and never eat anything on the move. All of these grazing moments add up.
10. Find healthy foods to eat during the day at work and when out and about — and don’t be embarrassed to prepare something in advance.
11. Put less food on your plate than you think you might eat and only have seconds after a pause, if you’re still hungry. If you do want more, try to make it mainly non-starchy veg.
It takes time for the food you eat to get to the receptors in your small intestine that signal ‘enough’, so the faster you eat the more you eat.
12. Record what you eat. Keeping a food diary could help you double your weight loss because the simple act of writing down what you eat will encourage you to consume fewer calories.
13. Prioritise sleep. If you’re tired, you’re likely to experience increased hunger and cravings, particularly for high-carb, high-calorie foods. And too little sleep will increase your stress hormones, which in turn will make you sleep less.
14. Remind yourself why you are doing this. Keeping my weight down is important to me because I want to live to a healthy old age, enjoying life with friends and family. So remind yourself of your motives.
HATE THE GYM?
WE KNOW how important it is to exercise and remain active to enhance the effectiveness of your diet and improve your health. If, like me, you hate the gym, be encouraged by the fact that there are plenty of effective ways to get and stay fit.
SITTING continuously is almost as bad as smoking. So download an app with an alarm that will remind you to stand and move every 30 minutes. If you watch TV, go for a stroll during ad breaks. Or keep the control beside the TV, so you have to get up to change channels. Make a point of standing when on the phone (you burn more calories and sound more assertive).
WALKING is a cheap and safe way to exercise. The best time to do it is before breakfast. If your destination is less than a mile away, do try to walk.
WHEN you can, take the stairs and run up escalators.
BUY a bike and cycle when you can. It saves time and money.
USE a basket at the shops — call it resistance training.
DRINK lots of water. This keeps you hydrated and increases the need for bathroom breaks, which means more short walks.
KEEP resistance bands — stretchy cords that offer resistance when you pull on them — or small hand weights near your desk/sofa and do arm curls and shoulder exercises.
SIGN up for a dancing class. It is sociable and mentally challenging (which could help cut your risk of dementia).
BURSTS OF ENERGY
IF YOU like the idea of getting fitter but you’re short on time try HIIT — High-Intensity Interval Training.
Studies show just a few short bursts of intense activity can be powerful. A couple of minutes of HIIT a week is enough to give you a boost.
A while ago I took part in a study which involved doing three 20-second bursts of vigorous exercise on an exercise bike, three times a week. In just six weeks my insulin sensitivity improved by over 20%.
Experts believe when you do your first 20-second sprint your body breaks down glycogen, the form in which sugar is stored in muscles.
This sets off a cascade of reactions, including the release of ‘signalling molecules’.
When you do your next 20second sprint, these molecules are activated and help stimulate the growth of other muscle, such as heart muscle.
HIIT isn’t for everyone. If you’re unfit you should start slowly, doing one ten-second sprint a session for the first week or so.
If you are on medication, are injured or have concerns about your heart, you should consult your doctor before starting any exercise regimen.