How to shake off those extra pounds

Delicious and nutritious food to fuel a more active lifestyle

Being active is vital to a healthy lifestyle — but that doesn’t mean you need to buy expensive kit or take on a punishing routine that you secretly hate.

Regular activity reduces your risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke by up to 50 per cent, and of early death, dementia and depression by 30 per cent, according to nHS figures.

it speeds up weight loss, too: studies show that exercise plus a healthy eating plan can help you lose 20 per cent more than by diet alone. This is why fitness plays such an important role in the new myWW+ programme, underpinned by strategies to help you make healthy choices automatically instead of after a daily battle.

‘This is where the brilliant new myWW+ app can make all the difference,’ says Julia Westgarth, head of programme at WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers.

‘You can choose from hundreds of workouts using FitOn and Aaptiv, via the new myWW+ app — and filter them according to the time you have, the area of the body you’d like to work on and your level of fitness.’

The app also helps you to track activity levels and to calculate the extra FitPoints you’ve earned.

‘You’ll soon find that doing more exercise has a positive effect on other areas of health and wellbeing,’ she adds. ‘ You should sleep better at night and your mood should improve, thanks to the ‘feel-good’ chemicals it prompts your body to produce.’

it’s vital to fuel your body healthily, too — WW’s nutrition experts believe in having a balanced nutritious diet where no food is off-limits.

‘Recent diet trends have led many people to swear off foods that are high in carbohydrates — including bread, pasta, rice and even fruit — in the belief that this will help them to lose weight,’ says Julia Westgarth.

‘But a low-carb diet does not necessarily lead to more weight loss, and may even be unhealthy.’

Some diets restrict carbohydrates so much that nutritional deficiencies can result — for instance beans, lentils and fruit are rich in vital minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre, helping you to feel fuller for longer.

‘You do need carbs for energy, particularly before a workout, but not all carbs are suitable,’ says Julia. ‘Those higher in sugar, like cake and biscuits, offer few nutritional benefits and are less filling than fibre-rich carbohy