Have dinner for breakfast: 33 easy, expert fitness tips you will actually stick to
An all-out fitness campaign often seems like a good idea at the start of the year. But lifestyle overhauls are usually destined to fail, simply because they’re unrealistic. By taking your time and finding exercise routines you actually enjoy, you’re more likely to develop healthy habits you can stick with.
We asked fitness experts for the one tip they would give someone who wanted to get fit – or fitter – in 2023. This is what they told us.
Start with tiny changes
If you try to copy the fitness routine of an Olympic athlete, you’ll struggle to keep it up. Make small tweaks to your day instead, such as adding in a set of squats before you get in the shower, doubling up on dog walks or doing 10 jumping jacks every time you go to the bathroom. You can even use a kitchen worktop to do a few pressups while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil.Jay Unwin, mental and physical fitness consultant
Live by the 80/20 rule
Try sticking to nutritious, whole foods 80% of the time and incorporate your favourite treats into the remaining 20% of your diet.Francesca Lancaster,nutritionist
Take advantage of your environment
Whether it’s the beach, the forest or your local park, your surroundings provide plenty of natural training equipment. You can run up skate pipes, find logs to use as weights, use steps for elevated lunges or use a bike rack for triceps dips.Lori-Louise Boyton,personal trainer
Rub your palms together vigorously before getting out of bed
It might sound strange but doing this for a minute or two each morning increases energy levels, helping us to perform with more efficiency. It’s a good starting point for anyone who is feeling stiff or struggling with mobility.Miranda McCarthy,accessible yoga specialist
Take a free exercise class
You don’t have to spend a fortune to find a new hobby, and plenty of places (for example, Zumba classes) offer free trials. As a plus-sized dance fitness instructor, I understand it can be a struggle for some people to kick
start their plans. By remaining openminded and trying lots of different classes, you’ll find something you enjoy and be more likely to stick to it.Kat
Henry, dance teacher Have dinner for breakfast
Many people don’t get enough protein in the morning, which affects their energy for exercising, as well as their food choices throughout the day. The more tired you feel, the more likely you are to reach for that chocolate bar for an instant hit. Try having roast chicken, potatoes and spinach for breakfast, or fresh salmon, eggs and green vegetables. It will set you up better for the day.Thalia Pellegrini, nutritional
therapist Reframe self-care as a necessity
Whether it’s committing to a yoga class, a walk or a short run, try to carve out that time for yourself every day. Treat it as non-negotiable, the same way you treat other forms of self-care such as showering, eating or brushing your teeth.Claire Mace, yoga teacher
Download apps to explore the outdoors
Gym classes aren’t for everyone, but a hiking trip means you can combine sightseeing with exercise. Apps such as OS Maps, Strava, AllTrails and Komoot are great for picking new and interesting routes, whether you’re experienced or a beginner. You could also join a local walking group if you’d rather get fit in a social setting.Chris Bone, the founder of the non-profit companyGreen Pathway Outdoors
Build muscle first
Most people turn to cardio when they start their fitness regime, but it’s more important to build muscle through lifting and bodyweight exercises, especially for women who are going through the menopause. You don’t need expensive weights – tin cans and water bottles will do the job.Sam Palmer, nurse and menopause fitness specialist
10
Remember is the magic number
When it comes to fitness, the 10th class or workout is usually a breakthrough moment. If you feel like giving up early on, keep going, because there will be a moment when it just clicks and you start feeling the mental and physical benefits.Rowan Feilden-Cook, trainer and mindset coach
Add 15 minutes to your existing routines
If you struggle to find the time to exercise, small tweaks to your day can make a big difference. For example, if you usually walk to school with your children in the morning, take the longer route home.Mari-Carmen Sanchez-Morris, women’s health and fitness coach
Use yoga props
If you’re trying yoga for the first time, invest in blocks, straps and other support tools, or find a studio that offers them. Props will help you get into the poses and reduce the risk of injury when you’re getting started. They can also help make yoga more adaptive for people with disabilities and mobility challenges.Basma Gale, yoga teacher
Eat intuitively
It’s common to start a “deprivation” diet to kick-start your fitness regime, but it’s usually unsustainable. Instead, eat what you want, but only when you’re physically hungry. Eat slowly and pay attention to the textures, flavours and aromas, as well as the fullness signals from your body. Slowing down and being mindful can help to prevent overeating.Annabella Zeiddar, therapist and coach
Up the intensity
To grow stronger, your body needs to be pushed beyond its comfort levels. For example, if you’re going for a 15minute run every day, try to gradually increase the distance you’re running in that time, rather than the length of time you spend running. You’ll need to build your stamina bit by bit and be mindful of your body’s limitations to avoid injury.Duncan Attwood, personal trainer
Use a heart monitor while cycling
There is plenty of technology that can help you tailor your workout to your body’s needs. If you’re new to cycling or building your strength, I recommend alternating your energy levels, going hard for one minute then easy for two, and repeating for the duration of your workout.Kelsey Mitchell, Olympic cycling champion
Meditate
It’s good for relaxation, but meditating after exercise will also help to lower your cortisol levels and ease you back into balance. It can boost those feelgood endorphins when you’ve completed a workout.Chloë Webster, meditation
teacher Be accountable
If you write your goals in your diary you’re more likely to stick to them. You can also try arranging to meet a friend for an exercise session. By making it a part of your schedule – especially if others are involved – you’ll find it easier to carve out the time.Tori Sharp, personal
trainer Practise breathing techniques
Functional breathing exercises, which you can learn online, can boost your health and fitness by supporting faster recovery and enabling you to train more comfortably for longer periods.Matt Bagwell,Paralympic andTeam GB instructor
Set ‘Smart’ goals
When you’re starting your fitness journey, it’s important to know exactly what you want to achieve before deciding how you’re going to get there. Once you know that, it’s time to implement the Smart theory by setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable and relevant, as well as being time-sensitive to your own needs.Kirsten Whitehouse, women’s fitness and mindset coach
Gamify routines
If you find it hard to get going with basic exercises, try gamifying the process. Strava segments, streaks, virtual badges, online medals and personal bests are popular ways to boost your motivation.Michelle Flynn, health coach
Try hypopressive training
These are brilliant low-impact, breath-led exercises for women to help strengthen the pelvic floor. They take just 10 minutes a day and can help you to build the confidence you need to train – without worrying about embarrassing accidents.Kirsty Victoria, postnatal
health practitioner Ditch the all-or-nothing attitude
From eating well to exercising, staying healthy can seem overwhelming. It’s not realistic to become a health guru overnight, but adopting some healthy habits (such as walking or eating an extra piece of fruit) all the time is better than doing everything at once when the motivation hits.Becks Hamill, fitness trainer
Join a group activity
Being part of a group is a great way to build motivation and exercise in a fun, sociable way. From high-intensity interval training classes in the park to five-a-side football with colleagues, there are plenty of choices available. By making it fun, you’re more likely to learn to enjoy movement.Carole Dowling,
personal trainer Prioritise your form
When it comes to learning new exercises, quality is more important than quantity. Practise getting your technique right with your trainer (or through online videos) before you start to increase your reps.Adele Andersen,bootcamp founder and online trainer
Eat 30 plant-based foods every week
We know fruit and vegetables are healthy, but so is variety. Research shows that eating many different types of plant-based food improves gut health and protects against disease. It’s also important to slow down while eating, chew well and take a few deep breaths before a meal to increase stomach acid and improve digestion.Anna Mapson, nutritional therapist
Try a tempo run
By running at a pace that is hard but at least 10% less than maximum effort, you can train your body to maintain speed for longer. Kalia Lai, fitness influencer
Immerse yourself in cold water
Studies show that cold water exposure has numerous positive benefits for the body, including preventing and treating muscle soreness, boosting the immune system, and reducing stress and depression. It can also reduce insulin resistance and protect against cardiovascular diseases and obesity.James Davis, psychologist and health coach
Get your body moving in water
Exercising in water is much easier on your joints, making it an ideal choice for beginners. If swimming isn’t for you, why not join an aquafit class or try your hand at synchronised swimming? If there is no team in your local area, you could always try setting one up with friends.Pippa Best, health coach
Turn the music on
Find yourself getting bored during exercise? Playing music while you train can distract from pain and fatigue, reduce perceived effort, and increase stamina and enjoyment.Emma McCaffrey, fitness trainer
Start with basic full-body sessions
To build muscle, start with a simple routine and repeat it three times a week, giving yourself time to rest in between. Try doing three sets of each exercise, with 10 reps for each. Examples include squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, rows, biceps curls, dips and triceps overhead extensions.Alexandra
Wren, bodybuilder and trainer Up the antioxidants
Foods rich in zinc, vitamin C and antioxidants reduce inflammation, which is especially important when you’re exercising. Try adding more herbs, berries, onions, and nuts to your diet, as well as beans and whole grains.Hannah Hope, nutritionist
Be sceptical of costly fads
People can get fit and healthy without special equipment or expensive diets. Try cooking easy meals that can be made in large batches, such as soups and casseroles, rather than splashing out on protein powders and weightloss supplements.Andrew Telfer, head
coach at Wild Strong Use mind drills
Instead of saying “if I exercised” or “if I quit smoking”, change your language to “when”. By shifting your focus from possibility to actuality, you’re more likely to adopt new healthy habits.Anji
audiences – often children and teens – resulting in lucrative bestsellers and a motivated voting base.
While every generation since Christ has interpreted modern events as evidence of the Book of Revelation prophecy coming to pass, it was a collection of post-hippie evangelicals in California who created the pop-theology of “the rapture” – a word that never actually appears in the Bible.
As part of “the Jesus Movement” – or, pejoratively, “the Jesus Freaks” – sober hippies like Bob Dylan were getting “born again” and preaching on stage about the coming antichrist. Following the collapse of the hedonistic ideals of the 60s, many flower children were being slowly seduced by the religious right, culminating in figures like Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson joining Billy Graham’s Explo ’72 festival, which Time magazine called “the Jesus Woodstock”.
The literary accompaniment for this was Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth, impressively tying modern events (the reunification of Israel, the rise of communism, the loosening morals of the postwar era) to biblical prophecy. One of the bestselling nonfiction books of the 1970s, it fueled the conversion of what would become much of the Christian right voting bloc of the 1980s.
A film adaptation starring Orson Welles hit theaters in 1978, but it was the low-budget rapture scare-fest A Thief In The Night that would set the template for not only countless films and novels about Armageddon, but an industry of fear-based plays, Christian haunted houses, and youth group sermons. A Thief In The Night was filmed a short drive from where I grew up in Iowa. My parents were part of the tail end of the Jesus Movement (culture always reaches the midwest late) and hosted Bible studies and a youth center focused on end times prophecy. My mother wasn’t certain if the end was near, but my dad regularly told me there might come a time when we would have to live off the grid, grow our own food, avoid money (the Mark of the Beast) and live in hiding in the wilderness. If we were found, we would be tortured by the armies of the antichrist, determined to get us to accept “the mark”.
Our church held a screening of the sequel to A Thief In The Night, which was better financed and produced than its DIY predecessor. In A Distant Thunder, we follow a group of Christians who have been arrested by the antichrist’s fascist army, and have the choice to either receive the Mark of the Beast or be executed. They know that if they receive the mark, they will eventually “drink the wine of God’s wrath”, as Revelation 14:9 says. They “will be tormented with fire and sulfur … and the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.”
The task we’re given is to “be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life”.
A Distant Thunder ends with our lead character screaming hysterically as she watches her friends refuse to renounce Christ, then get decapitated by a guillotine.
My Christian friends and I were too young to understand the questionable leaps of biblical interpretation at work in these movies, or the political machinations fueling the cold war, the culture wars and the revolution of the Christian right in US politics. But we understood pain. We understood torture. We knew we were sinful. And we were convinced the world was not a safe place for us, and we shouldn’t get too comfortable in our beds at night.
After my parents divorced and Dad moved out, Mom worked around the clock at a nearby hotel while attending community college at night. I was alone a good deal of my childhood, and at least once a week I was convinced that everyone I’d known had been raptured up to Heaven, and I was about to face the violence, disease, starvation and isolation of the seven-year Tribulation. Worse, I might succumb to torture, agree to get the Mark of the Beast, and accept relief from momentary discomfort in exchange for an eternity of supernatural agony.
By the mid-90s, rapture fever was in full effect with my generation. DC Talk, arguably the Beatles of Christian rock, released a cover of Larry Norman’s rapture anthem I Wish We’d All Been Ready, with the heartthrob Kevin Max singing the bridge with an eerie vibrato: “The father spoke, the demons dined / how could you have been so blind?”
The same year, the evangelist Tim LaHaye and novelist Jerry B Jenkins released the first in a series of 16 Left Behind novels placing biblical prophecy in a modern context. I don’t know how many times I’d meet a new face at youth group or church camp saying the books had scared them straight. Meanwhile, speakers at my camp and Christian rock shows often tied the rapture to the coming Y2K disaster, and on New Year’s Eve I was honestly surprised when the lights didn’t go out – followed by explosions, sirens and gunfire – at the stroke of midnight.
It’s the marriage of ancient prophecy with contemporary tropes that strikes an urgent fear in audiences – especially children. When you’re still figuring out what the world is, it’s easy to be convinced that your home, family, everything that makes you feel safe is ephemeral and can easily be replaced with unspeakable horror.
***
After watching Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist last week, we were treated to a special message from Sorbo, followed by footage of Mike Huckabee leading us in prayer.
“As you watched the movie, you probably noticed some scary references to the way the world looks today,” Sorbo explained in that gruff, fatherly voice I remember well from my childhood watching Hercules. “We live in a world of chaos, uncertainty and fear.”
The audience was mostly retirement age, and laughed heartily at jokes mocking “the media”, “trusting the science”, and liberals embracing “mental health experts” over “conspiracy theorists”. Much of the film reads like a Tucker Carlson segment come to life.
But I remembered very well the psychic impact this toxic theology has on a young mind. In fact, I don’t need to remember. I still dream of demons, hell, the Mark of the Beast and the Lake of Fire a few times a week, sometimes sleepwalking – or sleep running – out the front door, convinced the antichrist is coming to tattoo 666 on my forehead, followed by an eternity of torture in hell.
to profit from falling prices that usually involve two parties making a contract.
Activist short sellers like Hindenburg typically take a short position in a tradable company they believe is heavily overvalued before releasing their reports to the public, in expectation that investors will then drive down the price of their targets.
In a report disclaimer, Hindenburg noted that it stood to realise “significant gains” if prices of the Adani companies fell. It also said it would continue transacting after the report was published and that it could be “long, short or neutral”. This means its current position is unclear.
The Adani Group has attacked Hindenburg’s motives to profiteer at the cost of the conglomerate.
“The allegations and insinuations, which were presented as fact, spread like fire, wiping off a large amount of investor wealth and netting a profit for Hindenburg,” the group said in a lengthy rebuttal published on 29 January.
Hindenburg doesn’t deny it will profit but does deny any wrongdoing; its defence is that the report is accurate and the result of a two-year investigation that included site visits in several countries.
What are Hindenburg’s main allegations?
The most dramatic allegations refer to what Hindenburg claims is a “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme” that has driven up the price of the listed Adani companies and inflated the net worth of its billionaire chairman.
Hindenburg alleges that this is done by using shell companies to manipulate the price of the listed ones by holding large positions. Shells are also used to “launder” money on to the listed company balance sheets, which helps to maintain the appearance of financial health and solvency, Hindenburg said.
Those funds can then be shifted around to Adani entities where capital is needed.
Separately, Hindenburg cited transactions connected to the Australian operations that it alleges may have allowed Adani to avoid disclosing large drops in the value of its assets by shifting them to a private company.
The US company also alleges that the listed Adani companies have substantial debt, putting the entire group on a “precarious financial footing”.
Hindenburg cited a high turnover of chief financial officers at the group’s listed flagship Adani Enterprises as a red flag, as well as the use of “relatively unknown” auditors.
How has Adani responded?
Adani has published a 413-page rebuttal denying all of the allegations that it said Hindenburg made to book massive financial gains.
Notably for investors, it said the amount of borrowed money its companies use was in line with industry benchmarks, and that any dealings with related parties were properly accounted for.
Adani notes that several of the financial officers Hindenburg referred to were still working for the organisation in different roles, and it said audit committees of the listed companies were entirely composed of independent directors.
It described the report as a “calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India”.
What happens next?
The report was released on the eve of a major fundraising campaign designed to pay off debt and finance expenditure at Adani.
The group was able to complete the US$2.5bn share offer with the help of major investors such as Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company, which tipped in about US$400m. But it then called off the offer after a renewed slump in its share prices meant participating investors would be sitting on immediate and large losses.
During the fundraising attempt, social media posts in India praising Adani gained traction, with “# India Stands With Ada ni” a trending hashtag on Twitter. Some Indian politicians expressed their support for Adani against “foreign interests”.
Battles between short sellers and their targets can play out over extended periods. If the allegations continue to weigh on Adani and regulators believe an investigation is warranted, then the company’s ability to raise funds will be curbed, hampering its operations.
Adani’s Australian business said neither the securities regulator nor tax office had contacted the group about the report.
There is also a question over whether Adani’s global banking financiers reassess their exposure to the group.
In the meantime, Adani is trying to assure investors that its companies are safe to invest in and offer growth prospects, which would help stabilise the share prices of its listed companies.
To date, there has been no sign of easing pressure, with the abandoned share offer sparking renewed selling of shares in Adani companies.