Exercise made easy — pain and FREE

WHEN you’re trying to lose weight, the easiest and most effective thing you can do is change your diet. However, there is another element that will speed your slimming and make you look — and feel — great.

Yes, I’m talking about exercise. Many of us shy away from the idea, put off by memories of school PE lessons or the feeling that we’ve let ourselves go, so getting back into physical activity will be simply too hard.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. In the same way that my Definitive Diet helps you shed weight effortlessly without gimmicks, I’m here to tell you that getting active really doesn’t have to be difficult.

My plans — serialised all this week in the Mail and in a glossy, 32-page magazine on Saturday (call 0808 272 0808 if you missed your copy) — are flexible and easy to use, and the recipes created specially for the Daily Mail by chef Georgina Davies are delicious.

But when it comes to sustaining your weight loss in the long-term, I’m just not convinced that dieting is enough on its own. You need to add exercise into the mix.

Numerous studies show that the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to combine a healthy diet with regular exercise. It is certainly how I shed my excess weight, and it’s how I ensure those lost pounds of fat never return.

There are times when I feel my waistband beginning to tighten. If I’ve been spending a lot of time travelling between home in the UK and my work at Harvard University in the U.S., jetlag can get the better of me, making it hard to choose healthy food.

If my weight starts to creep up, though, I’ll be on it like a shot — I’ll cut back to one meal a day as soon as I get the chance, and waste no time hopping on my bike to burn off those extra calories.

I’m lucky that sport has always been part of my life, so I’m more than happy to go for a run or jump on my bike, but even if you hate the idea of joining a gym or slinking around in Lycra, I urge you to consider your exercise options and find space in your day for some sort of activity.

The dieting industry makes exercise sound like it has to be difficult. But just doing anything that elevates your heart rate — such as vacuuming or a brisk walk to the shops — can help.

Keep track of how many calories you burn (see the calorie guide on the following page) and make certain you don’t eat more than that number to compensate or treat yourself as a reward.

Go gradually and, as you lose weight, you’ll start to find exercise far easier.

Perhaps go for a ten-minute jog, then every other day from then on, run for another five minutes. It really doesn’t have to be all-or-- nothing at the beginning. This will help you stick to your diet goals, too.

Numerous studies show that exercise improves mood, which means there’s less chance of descending into an emotion-fuelled cake binge.

You will function better and feel better (all your aches and pains will improve) and, most importantly, you will boost the motivation that drives you to keep going with this diet.

If you’re eating healthily, you’re more likely to feel inclined to get out for a brisk walk on a sunny day. And if you’ve made the effort to do a yoga class, you’ll be far less likely to ruin all that spiritual awareness with a cream-based cocktail (or two).

The bottom line is that exercise is so incredibly good for you. In fact, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said in its recent report, Exercise: The Miracle Cure, that if physical activity was

a drug, it would be classed as a wonder drug, so numerous are its positive effects on the body.

See the free diet diary we also gave away with Saturday’s paper (call 0808 272 0808 for a copy) for tips on getting started if you’ve never exercised before, and make a commitment to do something, anything, active every day.

As a rough guide, here are the calories you’ll burn during day-to-day activities:

1 hour slow walking ......... 150 calories

25 mins brisk walking ........... 160 cals

30 mins jogging ................... 300 cals

45 mins cycling, no incline .... 300 cals

30 mins running up stairs......285 cals

1 hour aerobics .................... 480 cals

20 mins skipping ..................285 cals

45 mins ballroom dancing ... 200 cals

40 mins golf ......................... 190 cals

20 mins badminton .............. 105 cals

30 mins yoga ........................135 cals

30 mins stretching ................ 90 cals

30 mins vacuuming ............... 90 cals

30 mins ironing ...................... 70 cals

30 mins raking leaves ........... 225 cals

30 mins digging .................. 300 cals