SIDE-LYING LEG LIFTS
Benefits:
Strengthens and tones your outer thighs, glutes and quadriceps.
How to do it:
The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will usually remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you expend more energy than you take in you will burn excess fat.
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output, calling on stored calories for extra fuel. Recent studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to burn more calories.
How much exercise is needed to make a difference in your weight depends on the amount and type of activity, and on how much you eat. Aerobic exercise burns body fat. A medium-sized adult would have to walk more than 30 miles to burn up 3,500 calories, the equivalent of one pound of fat. Although that may seem like a lot, you don’t have to walk the 30 miles all at once. Walking a mile a day for 30 days will achieve the same result, providing you don’t increase your food intake to negate the effects of walking.
If you consume 100 calories a day more than your body needs, you will gain approximately 10 pounds in a year. You could take that weight off, or keep it off, by doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. The combination of exercise and diet offers the most flexible and effective approach to weight control.
Since muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue, and exercise develops muscle to a certain degree, your bathroom scale won’t necessarily tell you whether or not you are “fat.” Well-muscled individuals, with relatively little body fat, invariably are “overweight” according to standard weight charts. If you are doing a regular program of strength training, your muscles will increase in weight, and possibly your overall weight will increase. Body composition is a better indicator of your condition than body weight.
Lack of physical activity causes muscles to get soft, and if food intake is not decreased, added body weight is almost always fat. Once-active people, who continue to eat as they always have after settling into sedentary lifestyles, tend to suffer from “creeping obesity.”
INVISIBLE SKIPPING
Benefits:
Want the benefits of a great cardio move that will get your heart pumping, but don’t have the space for traditional skipping? Then forget the rope and just continue to rotate those arms while you’re jumping.
How to do it:
No time for exercise? Try these sneaky tricks to work out with almost no effort at all:
Wash the car
Go on, it needs a good clean, anyway. If you’ve got a van, then you’ll really work up a sweat. Make sure to switch hands when you’re scrubbing to get a good, even workout.
Ditch the trolley
Opt for a shopping basket rather than a trolley if you’re not planning a huge shop, and really work your upper body.
Spring clean in summer
Have a good ‘spring clean’ anytime of the year. Move the furniture, scrub the walls and reach for those cobwebs. It’ll get your heart going, and you’ll be rewarded with sparkling house!
See the sights
How well do you know your local area? Set aside a day with friends to walk around the local sights, as if you were tourists. You may be surprised how many calories you burn in a day spent hurrying around on your feet.
Stairway to fitness
Dragging yourself up the stairs might seem tough at first, but your fitness will step up in no time.
Have a break
Get into the habit of exercising whenever the TV show you’re watching hits an advert break. You can do crunches, run on the spot or even drop down into the plank position.
Trim at your chair
If you work in an office, the chances are your posture will suffer as a result of hours sitting at a desk. Use your upper back, shoulders and abdominal muscles to maintain a good posture.
Fix it
Burn those calories by getting stuck into some DIY around the house. Sanding walls, tiling floors and building cabinets all require serious strength.
Squeeze!
Stuck in traffic yet again? Don’t sit and stress: work your pelvic floor. You can even do it on the bus, as long as you do it discretely!
Green fingers
Cut the grass, get weeding and potting. Heaving a mower around is a great workout for your core, legs and arms – and is a major calorie burner.
PRESS UP
Benefits:
Strengthens and tones your upper arms, shoulders and chest.
How to do it:
Eat up, without piling on the pounds. You can boost your fat burn by eating more of the good stuff and less of the bad.
That means you can forget calorie counting and focus on eating!
Berries
Fruit is nutritious, but it’s not always a dieter’s best friend. Some fruits are high in fructose, a sugar that can lead to weight gain. As a rule, munch on dark-coloured fruits such as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries as these are chock-full of antioxidants and fibre, and low in fructose.
Try this: Throw a handful of berries into a blender with a cup of almond milk and a scoop of whey protein for a healthy post-workout snack.
Nuts
Supercharge snack time with nuts. Cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts and almonds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which help control appetite and lower muffin top-inducing cortisol levels.
Try this: Nibble on a selection of raw mixed nuts with a chopped apple to keep you feeling full between meals.
Spinach
Ridiculously low in calories, spinach is packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Like other members of the dark green leafy family, this super-slimming veggie helps boost liver detoxification, cleansing your body of unwanted toxins, which is crucial for successful weight loss.
Try this: Add a handful of spinach to salads and drizzle with balsamic vinegar for a tasty meal.
Yoghurt
Natural yoghurt is a great source of probiotics, which help keep belly fat at bay. This dairy delight is also high in protein, which is proven to keep you feeling fuller for longer. Avoid flavoured yoghurts, which are usually packed with artificial baddies – you can sweeten your snack with a teaspoon of good-quality honey instead.
Try this: A pot of natural yoghurt served with 2 teaspoons of mixed seeds and a drizzle of honey.
Eggs
Eggs are cheap, packed with nutrients and high in protein, which fills you up without filling you out. Researchers found overweight and obese people who ate eggs for breakfast had lower levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin in their blood three hours after eating. Result!
Try this: A poached egg on wholegrain toast.
Avocado
A speedy metabolism is a sure-fire route to weight loss success, and avocados have special powers to help perk up your body’s fat burning furnace. Often wrongly demonised in the dieting world, this amazing fruit is a wonderful source of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants.
Try this: 2 tablespoons of guacamole served on two oatcakes.
Salmon
When it comes to successful weight loss, salmon gets five stars. The fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help your body burn fat at a faster rate, and it’s a fabulous source of protein. It’s versatile too, and can be enjoyed steamed, baked or grilled.
Try this: Salmon with mixed salad leaves and roasted vegetables.
Lentils
A vegetarian’s best friend, lentils are not only a great protein-based alternative to meat, they’re also jam-packed with the number one weight-loss boosting nutrient – fibre. Lentils also help regulate blood sugar levels and boost energy. And the good news is they’re easy to incorporate into your diet – they can be thrown into soups, salads, stews and curries for a fat-burning kick.
Try this: A bowl of lentil soup with a small wholegrain roll.
Oats
A steaming bowl of oats is the perfect way to start the day. Oats are loaded with fibre, which helps keep your digestive tract in tip-top shape and keeps you feeling full for hours. They’re also a great source of B vitamins, which help to regulate hormones.
Try this: 50g porridge made with almond milk and topped with 1tbsp flaxseed.
Green tea
OK, strictly speaking it’s not a food, but green tea is well known as a fat burner. This waist-trimming tea is crammed with antioxidants called catechins and just enough caffeine to give you a buzz without leaving you wired.
Try this: Add a squeeze of lemon to a cup of green tea to help boost liver detoxification.
