Home exrecise

This week we are going to look at some simple exercises that can be done in the comfort of your own home. You will not need specialised equipment or gadgets for these.

Body weight exercises are ideal, press ups and leg squats are good examples.  Press ups will strengthen your arms, shoulders, chest, back and core.  You can start by placing your knees on the floor and as strength improves you can complete full press ups, supporting your body weight on your hands and toes. As you improve further you can vary your hand spacing and position to add variety and continue to challenge your muscles.

Squats are a good all round exercise, improving leg strength and cardiovascular ability.  When starting out you can perform a half squat and gradually build up so your thighs are parallel to the floor in the lower position. An important point is that whilst in the lower position your knees should not go past your toes. This will avoid potential knee problems later on. Once you get the hang of squats you can add some weight by placing a heavy book in a rucksack and strapping it to your back.

If you live in  a house then use your stairs to train your calf muscles.  Simply perform 10 calf raises on each step as you ascend. Eventually, you will be able to reach the top! Walking up and down stairs can give a good cardiovascular workout.

Abdominal and core exercises are many and varied, there is too much choice to go into here. When performing abdominal exercises the key is to go slowly in order to fully recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibre. Fifteen slow crunches are far better than thirty done incorrectly.

Be inventive with your exercises. Bottles of water or tins of food can be used as simple weights for bicep curls, triceps and shoulder presses.

Next time we will look at a simple programme to get you started on your way to improved fitness and shape.

Increasing activity

If you have done little, or no, exercise in the past then the worse mistake you can make is going too fast too soon. This will result in aching muscles within the following couple of days.  This is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and may be just the excuse for not continuing, and giving up. A gentle introduction to an increase in activity would be the way to go as you can gradually build it up and start to see and feel the benefits.  Either way, if you have any health implications it is best to see your GP before embarking on something new.

What is the best way to increase activity? The most simple answer is, 'move more'. It will just take a slight behaviour change to build some extra activity into your everyday life.  Try these simple tips:

• Walk to local shops instead of taking the car
• Get off the bus a stop earlier and walk the rest
• Take the stairs at work, may be part way at first, instead of the lift

Even activity at home can help, with examples being; gardening, hoovering, general housework and washing the car. All of these activities burn calories.

Here are some average calorie burn examples for 30 minutes activity:

• Gardening 105 calories
• Walking 105 calories
• Dancing 135 calories
• Jogging 195 calories
• Swimming 225 calories
• Cycling 185 calories

If you want some direction, motivation and guidance then contact Mark at www.nutrivive.co.uk

Next time we will look at increasing the intensity with some exercises that can be carried out at home with little or no equipment.

Simple tips and changes

We will now look at some simple tips and changes to aid your weight loss goal. Firstly, look to swap some of your high fat choices for low fat options. Low fat is 3 grams, or below, in every 100 grams of product. Zero fat may be a tempting option but these can contain high levels of sugar or artificial sweeteners to give it some flavour. If you eat chicken then take the skin off. 98% of fat in chicken is in the skin! Grate cheese as this makes the portion look a lot bigger, you can easily save 50% of your normal calorie intake from cheese this way.

Chew you food slowly. It takes about 20 minutes for the, 'I'm full', message to get from your stomach to your brain. Rushing your food will mean you end up overeating and this equates to extra calories.

Have a chunky vegetable soup for lunch.  This will fill you up and provide essential vitamins, minerals and fibre at very little calorie gain.

If you are prone to snack on biscuits, crisps and chocolate then do not take the packet with you.  Empty half the crisps onto a plate, take 3 biscuits on a saucer or break off a line of chocolate.  This way you will not be tempted to eat the whole lot. You can eat these types of foods but they should be seen as a treat and not an every day occurrence.

Next time we will look at increasing activity to aid calorie burn.

Looking at patterns

You have now accurately completed your food diary for the past 7 days.  It is now time to take a look  and see if you have some common patterns.

There is a common myth that missing breakfast will help you lose weight.  People who miss breakfast often over compensate and eat more at mid-morning and lunch. Breakfast should consist of some wholemeal carbohydrates and a little protein. Cereal, low fat yoghurt and a fruit juice would be ideal.  If time allows, what about scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast? Eating a healthy breakfast will kick start your metabolism and calorie burning potential.

How long do you go between meals? Going more than 5 hours without eating causes a drop in insulin and glucose levels.  We get sluggish and often reach for something sweet to give us a boost. This causes a rapid spike in insulin and glucose levels which will drive any excess calories into the fat cells - not a good idea! A sensible approach will be to include a healthy snack between meals so that you are eating every 3 hours or so. This will provide you with more energy and avoid the temptation for chocolate or biscuits.  Also, every time you eat, your metabolic rate is increases by around 10% for the next couple of hours - more calorie burning potential.

We will end with another common myth.  Eating late at night means that the weight goes straight to your hips, or other areas. You burn calories throughout the day, even while sleeping.  Increase in weight occurs when you consume more calories than you expend.  It does not matter when these calories are consumed!  Eating late at night may keep you awake with indigestion, but that's about it.

Next time we will look at some simple tips and changes to aid weight loss.