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Get Hold of those love handles and make a commitment
by Nigel Cunnigham
http://www.fitnessforus.com
We all know that carrying excess weight around isn't good
for us. But sometimes it's just so difficult to say
'today's the day when I start my diet'! But perhaps that's
the problem. Although millions of diet books are sold each
year, and, let's face it, it's we're talking about a huge
industry that has a lot of reason and a lot of money
invested in encouraging us to look at our figures but
they're not doing it for our benefit but for their own
pockets.
Fifty years ago the lives of our parents and grandparents
were very different. Most of us would have had very
physical jobs and we would have burned off the cooked
breakfasts and the puddings without a problem. Now our work
is equally demanding but in a different manner and we tend
to spend most of our lives sitting in front of computers.
In real terms this means that we used to consume around
4000 calories a day and use them all up. Now we can take,
perhaps 1500 calories, and find we're putting on weight.
Whereas with the 4000 calories we had a balanced diet which
satisfied our bodies, now we find we're craving for certain
foods because we're starving ourselves. We therefore binge
and any diet that we'd been on goes out of the window and
we talk about our weight yo-yoing.
In addition, it has always been accepted that as we grow
older our waists will thicken. Now, however, we expect to
stay sexy and young for longer. They say that fifty is the
new thirty but it is hard work to make a fifty year old
body have the same shape as a thirty year old. Our main
goal, however, should be to want to live a long and healthy
life and we can only do this by taking care of ourselves
and what we eat. If we can grasp the nettle and start our
new lease of life by changing our diets, our bodies will
begin to feel more energised and therefore able to start
exercising. If this is a frightful thought it can start as
something as simple as making extra trips up the stairs and
develop into extra housework or gardening, a walk at the
weekend, perhaps a dance class, swimming (with a sauna a
Jacuzzi, of course!), in fact the list is endless.
If you've decided to commit to becoming fit then take the
following steps:
Look objectively at what you are currently eating. Cut
out the 'dead' foods (anything that is literally dead or
cooked to death by frying or over boiling) and target your
shopping towards the fruits, vegetables and nuts that are
fresh and nutritious and have life in them still.
Eat the right fats - almonds and avocados are avoided by
many but are full of the fats that we need. Remember that
fat free diets aren't good for us.
Drink water and plenty of it. Sometimes we think our
bodies are hungry when they're actually thirsty. Recognise
the difference.
Eat small amounts often. Remember that your stomach
doesn't tell you that it's full until twenty minutes after
you've finished eating. The art is to recognise that you
should stop eating!
Take a long look at your body. Assess which areas you
want to improve and how many inches you want to lose off
particular areas and once you feel able to face it, target
those areas through the right exercises.
By combining a good diet along with exercise you will
find your body shape changes twice as fast.
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