Live and let diet.
IF YOU'VE gone for gold with Mirror Woman and Sally Gunnell's trainer, you should be feeling a lot fitter already.Last week we started our six-week fitness regime for couch potatoes, showing you the lazybones' guide to getting fit.
But exercise is only half the battle. A healthy balanced diet is also essential and this week Sally's fitness instructor Ann Goodsell offers plenty of advice on how to change your eating habits.
Don't panic, it doesn't mean starving yourself or going without all your favourite foods. Swap fatty foods for energy-rich carbohydrates such as pasta to lose weight and still feel satisfied. The best news of all is NO calorie-counting!
Crash diets fail because quick weight loss robs you of essential vitamins and minerals, which can cause headaches and moodiness.
Our diet provides you with more energy to exercise - so you'll soon regard food as fuel, not your enemy!
Ann's recipe for healthy eating is commonsense. Eat well during the day to re-fuel your body when it's most active.
BREAKFAST: You may not feel like eating first thing, so get dressed and then eat before you leave home. Start small, maybe fruit juice, a banana or slice of toast.
LUNCH: Eat a good lunch, mixing any fruit or vegetables with salad. A sandwich is not enough to see you through until evening - so you will be more inclined to snack. Have lots of carbohydrates with fruit and vegetables and two slices of brown bread. Don't skip lunch, even if you're busy.
EVENING MEAL: You may hate this time of day. You are tired and the last thing you feel like doing is preparing a meal. That is why planning your dinner is important, otherwise you'll end up grabbing a takeaway. Try something tasty and filling such as paella. Go easy on the oil, add a few strands of saffron and anything healthy you can find in the fridge - chicken, prawns, fish, vegetables or tomatoes.
SNACKS: Ideal snacks include fresh or dried fruit, seeds, low-fat yoghurt, pitta-breads and chicken salad sandwiches.
FAYNE BRENNER
FOODS WE NEED
CARBOHYDRATES: Should make 60-70% of your daily diet. High on energy, easy to burn and stop you snacking. Best sources: pasta, potatoes, cereals, rice and wholemeal bread.
PROTEIN: Should make 15-20%. Essential for growth and tissue formation. Best sources: pulses, low-fat dairy products (such as skimmed milk, natural yoghurt and cottage cheese), eggs, chicken and fish.
FATS: Should make 10-20%. We need a certain amount of fat to protect our organs. It also forms an important part of membrane around all cells.
Step-by step guide
WEEK THREE
WALKING: Increase your daily walk to a brisk 15 mins.
EXERCISE: Focussing on toning stomach muscles. Try to do both these at least twice a week. Start by doing each up to five times, building up to ten. Remember to warm up and cool down with stretches. Ideally, continue with the exercises from last week.
ABDOMINAL CURLS: (Strengthens your upper and lower abdominal muscles). Lie on your back, bend knees with your feet hip distance apart and hands behind your head. Tilt your pelvis so your lower back is pressed into the floor. As you breathe out pull your tummy up. At the same time lift your chest and shoulders off the floor. Pause, holding your tummy muscles in and squeezing into your abdomen. Slowly lower yourself back down. Repeat.
LOWER ABDOMEN RAISE: (Strengthens your lower abdominal muscles). In the same position, relax your arms over your head. As you breathe out draw your pelvis to your chest, pulling your tummy in. Don't throw your legs towards your head or use your arms. As you breathe in, slowly lower yourself back down. Repeat.
DIET: Try to cut out sugar in hot drinks. If you can't, use honey as occasional alternative.
MOTIVATION TIP: Weekends are when most people slob out on too much chocolate and crisps. Shop healthily for the weekend and stop yourself from nibbling on a chocolate bar.
WALKING: Keep up the 15 min walks. You should find the walking easier.
EXERCISE: Try to do both exercise and stretch together at least twice a week and repeat each one between 5 and 10 times.
CHEST STRETCH: (Stretches the muscles at the front of your chest) Stand with your back straight and your tummy pulled in. Lift your ribcage and relax your shoulders. Don't lock your knees straight. Place your hands on your buttocks and gently move your elbows towards one another behind you. Hold for ten seconds when you warm up, then up to 20 to help you cool down. Relax.
WALL PRESS: (Strengthens your chest, shoulders and backs of arms). Stand about two foot from a wall with your legs slightly more than hip width apart. Pull in your lower abdomen and lift your ribcage. Relax your shoulders, look forward. Place your hands on the wall at the same height as your chest - slightly wider apart than your shoulders. Inhale as you bend your elbows and press into the wall. Pause then exhale as you press away from the wall. Repeat.
DIET: Buy a smaller dinner plate. It looks like you're eating more, even though it's less.
MOTIVATION TIP: Look at the clothes you want to wear, but can't squeeze into - you will get there. Keep awarding yourself gold medals according to how closely you are keeping to Ann's programme. Filling in the chart in last week's Woman should give you the motivation to keep going for the full six weeks - and further.
*From First Steps To Fitness, by Ann Goodsell, Bloomsbury, pounds 10.99.
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Author: | Brenner, Fayne |
| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
| Date: | Jan 31, 1996 |
| Words: | 929 |
| Previous Article: | WOMAN LETTERS. |
| Next Article: | PRUE LEITH'S 30-MINUTE RECIPE WITH SAFEWAY; Bubbling up. |