Saturday, 10 January 2015

Weekend...

The start of the weekend and often we think that we should stop being "good" and allow ourselves a treat as we "deserve it". And I can understand this, but remember that when Monday comes around, you do not want to feel like to you have to climb a mountain again.








Here are 10 tips on how to enjoy the weekend and not feel like you have gained 3lbs and undone all the good work you were working towards this week. Please remember, that I am mostly talking about "clean eating" which is good for you and not necessarily to lose weight (although it is a good side effect!).

1.    The weekend tends to be heavily carb loaded. When we eat carbs, your body will store more water (which is handy if you are doing endurance work btw!).  The more processed the carbohydrate (think white, soft etc) the more water we hold. In a bizarre way, the tip to dealing with this is to actually increase your water intake.  So at least one large glass of water with each meal and then 2 extra. This will help “flush out the system” (yes, go to the toilet more) and dilute down the sugar. You can substitute green tea or herbal/fruit tea if you wish.

2.    Up the exercise today big style if you can. First, get up and walk at least 20 mins before breakfast - failing that, walk around the football pitch if you are one of the parents of Saturday morning sport. Anything to boost your metabolism – short bursts of high intensity exercise will maximise your fat burning potential. Research shows that even 4 seconds of anaerobic work will produce a great calorie burn than a sustained pace.  Your aim here basically is to get out of breath – active recovery (i.e. keep moving) and then go again. Basically, this is how beginners and newcomers get fit – but you just up the intensity as you get fitter J

3.    If you are going out for a meal tonight, then try to have only fruit/juiced veg for lunch - and yes, have your coffee and cake but try not to have 3 full meals today. What you don’t want is huge pressure on your gut with a mountainous pile of food. Eat lighter either side of your blowout – and if you have a weekend where eating big meals is happening more than once, and then makes sure you stick with the water increase and up your fibre.

4.    Boost your metabolism with a sneaky session at home – so aim to do at least 3 sets of 25 squats mid afternoon with 3 sets of 30 sec planks - these can be done in the advert breaks of the telly you are watching. Or do your household chores mega fast (put your trainers and sports kit on). Or be challenged by a group exercise class – someone coaching you will always make you work harder J

5.    On Sunday, try to schedule a long walk for the whole family - about an hour and challenge your child/dog/partner/friend to a sprint up a hill to boost that metabolism

6.    Again, try not to have 3 main meals on a Sunday. If you are having Sunday lunch, think about having it around 2pm and keep going between breakfast and this with smoothes, fruit, and yogurt. You should then be able to enjoy your lunch and manage to have just a bowl of cereal before bedtime.

7.    If you are out this weekend, then dancing is great!!!  Just enjoy moving - if not in a club then create your own dance space in a room at home.  If you are out drinking, don’t forget to drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you have

8.    Try your best to get at least 8 hours sleep in every night - or make it up with an afternoon snooze. Lack of sleep plays havoc with the body.  Treat yourself to some rest too x

9.    If you are goings shopping, stockpile on loads of colourful food (read through my suggestions this week as a kind of shopping list) and then spend a few hours cooking as much as you can so that lunches are easy next week

10.  Finally, make time for you and your family and friends.  Be thankful for what you have. 

Have a good weekend everyone J

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