Retention PDF: Diet diary: Additional support - body
We know that the thought of vigorous exercise can be daunting. That’s why at The Slimming Clinic, we don’t focus on unattainable fitness goals, but rather the individual and your abilities and requirements. Working alongside clinic staff and your doctor, you will be advised on the best course of action to help increase your activity, whatever your current fitness levels.
Being active and enjoying movement are key elements to help you on your weight loss journey and we at The Slimming Clinic are here to help you achieve that!
Did you know?
Exercise leads to a release of serotoninthe ‘Happy Chemical’ in our bodies which makes us feel generally more positive and improves self esteem.
How am I going to do this?
The first step towards getting more exercise is to look at your schedule and see how you can incorporate activity to your week.
At The Slimming Clinic, we want to give you the foundations and strategies to help you commit to fitting more activity into your life. We want to help you create positive habits that mean your exercise routine is effective, but not scary.
The activity doesn’t have to be structured, like going to the gym, but can be worked into daily tasks and activities you are already completing. Finding something small that you can do consistently is a great way to start ingraining activity into your daily life.
An important part of exercise is to ensure you enjoy what you are doing. Think about times you have been active that you have really enjoyed yourself - what were you doing? Running around with your children in the park? Playing games on the beach? Maybe a countryside walk?
Once you know what activities you enjoy, it makes planning your exercise routine a lot easier! Why not make a list of all the things you love doing that involve movement and this can form the foundation of your exercise programme.
To speak to one of the team, please call
What is movement?
Movement is simply changing positions or locations. Movement is about not being still and there is both a close relationship and fine line between a movement and an activity.
If you can do something repeatedly without any significant change in your breathing or heart rate, then it is a movement. If you get even the slightest elevation in how hard you are breathing, you have turned it into an activity.
The good news is, it doesn’t matter if you are doing a movement or activity, both are great for you and there are many known benefits to simply moving more.
It has been shown to improve your thought processes, slow ageing and helps you burn more calories than remaining still.
Changing your body position is great for your health - so get moving!
What is activity?
Activity is doing something with some purpose and continuity. Activity varies from movement because you may find an activity raises your breathing and heart rate slightly.
It is important to increase both the amount of activities and movements that you complete.
What is exercise?
Exercise is the next step up from activity. Whereas activity raises our breathing and heart rate slightly, exercise goes a step further and challenges the body, through physical effort. Typically, exercise is purposeful and designed to stimulate an improvement within the body, whether it be fitness level, strength, power, flexibility or a skill.
For example, to improve how far or how fast you can swim, how much weight you can lift, how fast you can move, how supple or mobile you are or how well you can complete a physical task.
How much is enough?
Taking the first step to a healthier is you positive, however, how much movement should you be doing?
To understand what level of exertion will work for you will vary from member to member and is where our movement experts can help guide you.
In order to reference how hard you are working with your activity and exercise, we use the BORG scale. The chart explains more about the differences between the levels of movement you are doing:
Rate of Perceived Exertion (how hard) Guide
10
9
7 - 8
4 - 6
2 - 3
1
Maximal effort. Out of breath. Unable to sustain for long e.g. sprinting for the bus
Extremely hard. Very difficult to sustain. Very difficult to breathe and can only speak single words at a time e.g. going up a stairs at a speed which you’d find challenging
Vigorous exercise. Uncomfortable, you don’t like feeling like this. Short of breath, however, can maybe speak a sentence e.g. fast swimming, walking up multiple flights of stairs
Exercise. Sustainable for a considerable amount of time. Heavy breathing, however, you can still hold a conversation e.g. walking quickly, swimming or cycling
Activity. You can manage this level of intensity for hours at a time. Easy to breathe and hold a conversation e.g. Gentle walking, playing frisbee or repeatedly throwing a ball
Movement. You can do this literally all day e.g. Making your bed or hanging out the washing
To speak to one of the team, please call
Getting moving
Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to activities and exercise. What is enough? How long should you do it for?
By starting small and finding ways to fit more activity into your daily life, it can make building up your movement levels much simpler! Here we have listed some basic ways to get you moving more.
Ditch the car
If you need to drive to work, try to park further away from your destination and walk the rest of the way.
Family fun
Be active with the family. Take your children swimming or play in the garden or park. Go on a family bike ride.
Green fingers
Gardening can provide a good workout depending on what you are doing. What’s more is that you can get involved in growing your own fruits and vegetables!
Walk more
Take the stairs instead of the lift. Walk up and down the stairs. Walking is one of the easiest and most effective ways of increasing your activity. Each week try to walk a bit quicker and a bit further.
Join a club
Dancing, playing a sport or starting a stretching exercise like yoga are all fun ways of becoming active.
Active
travel
Cycle or walk to work twice a week. Try getting off the bus a stop before your destination and walk the rest of the way.
Did you know?
You may feel a little hungrier as you increase your activity levels. This is due to you burning more calories. However, it is very important that you don’t compensate your hard work with extra calories.
A post exercise snack could provide you with more calories than you’ve burned so ensure that you choose foods that are low in calories but still filling, such as fruit, low-fat yoghurt or reduced-fat hummus with brown pitta bread.
Don’t forget to stay hydrated throughout your workouts too. Not only is staying hydrated during your journey vital to weight loss, but it also acts as a natural appetite suppressant so can help reduce cravings and the need to snack.
Staying active at home
• Increase your activity levels
• this doesn’t have to be in a gym
• any form of activity counts!
Some other easy ways to get more movement into everyday household tasks include:
• Walking around while cleaning your teeth
• Marching on the spot while the kettle boils
• Getting up and moving during the TV adverts
• Physically engaging with your pets
• Stand up and doing mini squats while on the phone
• Neaten the sofa when you’ve used it
• Hang your clothes out to dry
• Iron
• Cook at home
As long as you are increasing your activity levels even slightly, you are making progress! You should find that the more you do, the easier it becomes and soon, your activities and movement will become second nature.
When you find that your activities are too easy, start to increase the amount, or the intensity! Your clinic doctor can advise more about how to do so at your next appointment.
Did you know?
Many people turn to energy drinks when they feel they need a boost. However, drinking one of these before your workout means your body will burn this not fat, meaning really you are wasting a fat burning opportunity, so instead – grab a fruit or vegetable snack.
Recommendations for exercise
We all have busy lives so how do we create time for exercise? The first port of call is to review your sedentary behaviours.
Do you spend time regularly watching television, reading or studying? Do you have a lengthy commute each day? Are you sat a desk for long parts of the day? If you are honest with yourself, there is a strong possibility you said yes to one or more of these questions.
The amount of exercise recommended by the UK Government for adults aged 19 to 64 is 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week.
Moving from activity to exercise can be as simple as changing a gentle walk into a march and/or increasing how long you go for.
Another example is using the stairs, it doesn’t take too many flights before your heart is pounding and your breathing significantly raised. Simply by adding in more flights of stairs you can move toward your exercise goals.
If you have a lengthy commute, you could use this time to complete the more sedentary activities you might do at home, like catching up on your favourite boxset if you’re on the train or listening to a podcast in the car to allow more free time to fit exercise into your routine.
We will help you take responsibility for being the best you can be
FAQs
When should I exercise?
By reviewing how much of your time you spend not moving or exercising, you can assess where and when you are going to fit exercise into your life. Substituting half an hour of television viewing a day with activity and exercise means you’ll be hitting the recommended amount in no time at all. What we know at The Slimming Clinic is that everyone has a preferred time to exercise. Some like to get up first thing, whilst others like to train last thing at night. Whatever works for you is what you should do!
The only rule we follow at The Slimming Clinic is to exercise between meals, not immediately before or directly after eating. If you are exercising before a meal allow 30 - 60 minutes after exercising, before eating, to ensure you have cooled down sufficiently.
If you are training after a meal, leave at least 60 minutes, before exercising, to ensure you have digested your food (longer is better).
How often should I exercise?
We follow the recommended guidelines from the NHS, however the amount each individual should exercise should be defined by your clinic doctor, depending upon your current exercise levels, health and experience.
The important thing to remember when increasing your activity and exercise is to take it at your own pace. Much like your weight loss, everyone we meet is at a different stage in their journey.
Use your appointments with our experts to review how you are getting on and get further advice on how you can progress further. At The Slimming Clinic, we are here to support you through triumphs and struggles, which is why it is vital to keep coming in regularly to clinic. We wish you success in your journey and we will be here to provide constant support because for us its personal; your success is ours.
