s ’ r e n n i g Be t n e m e v o M Guide
with
Matt Brown
Book 2
Portions & Control It’s one thing to say “I’ll only have two slices of pizza” and another to have the willpower to act on it and not eat it all! Portion control can be extremely difficult but eating the right amount of food is incredibly important for good health and maintaining or losing weight alongside you exercise. And it applies to healthy food, too, not just high-fat foods. No matter how healthily you eat, you can still put on weight if you’re eating too much. Therefore, portion control is a key factor for weight loss and with so many of us unaware of what a normal portion is, it seems most of us have ‘portion distortion’!
So if you’re worried you’re over-eating, have a look at some of our simple portion control tips:
Eat with smaller plates and bowls. You’ll have a smaller portion but still feel satisfied. Eating from a smaller plate tricks your brain into thinking you are eating a bigger meal, as the plate looks fuller!
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Fill up on veggies! Having at least two portions of vegetables on your plate helps to cover it with healthy and filling food, leaving less room for higher-calorie ingredients.
Eat slowly. How often have you wolfed your food down, only to feel REALLY full half an hour later? Don’t eat your food too quickly as it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you’re full. By eating slowly, you’re giving your body time to communicate!
Eat small, regular portions. Don’t starve yourself during the day as you might end up overindulging in the evening and having a larger, calorific dinner. Make sure you eat regularly, but only eat when you’re body tells you you are hungry! Try not to eat for the sake of it.
Turn off the TV. Eating in front of the TV can mean you eat more without noticing or enjoying your food, meaning you are not taking the time to appreciate the fuel and food you’re adding to your body. Take time to enjoy your dinner time.
Get handy Use your hands to measure your portions, as they give you a good guide on how much you should eat of each food group. •
Protein should be the size of the palm of your hand.
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Unsaturated, healthy fats should be the size of your thumb.
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Carbohydrates should fill your cupped hand.
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Veggies should be the size of your closed fist.
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Effects of Cardiovascular Movement on Our Health By adding cardiovascular exercise to our lives and maintaining a healthy weight, we are guaranteeing our own long-term health. Cardio is a very powerful way to improve a huge number of aspects of our health and well-being and a regular exercise routine can help your overall quality of life. Here are some of our favourite reasons that cardiovascular exercises can make you feel better!
Your Brain Cardio exercise has show to support a reduction in the risk you have of developing dementia and other life-threatening brain conditions. It can improve your memory, your concentrations and can help decrease your chances of stroke. It also improves your overall mood and boosts energy levels too!
Your Heart When taking part in regular cardio exercise, you will notice a marked improvement in your heart health. One of those being lowering your blood pressure as your heart muscle strengthens through exercise. Changes like this to your heart means it doesn’t have to work as hard, and has less strain on it!
Your Lungs When you are overweight, you might find yourself getting out of breath frequently or feeling fatigued. By adding cardio to your lifestyle, it improves lung function, meaning you don’t have to work as hard to get air into your lungs, and feel less instances of shortness of breath.
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Sleep
Immune
Adding cardio exercises to your day can help you fall asleep faster and getting much better quality of sleep too.
Cardiovascular exercise also boosts your general immune system. So when the kids bring home the ‘school cold’ or there are office sniffles, you might find you’re able to fight off the germs better that you have before!
Just be sure to do it well before bedtime, or you might find yourself a bit too energised to sleep!
Your Skin Being active and getting your blood pumping during cardio exercise helps increase your circulation, which in turn, leads to clearer, brighter and healthier skin.
Your Muscles Another obvious benefit of cardio is that your muscles get stronger and over time, your activities should become easier to perform. As you get stronger and more confident, you get fitter and healthier too!
Your Joints It goes without saying that your joint strength and flexibility is improved by adding cardio exercise to your lifestyle. As you lose weight, it takes less pressure off, but additionally, by doing regular exercise, your joints get stronger in themselves and you may find any pains or aches you once felt, disappearing!
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10,000 Steps a Day – How to! 10,000 steps – that is the magic number we hear that will help us lose weight and keep active. But 10,000 steps is a lot, particularly if we are sat down most of the day.
Why 10,000?
Unless you are doing exercise, getting 10,000 steps into your day can seem like an impossible task, but we want you to know it is not impossible!
Strangely, 10,000 steps was coined by a Japanese company who started selling the first ever pedometers for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. They believed that 10,000 steps would burn an additional 500 calories per day, thus improving your health.
During your beginner’s guide, we are asking you to get 8000 – 10,000 steps in per day, on as many days as possible, so here is why it is important and how you can get your steps in!
However, whilst there are no real studies into whether this works, what we do know is that the more active, and the more steps you do, the healthier you are.
How does 10,000 steps make me healthier? Adding 10,000 steps to your daily life has shown to have a positive effect not just on your physical health, but your mental well-being too. Getting in regular movement can improve your heart health, as it is a cardiovascular activity and can even help lower your risk of diabetes. Being more active with your steps can also help to reverse the harmful side effects that come with being sat down for vast majorities of the day, such as:
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High blood pressure
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Heart attack
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Back pain
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Stroke
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High Cholesterol
How far is 10,000 steps and how do I measure it?
I am sat for 6, 7, 8 hours a day – when do I get 10,000 steps in? For a lot of us, our sedentary lifestyles mean we are sat down for a lot of the day.
10,000 steps will be a different distance for everyone, depending on your stride length, but in general, it is about 5 – 6km.
Work, combined with evenings on the sofa watching TV mean that we often find ourselves sitting for long periods of time.
Measuring your 10,000 steps is simple, you can now pick up really inexpensive step trackers online, or, if you have a smart phone, it should already have one on there – just make sure you’re carrying your phone when you walk!
So, here are some easy ways to get your 10,000 steps into your day:
I just can’t manage 10,000 steps yet! To lots of us, owing to being sedentary, or immobile, 10,000 steps might seem a little farfetched when we start out. That is why it is important to build up your number of steps gradually, in a comfortable manner. Start with looking at how many steps you currently take a day and adding 1000 steps to that. Do that for a week, and if you’re comfortable and able, add another 500 – 1000, until you are happily pottering your 10,000 steps every day!
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Take a break from sitting every 30 minutes and walk around for 5 minutes.
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Stand while talking on the phone or watching television.
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If you work at a desk, try a standing desk — or improvise with a high table or counter.
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Walk with your colleagues for meetings rather than sitting in a conference room.
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Have an active lunch – go out and get some steps in for 30 minutes
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Take your online shopping offline and head to the shops
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Put things away and tidy the house
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Go on a family walk
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Take the dog on a longer route than usual
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Do your workout – surprisingly, your workout will be 4,000+ steps!
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Park further from work.
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Get off the bus or the train a stop early
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0800 917 9334 info@theslimmingclinic.com