|
|
|
IT may look like a space hopper without handles, but a STABILITY BALL is a fantastic investment for those who want to do simple workouts at home, I've put together a few exercises below but there is so much you can do - why not send us some ideas! When you first start working out, exercising multiple muscle groups together lets you move through a full-body workout quickly without sacrificing results. These exercises also shorten the inevitable learning curve when you first start strength-training, and prepare you for real-world activities, like moving boxes at work or playing with your kids. Aim for eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. When choosing a stability ball you will notice they come in different sizes - you should get one where your knees are level with or just below your pelvis when you sit on it! ...
|
|
IF
YOU’RE new to Slimpods, or even if you’ve been using one for some time like Darin McCloud in my picture,
some of you may find you still have your diet heads on from time to
time. So I thought I'd explain what happens when you're on a diet and
the way this conditioning might still be affecting you. All the research
shows that no matter what size you are, diets make you hungry and
create powerful cravings for the very things you’re trying to avoid. As
well as these cravings, dieters feel deprived and can’t understand why
all around them they see other people eating the things they are denying
themselves. It’s important not to deprive yourself; a little of what you fancy is good because then the brain will stop longing for it. People who have
been on a Slimpo...
|
|
THINKING SLIMMER'S BEGINNERS GUIDE TO RUNNING FIRST STEPS TO GET YOU UP ON YOUR FEET IF you feel you want to get started on a new fitness regime then running could be the best option for you, because it’s never too late to start. Running for four to five hours in a week burns on average one pound of fat and releases endorphins which encourage good feelings (known as the runners’ high) so it’s a fantastic way to build up your fitness then maintain it. Many Fitpod listeners have got in touch with us at Thinking Slimmer asking for advice on how to get started on a running regime – so I spoke to my friend Nicki Waterman and she provided a beginner’s guide to getting started and keeping going. I've also got some great tips from Fitpod...
|
|
WHEN you want to lose weight it’s important that you eat great nutritional food which will keep you feeling energised while also helping you to shed those pounds. I asked my friend Amanda Ursell, the UK’s leading nutritionist who always seems to be popping up on TV, for her advice on the three meals of the day. Amanda’s been helping me to compile a healthy 28-day eating plan for Slimpodders which will be appearing on the Thinking Slimmer website very soon. Here’s what Amanda recommends about meals:. Breakfast: We're often told that 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day', however, what we often say is 'I simply don't have time for breakfast', in fact, perhaps that's the saying we're most likely to hear our friends say as well as ourselves. The fact is, if you don't eat a healthy breakfa...
|
|
Getting your eating habits and weight back to normal after you've had a baby can be really, really difficult. That's
why my friend Wendy founded the MuTu system for mum's who want to lose
the wobbly bits, strengthen their abs and flatten their tummies after
they've given birth. Just like Slimpod, Wendy's system is designed for mums on the go; in fact the two systems working together are dynamite! Her programme is made up of intensive and targeted workouts designed
specifically for a mothers body that can be done at home with no
equipment for just 15 minutes a day. Interested? Well, good timing, because MuTu has a special Christmas offer for those who sign up before the 24th December 2011. So
whether you choose to start the programme after the holiday season or
now - MuTu are offering you 1/3 off for their 12 week programme if...
|
|
Sometimes I despair – my youngest son walked in the other day from school, with a can of coke in one hand and a big bag of chocolates in the other. However hard we try to keep our kids eating healthily sometimes it can feel like we are losing the battle, especially when they can buy the fizzy drinks and sweets from school vending machines – I often wonder if I should complain to the school. Alarm bells rung for me today when I read the article on kids diets in todays Sun, it seems that this is a huge problem, and not just one for my family. According to a British Heart Foundation survey one in three British children eats sweets, chocolate or crisps at least three times a day; and almost half will have a fizzy or energy drink – such scary, unhealthy statistics. Rita, 35, spoke in...
|
|
BECAUSE so many of you are taking up walking, jogging and running now that your Slimpod is changing your eating habits, I asked my friend the celebrity fitness expert Nicki Waterman for her advice on starting out. She’s come up with a super-simple walking and running plan that will help you discover the joys of outdoor exercise and will transform your body fast. It couldn’t be easier. No matter what age you are, it’s never too late to start. And, once you start, we’re pretty sure you won’t want to stop. The benefits of a regular walking/jogging/running regime include a toned body, a happier mood, more energy, super-confidence and less stress. Teamed up with a Slimpod, this exercise programme can produce stunning results.What are you waiting for? Lace up those trainers… Tweet GETTING START...
|
|
Did you see Katie Hill, the youngest person in Britain to have gastric band surgery, on BBC Breakfast this morning? I was incensed by her story. It's is a very sad example of how a mother can so easily inflict her own lack of self esteem and weight issues on her child. Katie was just 14 and weighing 18 stone when she and her mother decided that an operation was the only way for her to lose weight. That was four years ago, and since then Katie's story has featured in a Sunday newspaper. You probably won't be surprised that Katie's mother Juliet was the first member of the family to have a gastric band operation, done in Belgium at a cost of £2,500 and not paid for by taxpayers on the NHS thank goodness. What angers me most is that her mother had already decided Katie was going to be overweight when she'd...
|
|
IF you’ve got a sweet tooth you may be hooked on your next fix of cupcakes in much the same way as a drug addict is hooked on the next fix of cocaine. You probably didn’t think it was more than just an imaginary feeling, did you? Well I was surprised to find out that scientists in America have discovered there are real physical similarities between the two addictions. A host of studies have linked sugary and fatty foods to brain changes which are more usually seen in users of hard drugs. The most addictive sweet things turn out to be cupcakes, those fluffy fairycakes topped with pink and yellow butter icing. Researchers say the butter in the sponges and the sugar in the icing on top combine to make them as addictive as a hard drug. Cupcakes have become a real craze among celebrities and specialist b...
|
|
I JUST couldn't believe how many people were running in the Great South Run last Sunday (more than 20,000). It was so inspirational seeing everyone run for such good causes. The picture shows the smashing sign Slimpod superstar Darin McCloud had on his back, by the way. It set me thinking about the runners' motivation. I asked a few people why they were running and they all said it was a combination of getting fit and losing weight but what was important was having a purpose to it. The interesting thing is that lots of people don't actually lose that much weight running, even though that's what they do it for! So I set about investigating what happens in the body when you run and I asked my friend Nicki Waterman to help me. She sent me some fascinating research which I thought I'd share with ...
|
|
IT’S a fact that a good, healthy breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Especially for children. So I was concerned to read a survey that showed almost half our primary school children go without breakfast because they don’t have enough time in the morning. Well, Kelloggs have launched a great campaign called Help Give a Child a Breakfast. This is how it works: For every packet of cornflakes sold, they’ll donate 3p to a trust. The aim is to raise £300,000 so they can start up breakfast clubs in schools around the country. Sounds to me like invaluable help for many families. Schools can even apply for a grant of £400; all the information is at http://www.giveachildabreakfast.co.uk >>
|
|
ANY time I eat out I always look for anything described as the
“healthy option.” So I was shocked to discover that a McDonald’s low-fat
blueberry muffin has more salt in it than one of their burgers – and
more than three times the sodium in a packet of ready-salted crisps. A
high level of salt in your bloodstream puts up your blood pressure,
which can lead to strokes and heart attacks. My blood pressure certainly
went up when I read the research by Consensus Action on Salt and Health
into coffee break snacks. Some
food chains, including McDonald’s, have made real efforts to reduce the
salt in their products, but it hasn’t always worked. McD’s double
chocolate muffin has seen its salt content increase from 11g to 1.2g,
according to CASH. The organisation ...
|
|
Our attitude to food is a state of mind, not necessarily anything to do with whether we’re hungry and actually need to eat. I love this story which I heard recently, which makes that point brilliantly. A writer was dining with the famous American behavioural expert Professor Shlomo Benartzi. At the end of the meal, a chocolate souffle was ordered. Halfway through it, the professor asked “Would you like any more of this?” The writer said No and watched in amazement as his companion grabbed the peppermill and sprinkled pepper all over the souffle. Then Benartzi did the same with the salt. Suddenly the professor broke out in a grin. “There, now we won’t eat too much,” he said. “A little trick I learned.” A bit drastic maybe, but you can see t...
|
|
Another reason why diets don’t work has been uncovered by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania. Rapid weight loss alters the way the brain handles stress, they have discovered. So when dieters are put under stress – such as feeling hungry or deprived – they cannot stop themselves being attracted to fatty foods. It means dieting can actually end up making you fatter. The researchers carried out a series of tests on mice. When they cut the animals’ food supply by 25 per cent they lost up to 15 per cent of their body weight. But, says the Journal of Neuroscience, the mice also experienced important alterations to the genes which are key to handling stress and appetite. The mice were then allowed to regain their lost weight and it was discovered that when they we...
|
|
WE should all be alarmed by a new survey
which shows that more than half of British parents cannot tell if their
child is obese. We are facing an epidemic of obesity, with a third of
children either overweight or obese, but a poll of almost 1,200 parents
shows that 51 per cent of them can’t spot a youngster who’s obese. The implications for health and well-being
later in life are enormous, as bad habits – such as over-eating and
under-exercising – which are picked up in childhood are proven to last a
lifetime in most cases. Public health minister Anne Milton says:
“Many parents may not realise their child has a problem or they think
it’s just puppy fat...
|
|
MORE startling evidence that diets don’t work comes from the highly-respected Nick Finer, professor of obesity medicine at University College, London. His studies have found that the average long term weight loss achieved by obese adults who diet is just two or three per cent, an amount so small as to be completely irrelevant. “What these figures show is that for most people dieting is pointless,” says the professor. Even further authoritative backing for Thinking Slimmer’s campaign to help people understand that diets are futile. At ThinkingSlimmer.com we publish the facts behind the medical research. However, where Professor Finer and I disagree is on the remedy for obesity. He thinks the best way for the NHS to tackle obesity is to set up a national network of fat clinics to carr...
|
|
HERE'S a super article by Trevor Silvester, founder of Cognitive Hypnotherapy and the Voice of the Slimpods. He writes: ONE of the questions I’m asked most often is: “Can a Slimpod really work in 21 days?” My honest answer is: “It depends.” The idea that it takes 21 days to break a
habit has been around in psychology for a long time – and eating badly
is a habit – so in that regard it can definitely work: listen every
night and by the end of that period you could be well on your way to
establishing a new relationship to food. Does that mean you’ll hit your Thinking
Slimmer weight loss target by then? Well, of course the answer is very
much “it depends.” If you just want to drop a dress size then it’s
perfectly possible, if you have more to lose it’s g...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|