I WAS on the radio this morning reviewing the papers for LBC and as luck would have it, one of the news items was this continuing debate on whether certain items of food and drink should be taxed because of their high fat or sugar content. My view is that this 'Fat Tax' is unworkable and impractical and really doesn't address the root cause of the issue we have with obesity and the health problems our lifestyles cause. There is already, in effect, a tax on junk food as there is VAT on takeaway food and sugar-filled drinks. But let's be honest, it's not working. People are eating and drinking more and more of food that's not good for them because it's cheap. In fact just a few minutes ago a lady on our Facebook page was saying how where she lives fresh strawberries are almost the same pr...
|
|
#topMessageWrapper a {
color: #333333;
}
#topMessageWrapper p {
margin-bottom: 0;
margin-left: 0;
margin-right: 0;
margin-top: 0;
padding: 0;
} Thinking Slimmer LOVING LIFE YOUR NEWSLETTER FOR MAY 2012 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Last two weeks to save yourself 20% WE’RE so delighted to have teamed up with the Fitness First gym chain that we've extended our super offer for you (and please feel free to share it with all your friends). There’s 20% off all Fitpods and Slimpods until May 31 and with every purchase you’ll receive a...
|
|
I am delighted to welcome back our guest blogger Tim Drummond from Sexy in the City bootcamps. Today he shares a fantastic home workout plan... Getting started with the right routine. The right amount of cardio. The beginner’s programme is very flexible; it is designed to be applicable to anyone, no matter what their fitness level. Do some sustained aerobic activity for 10-60 minutes. At the low end of the scale if it is all your fitness level can currently handle, start with just 10 minutes of sustained activity and build from there. If you can start at 30 minutes, then start there. What is sustained aerobic activity? It could take a number of forms: walking, swimming, cycling, hiking, rowi...
|
|
I'm once again really happy to welcome Tim Drummond, of Sexy In The City, my guest blogger for the week. Here's his expert views on... The Principles of Fat Loss. Okay I see that this article may be starting off looking and sounding a little "sciencey" but please it’s not, just give it a read and it could make your journey to weight loss much, much easier and way less frustrating. You’ve got your Slimpod which is number 1. But this is about what to actually do with your motivation and change of mind-set. You could say your "how to" guide. It works on these levels, all of which depend on correct nutrition: You see in this article I’m going to dispel one of the biggest myths which not only ...
|
|
I'm thrilled to introduce you to my guest blogger for the week, Tim Drummond, a personal trainer and body composition expert from Sexy in the City bootcamps. Don’t Trust Your Scales! They lie to you... OK maybe that is a little over dramatic, they will hopefully tell you the correct weight. However what you can learn from that may not be what you think. You see it is very possible that you may be losing body fat, but not body weight. So if the scales are your only measure of progress, it looks like you aren’t making any, when in reality you are slimming down, getting healthier and making great progress! This is especially likely if you are exercising or if you’ve been on a crash diet that left you mal...
|
|
At Thinking Slimmer we’ve been warning for a long time that yo-yo diets aren't the way to lose weight and keep it off. Here's the scientific reasons diets make you fat. “THE scientific proof that diets make you fat.” That headline on the front page of the Daily Mail was a shocking wake-up call to the estimated 15 millions Britons who are on a diet at any one time. That’s one person in four! I've been advising people for a long time that yo-yo diets are not the way to lose weight and keep it off in the long term – the Mail points out research that shows the average woman in this country spends 31 years dieting in her lifetime. That’s more than a third of your life doing something that’s agoni...
|
|
STANDING in the pouring rain outside Buckingham Palace today, waiting for the Thinking Slimmer Marathon runners to come past convinced me I have the best job in the world. Being able to help people like Darin, Becca and Dawn is so rewarding, They filled me with pride as they showed the world that anything is possible if you want it to happen. The look on their faces as they kissed their medals said it all: Team Thinking Slimmer had achieved the most amazing feat by completing the London Marathon. Dawn Walton, Becca Jones and Darin McCloud have done what seemed impossible a year ago and run 26 miles around the streets of the capital. A loving kiss for the medal they'll always treasure Amaz...
|
|
I picked up a great weight loss tip from a Slimpodder on our forum tonight and just had to share it. I often advise people to hang up on the front of their wardrobe the dress, skirt or pair of jeans they want to fit into. Seeing it every day is a great way or reminding the unconscious mind of the target it has been set. One lady has taken it a clever stage further: Not only does she have a smaller-size pair of jeans hanging up, she has pinned a note on them setting the date when she will fit into them - in her case June 1, about six weeks away. This is a brilliant way of making a goal SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. I just love this original tip for making a goal Time-bound. Why not give it a try? What tips have you got for making your goals even mor...
|
|
I was really saddened to read today that after losing 5 stone on the Dukan Diet, Woman’s Hour presenter Jenni Murray has gone the way of 95% of dieters and put the weight back on. I was moved by Jenni’s article in the Mail's Femail section where she described the “shameful guilt and self-loathing” of women who have done well on a diet but then slowly let the weight slip back on again. Jenni, now back to her original weight of 19 stone after letting herself go on holiday and over Christmas and New Year, thought that perhaps she should just accept that she was fat and try to be happy with what she wrongly sees as an unchangeable part of her persona. However, she admits that this mind-set was just not working for he...
|
|
I have blogged before on the amount of sugar in "healthy" foods, and so was really interested to see a story in today’s newspaper about the amount of sugar in drinks. THE University of Glasgow carried out a survey which shows that most of us underestimate just how much sugar is in drinks from cola to fruit juice. Some drinks are so full of sugar that they can account for as much of a quarter of a woman’s recommended daily intake! One interesting detail from the survey is the fact that although people assumed there was a lot of sugar in fizzy drinks and milkshakes, people underestimated how much sugar is in smoothies and fruit juices. For example, people assumed that the average smoothie had four teaspoons of sugar in, when actuall...
|
|
More shocking facts about the amount of unexpected sugar in the foods we eat. One thing I have always looked out for is the healthier option, it’s just a habit I’ve always had; but it’s a habit that sometimes means you come across shocking information. The fact is, a lot of the foods marketed to us as healthy nowadays aren’t so healthy at all, in some cases it seems just as bad as the foods we’re trying to avoid. They often very have very high sugar content, sometimes in a healthy form, but very often in a form which leads to a short burst of energy for about 30 minutes. If you often feel that you feel you need sugar regularly to keep yourself going throughout the day, then perhaps you should have a look at our new Slimpo...
|
|
It must be Friday! SOMETIMES it’s really fun to look through some of the quirky research out there that isn’t to do with weight loss and wellbeing. Now there are loads of things that we women just know we’re better at than men; for example I’m able to multitask, some of the males in my household can’t do that at all! But what I’ve found really interesting to read is some of the things we’re better at and don’t even realise; thing’s we’d happily say “he’s much better at that than me” about – here’s just a few… Parking the Car A U.K. parking firm recently observed 2500 parkers in over 7...
|
|
One thing that most of us know that one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle is to make breakfast a regular part of our routines, but just how healthy are some of the things we’re actually eating every morning? I was horrified when I just happened to glance at my son’s breakfast cereal on the kitchen top the other day – his honey flavoured Ready Brek had a whopping 18g of sugar per 100g; to put that into an understandable measurement that’s about 3 teaspoons per bowl! Don’t get me wrong, I know that it’s also a source of vitamins and calcium but I couldn’t work out why there was so much sugar in it, it would be much better to just have plain porridge with a spoonful of honey; which is now what is going to happen in this house! ...
|
|
I WAS really interested by new research in America which has discovered that people who eat a lot of ice cream may suffer similar feelings of addiction to those experienced by people hooked on illegal drugs such as heroin. What implications does this have for mums who buy their kids a lot of treats? What does it mean to people who are obese? This week I was delighted to be asked to discuss this point on the NHS Online website. Here’s their questions and my answers, which I hope you'll find useful: How is ice-cream addiction the same as a drug addiction? Some things make us feel good and they range from relatively harmless chocolate and ice cream through to more harmful alcohol and tobacco to the highly dangerous heroin and cocaine. They make u...
|
|
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 ...
|
|
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...
|
|
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....
|
|
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 scar...
|
|
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 thos...
|
|
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 fa...
|
|
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...
|
|
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
perfect...
|
|