Days 7-12 Advent Calendar
Next 6 Advent Calendar tips, advice and exercises:
DAY 7
Having a balanced diet is really important and this Eat Well Plate is a good guideline for what proportions of what food groups you need to be eating in your day. Take a look and see how your diet relates
DAY 8
Aerobic exercise is good for weight loss, but it won’t change your body shape. To ‘tone up’ you need to do resistance work. Come try my Circuits and PiYo for a mix of both.
DAY 9
Nice recipe for using up leftover Turkey and cranberry sauce.
DAY 10
I read somewhere that people eat about 500 extra calories a day over Christmas (sounds about right!) - eek. So, how do we stop overselves overloading over this indulgent time? Some tips:
Breakfast on Christmas Day - swap the croissant and bucks fizz for smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
Don’t skip meals - hunger leads to ill informed food choices
Buffets - scan before serving to help portion control and avoid multiple trips
Alcohol holds empty calories. Go for the low cal options or dilute with ice/ have a spritzer
Pace yourself - lack of sleep increases our hunger pangs (and tempts us to eat bady)
Earn your treats - come do some exercise with me before having that mincepie
DAY 11
Not got time to exercise? Surely you have a few minutes each day. Here are some ways you can squeeze in exercise to your work day:
Pelvic floors on the train
Stomach contractions at your desk (pulling your tummy button into your spine and holding for a few seconds)
Leg lifts at desk (keep torso still and lift straight leg up and down)
Use stairs instead of the lift
Get off bus/train a stop earlier
Go for a brisk walk on your lunch break (even if it’s to the local Pret)
DAY12
What should your calorie intake be?
The general rule is around 2000kcal for women and 2500kcal for men, but you can find out a more precise calorie requirement based on your activity level and your height/weight. It’s also possible to work out how many calories you should drop this by if you’re trying to lose fat.
If your aim is to lose fat, a good drop is around 1-2 pounds (0.5-1kg) per week. If you’re on a diet that makes you lose more than this then it’s unlikley to be sustainable (or healthy), unless you are classed as obese in the first place.
This handy calculator works it out easily for you