It’s that time of year again. The weather heats up just enough for the layers to start coming off, and for many of us that’s where the trouble begins.

All those layers of clothes have been hiding (up until now) layers of other things. One look in the mirror and we all groan and start thinking about taking drastic action.

And that’s where I come in.

If you want to make some changes to the way you eat, get some more exercise you the good news is you don’t have to take drastic action at all.  You will need to take action but it’s about making changes you can stick to in the long term rather than an all or nothing approach that goes out the window within a couple of days.

So join me over the nest few months, as each fortnight I’ll let you in on some realistic advice on making sustainable changes to your life, your fitness and waistline whether you are working out at the gym (GYM BUNNIES) or prefer to workout at home or outside (HOMIES).

If you need some extra motivation then head over to www.julzdarroch.co.nz for some sample exercise programmes and worksheets that will work with the advice here on GLOSS to keep you on track.

Improving your fitness is not all about jumping up and down and getting all sweaty, you plan needs to look after the following:

Strength work- lifting weights for example, increases your muscle mass, which makes your body more effective at burning fat.

Adding a flexibility and balance component to your workout will help you get lean looking muscles and make every day life easier.

Making sure your food intake is monitored; it’s not all about counting calories but making sure you get the right food in to keep your energy levels up and prevent cravings that sabotage your efforts.

Being good to yourself by not beating yourself up for not being perfect and making the time every day to appreciate the things you do well rather than always focusing on the things you want to change.

BUT small changes remember… it’s not all about doing everything at once, so the first thing we are going to focus on is getting your heart rate up!

READY…
Grab your diary or electronic equivalent.
Commit to 3 times you can spare an hour to work out (that’s 45 minutes to work and 15 minutes to de-sweat and stop looking like a beetroot face).
Book in the times; you now have an appointment with yourself- keep it!
Now head to your wardrobe and dig out your trainers and comfy fitness gear, the last thing you need on your first session is to discover nothing fits right.
Nothing to wear? New workout outfit time!

SET………
When starting out your cardio training you are better off going for a longer session, for example 45 minutes and only going hard for 15 minutes of it than going out for a shorter session and stopping when you can’t keep up the pace.
Set yourself a time you are going to train for and adjust your hard work/not so hard work ratio so that you don’t fall over from exhaustion halfway and have to stop. As long as you are breathing heavier throughout your whole session you are on the right track.

Interval training sessions, where you alternate short bursts of hard work with active rest are a great way to build up your fitness.
HOMIES: Take to the streets and walk one lamppost, run one lamppost or walk uphill then downhill
GYM BUNNIES: Choose your fave piece of cardio equipment and set it on ‘random’, the machine lets you slow down the pace if you need to so set a ‘level’ that you know is going to be challenging.

GO………..
Julz’ Secret of success 1: Don’t worry about the first 5 minutes
Our body undergoes several chemical reactions when we start any form of exercise, first it thinks something bad is going to happen (like being attacked by a woolly mammoth) then it chills out a bit and gets ready to workout for a longer period. This initial period of time is the bit when you want to stop; you think, “If this is how it feels now how on earth am I going to last for 45 minutes”.
Slow down and just plod through it.
In short it’ll take 5-10 minutes to settle into a nice steady pace that you are comfortable maintaining.

NEXT TIME: Clear the pantry; it’s time for a food makeover!

Article by Julz Darroch

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