Are you a couch potato? The good news is I have worked with individuals who saw the walk to the kitchen fridge equal to scaling Everest. Well guess what? It is possible to go from being as sedentary as a tortoise to actually running your first 5k (3 mile) run within 2 Months.

My test subject a 48 year old female from the UK weighing in at 189 pounds, suffering from clinical depression and trapped in a web of weight related diseases came to me and asked me for help. Who was I to let them down? I advised the Couch to 5k challenge, offered my help free of charge as long as I could monitor the results, mainly so I could get some subjective information on the matter.

1. The couch to 5k challenge basically sets out on the opinion that you should start off slow and easy, when you first start out running it’s not just your weight that is a mitigating factor, but your joints, ligaments and bones just won’t cut it at this early stage. Easing yourself in will help you to overcome this and by the time you end the challenge you’ll feel comfortable jogging, actually it will become pleasurable. Well that’s exactly what happened in my client’s situation. She is now running 10k races for charity and in the best shape of her life, tipping the scales at 145 pounds only 6 months later.

2. Each session of the couch to 5k challenge only takes 20-30 minutes of your time 3 times a week; I can personally guarantee that even the busiest of us can fit this time into our schedule. By the way, 20-30 minutes 3 times a week is actually recommended by numerous studies for an optimum level of fitness.

3. The couch to 5k challenge focuses on the length of time you run over the speed you run. (Basically as we mentioned earlier your joints, bones and ligaments aren’t ready for any speed work yet). My client found this no pressure approach fun and the fact it was goal orientated easy to work with. She actually told me it made the program enjoyable.

Overall I would advise the Couch to 5k Challenge to anybody who sits there eating TV meals, drives the car to the local shop or pays someone to walk their dog. Its fun will make a change to your lifestyle and open your life up to a whole new world of opportunities.

My client lost 25 pounds in the 2 months she undertook this program, she changed her eating habits and her outlook on life. 6 months down the line her doctor is now as happy as Larry because she is off her depression medication and all her health related diseases cease to exist!. Just another satisfied Simple Diet Guide member.

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Were all aware that water is best for us. But is everything else we think we know about drinks equally true?

1. Carbonated drinks are no more fattening than still drinks – TRUE

Bubbles in drinks are carbon dioxide, the same gas released by the body every time you breathe out. There is no evidence that carbon dioxide makes you fat. The issue with fizzy drink – or still cordial or squash – is the calories. So choose a low-sugar variety.

TIP – invest in a traditional Soda Stream machine to brighten up water, or sugar-free squashes.

2. Tea and coffee cause dehydration – FALSE

Caffeine acts as a mild diuretic, and while it is true that the water you retain after drinking a cup of plain H2O is marginally greater than if you have tea of coffee, this effect is tiny in comparison to the very much larger quantity of water you absorb. This means that a cup of tea or coffee is a good way to stay hydrated. Choose decaffeinated varieties if you want to limit your caffeine intake. Avoid adding sugar and use low-far milk to keep calories low.

TIP – Try herbal teas as an alternative low-calorie hot drink

3. Drinking more water helps to burn fat – FALSE

To lose weight you must eat fewer calories than you need so that your body draws the extra energy from its fat stores. Drinking more water will not help. The reverse is also a myth – restricting water intake is not effective. Any weight losses will be short-term and your body will rapidly adjust to retain extra water to meet your needs. Plus, this can make you feel dizzy and light-headed.

TIP – Flavored waters can often contain surprisingly large amounts of sugar – so watch out!

4. Drinking wine every day is good for the heart – TRUE

People who drink very small amounts of alcohol do seem to be healthier than non-drinkers, but having more than just one or two units per day increases the health risks. With larger glasses and stronger wines, many people are consuming far more alcohol than they may realize – or want to believe!

TIP – Dilute white wine with mineral water, or alternate alcoholic drinks with a soft, low-calorie mixer.

5. Smoothies are just expensive fruit juice – FALSE

Analysis shows that most smoothies are higher in Vitamin C and Fibre than fruit juice and also contain higher levels of antioxidants. This is because they contain, at least in part, the whole fruit. The leading brands of smoothies typically contain around 1.5g fibre per 100ml, compared to only 0.1g in freshly squeezed orange juice. Most people eat far too little fibre for good health, so the added fibre can make an important difference. Compared to fruit juice, this extra fibre may also help you to feel fuller and keep hunger at bay. Given their high fruit content, smoothies are high in sugar, too – about 12g per 100ml – so you’ll need to count calories. A typical 250ml serving has about 120-150 calories, but they do count towards your 5-a-day.

TIP – Try making your own – it’s a great way to tempt children to try new fruits!

6. A sports or energy drink after exercise is best – FALSE

These drinks are useful for competitive athletes to boost performance, but water is sufficient for most people, most of the time. Sports drinks contain as many calories as regular squash and you risk swallowing far more than the calories you have burnt off in exercise within just a few minutes. Many “energy” drinks also contain caffeine.

TIP – For maximum refreshment, make sure water is fresh and cool. Add sugar-free cordial if you prefer something flavored

Knowing the facts about liquids is a great way to aid Weight Loss, after all doing a session of exercise and then taking an Energy Drink which has High Calories will have a negative effect on your progress.

Many more Tips for Fast Weight Loss are available in the Simple Diet Guide.

Before you decide which machine to go on or what exercise to do in the gym you need to know your goals and what exactly you want from the gym. This article has been designed to help somebody who is starting out trying to lose weight by joining the gym.

Firstly I need you to understand that your body naturally chooses the way it utilises energy through a number of factors, the major factor you need to know is high intensity exercise makes your body turn to faster methods of using energy, and this means sugars (carbohydrates) get utilised instead of fats. To burn fats more efficiently you need to be doing your training aerobically, (the age old test is to try and hold a conversation whilst doing your exercise, and if you find this difficult it is a good indicator that you’re probably trying too hard).

Training at a lower intensity for longer is better than training at a higher intensity for a short period of time, remember this and pace yourself in the gym for an optimum workout.

Although training in this energy zone will improve your fitness I advise against letting your heart rate rise above 160 beats per minute and to try and stay in the 140 – 160 heart rate zones. You can measure your heart rate a number of ways, some machines have built in heart rate monitors, you can purchase a heart rate monitor from a store (good ones can count calories burnt). I suggest the Polar range of heart rate monitors I personally haven’t been let down yet by this range. You can also measure your heart rate manually, but you may find this difficult whilst trying to exercise.

The machines that I propose you decide to use in the gym are as follows: -

1. The Exercise Bike – Very good for a lower body work out, easy to control your heart rate through intensity and work load.

Tip – Join a spinning class if your gym does them, you will really enjoy them, it is something new and you will burn a lot of calories doing so.

2. The Stepper/Cross Trainer – Very good for an all round body workout, works the core muscles like crazy and you burn a lot of calories in the process.

Tip – Take extra care to find a setting that is comfortable, the longer you spend on this machine the more weight you will lose.

3. The Treadmill – Yeah you guessed it, Walking and jogging are unbelievable ways to lose weight, hit the 140 – 160 heart rate zones we talked about and the pounds will just drop off.

Tip – If you find walking/jogging too monotonous and boring and feel like doing more, try adjusting the incline, not only will you burn more calories but it actually feels like your climbing a mountain!

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Did you know that weight training isn’t just for those of you who are trying to put on weight, bulk out and have the ability to pick a car up?

Weights are for everyone, it just depends on how you approach it. Lifting weights is actually one of the biggest tools in the weight loss locker, and many of you are overlooking it due to the fear of putting weight on.

Lifting weights is an ideal way of boosting your metabolism, not only do you burn a good deal of calories whilst doing the weights, your body also continues to burn a large amount of calories during muscle repair over the following 24 hour period. Eating food high in protein within an hour of weight training will ensure that your muscles repair effectively and will get you ready for your next weight training session. Try to limit your weight training sessions to 2-3 times per week, a lot of my clients tend to rotate the muscle groups they train in order to stagger the muscles you use in each session, rest is exactly what your muscles need to ensure maximum results.

You will get the best results if you ensure that your training sessions have breaks of at least a day between them. I.E Monday, Wednesday and Saturday would be a perfect way to break down your weekly workout.

Tip – When you weigh yourself do not be put off by small weight gains to begin with, this is just a perfect indication that muscle weighs more than fat, and that you are being successful in your weight loss journey.

The type of weight training you do dictates the results you will receive, for example if you train for strength; this will increase the strength of your muscle fibres, burn large amounts of calories with no side effect of putting on any bulk. By the way all the conventional methods of training such as press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups are perfect examples of strength training.

If you wish to take strength training to the next level it is best to join the gym, they have all the equipment that you need in order to work every single muscle group in your body. The more muscles you can work out the better results you will get and the more calories you will burn.

The direct benefits of strength training are as follows: -

• increased endurance and flexibility

• increases your energy levels

• protection of your joints (good for injury prevention)

• an increase in bone mass (this helps with prevention of fractures and degeneration from osteoporosis)

• And boosts your metabolism (the key reason weights are important in the weight loss game).

Tip – Ensure that when you finish your cardio workout you follow it with some strength exercises, this way you will burn a huge amount of calories in the workout itself, plus a huge amount in the following 24 hour period. This will make for some exciting results in a matter of only weeks.

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Many people mixed up in the game of trying to lose weight often find themselves hitting the so called ‘plateau’, where your body just seems to decide it no longer wants to drop any weight.

I have known some people in the past who have decided to take running up as a means to lose weight; they started very brightly in their first few months, the weight seemed to drop off. But the following 12 months down the line they just didn’t seem to lose anything, even though they kept themselves to a strict diet that was working for them in the previous 2 months where they managed to drop a substantial amount of weight.

There are many people who reach these so called plateaus and just cannot seem to get their head around them. Well what if I told you the answer is simple? But you’re just overlooking something.

Like in most walks of life nobody likes change, why? Because change means hard work, you have to adapt to your new environment which is obviously going to cause you more hard work and stress. Well it’s exactly the same when it comes to your body. Your body doesn’t like change either, in fact it despises it. Ever gone a week waking up at 11am and going to bed at 1am, then say the last day of the week you go to bed at 1am and wake up at 5am? Your body just says NO basically, it cannot comprehend the change you are putting in front of it.

What I am trying to say is if you use one mode as a way of losing weight, your body will just get used to doing this after a while, and once this happens you will become very efficient at doing said task.

The problem occurs with the word “efficient” if you are training by doing 3×5k runs per week at the same time every week, you are not going to get the same results as somebody who keep’s their body second guessing by mixing up distances, the time of day they run or by bringing in new ways of training and also by working muscles that they aren’t used too. The simple fact is your body isn’t used to these other training methods you place before it.

In essence what I am telling you in this article is in order to beat your plateau; you need to ensure that your body doesn’t slip into easy street. Keep your inner self second guessing, I promise you that the results you gain are going to be so much better! Not only this but it breaks up the tedium of doing the same task over and over, adds a little spice into your life, you’ll grow to love it.

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