Exercise patterns

Type of Workouts
When you think of exercise, you may imagine strenuous activities such as running or biking — the ones that make you breathe hard, turn flush and drip with sweat. But aerobic activity is only one type of exercise, and although it is critical for boosting fitness, there are actually three other types of exercise that are also important: strength training, balance training and flexibility training.

Each type of exercise is important in its own way, and doing all four types is the way to maximize your fitness and prevent injury, experts say.

"While aerobic exercise is very important, it's not as effective for overall health" when done alone compared with when people include all four types of exercise in their routine, said Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota. "They all kind of go together" and complement each other, Laskowski said

For example, strength training makes muscles stronger, which, in turn, helps to support and protect joints — and this could help prevent injury during aerobic exercise. Meanwhile, balance exercises use muscle strength in a coordinated fashion to stabilize your movements, and can reduce the risk of injuries such as ankle sprains, Laskowski said.

In addition, you could be very fit aerobically, but "if you're not flexible, you're still going to pull something when you're training," said Kelly Drew, an exercise physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine. Flexibility also helps you do strength training, because it improves your range of motion around your joints, ensuring you can perform lifts and other strength moves effectively, Drew said.

To dig up the most important information on these exercise types, Live Science spoke with experts and reviewed the latest scientific research. Below, we’ve linked to our detailed articles about the four types of exercise. Each article discusses the benefits of the particular exercise type, as well as how much you need to do and how to avoid injury during the activity. Finally, we'll provide ways to incorporate all four types of exercise into your workout regimen.

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercises, such as running, swimming or dancing, are activities that work your cardiovascular system — they get your heart rate up and make you breathe harder. This type of exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and may even lower the risk of cancer

Aerobic exercises are activities that work your cardiovascular system — they get your heart rate up and make you breathe harder. They are what people often think of when they hear the word "exercise."

Examples of aerobic exercise include: 

• Brisk walking
• Running or jogging
• Swimming
• Playing a sport such as tennis, soccer or basketball
• Dancing
• Chores such as raking leaves or mowing the lawn

Health benefits of aerobic exercise include: 

• Improved health of heart, lungs and circulatory system. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart so it pumps blood more efficiently, and also lowers your overall resting heart rate, according to the Mayo Clinic. This type of exercise also increases levels of "good" cholesterol and lowers levels of "bad" cholesterol, which, in turn, can reduce the buildup of plaque in the arteries.
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke
• Lowered risk of type 2 diabetes
• Lowered blood pressure and improved blood fat levels

Doing aerobic exercise can also have other long-term advantages. A recent study of 1.4 million people in the United States and Europe found that high amounts of aerobic exercise were linked with a reduced risk of 13 types of cancer. And a large study of more than 660,000 people found that the people who did 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week were 31 percent less likely to die over a 14-year period than those who did not engage in any physical activity.

How much aerobic exercise do you need?
According to the most recent physical activity guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), adults should do at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity (such as brisk walking) per week. There are many ways to divide up those 150 minutes over the course of a week, but most experts recommend breaking up that time into 30 minutes of physical activity, five days per week.

If you pick a vigorous type of activity, like running, for your workout, you don't have to do quite as much. The HHS guidelines say that 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) of vigorous activity per week is equivalent to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week.

How can you avoid injury when doing aerobic exercise?
The main risks of aerobic activity come from exercising too hard and too fast at the start of a workout, said said Kelly Drew, an exercise physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine. When starting out, people should stay at a pace that feels comfortable, she said.

Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota, recommended that people use the mantra, "start out low, and progress slow." This means starting with a level of activity that's fairly light, and gradually increasing the duration and intensity of your exercise sessions. People with joint problems should also avoid high-impact exercises, such as exercise that involves a lot of jumping. Instead, they should stick with low-impact exercises, like riding on a stationary bicycle, using an elliptical machine or doing water exercises, Laskowski said.

Strength exercise

Strength exercises, such as weight lifting, push-ups and crunches, work your muscles by using resistance (like a dumbbell or your own body weight.) This type of exercise increases lean muscle mass, which is particularly important for weight loss, because lean muscle burns more calories than other types of tissue.

Strength exercise, or resistance training, works your muscles by using resistance, like a dumbbell or your own body weight. This type of exercise increases lean muscle mass, which is particularly important for weight loss, because lean muscle burns more calories than other types of tissue. When people drop pounds, they can also lose muscle, so it's important to do resistance training to keep that muscle mass.

"You can lose weight quickly [by] doing other stuff, but you're not going to keep it off [in the] long term if you don't maintain lean muscle mass," said said Kelly Drew, an exercise physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine.

People also naturally lose muscle mass as they age, so resistance training is important for older adults. Having strong muscles can make it easier to do everyday activities, like gardening or taking your suitcase out of an overhead bin on an airplane, said Jason Schatzenpahl, a fitness specialist at CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center in Aurora, Colorado.

Examples of strength exercises include: 

• Lifting weights
• Using resistance bands
• Using your body weight for resistance, by doing push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, leg squats or push-ups against a wall
• Using weight machines at a gym

Benefits of strength exercises include: 

• Increased lean muscle mass (or prevention of its loss)
• Increased bone density and reduced risk of osteoporosis
• Increased metabolism to help with weight loss or weight maintenance
• Increased muscle strength to make everyday activities easier
• Lowered risk of injury (by allowing the muscles to better support the joints)

In addition, some of the benefits that are perhaps traditionally associated with aerobic exercise can also be gained by doing strength training. For example, a 2009 review study found that resistance training reduces people's blood sugar levels and improves sensitivity to the hormone insulin, which helps blood sugar get inside cells.

How much strength exercise do you need to do?

The HHS' physical activity guidelines recommend doing resistance-training exercises at least two days per week. These exercises should work all of the major muscle groups in your body — your legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders and arms.

For each muscle group that you exercise, you should try to do at least eight to 12 repetitions of an activity (like lifting a weight), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To get the benefits from the exercise, you need to work the muscles to the point where it's difficult for you to do another repetition, the CDC says.

But you shouldn't exercise the same muscle group two days in a row, because your muscles need time to recover, according to the National Institutes of Health.

How can you avoid injury when doing strength training?It's very important that you have the correct form and body position when you do resistance training. "If you do some of these exercises poorly, with bad technique, you can injure yourself," said said Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota. You may need to work with a professional trainer, or watch exercise videos online, to make sure you use the correct technique.

If you're just starting out, you should use a light weight that you can lift or push at least eight times, the NIH says. Once it becomes easy to lift this weight, gradually add more weight. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that when you are comfortable lifting a certain weight, you should increase the weight by about 2 to 10 percent, and then work on lifting this heavier weight until it again becomes comfortable.




Balance exercise

Balance exercises improve your ability to control and stabilize your body's position. This type of exercise is particularly important for older adults, because balance gets worse with age.But balance exercises can be beneficial for everyone, including people who have gained or lost a lot of weight or those who become pregnant, which can throw off your center of gravity, Drew said.

Balance exercises improve your ability to control and stabilize your body's position. This type of exercise is particularly important for older adults — as you age, your ability to know where you are in space, called proprioception, gets worse, which contributes to a decline in balance, said said Kelly Drew, an exercise physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine.

But balance exercises can benefit people of any age, including people who have gained or lost a lot of weight or those who become pregnant, which can throw off your center of gravity, Drew said.

These exercises are also important for reducing injury risk. For example, if you sprain your ankle, you could be at risk for reinjury if you don't retrain your balance, said said Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota. That's because when you sprain your ankle, the muscles around the joint stop contracting in a coordinated fashion, and this destabilizes the joint, Laskowski said. If you do balance exercises after the injury, it retrains the muscles to contract together, which better stabilizes the joint during movements and prevents reinjury, he said. 

And most athletes can benefit from balance training to help them maintain balance during their sport activity. "[In] almost all athletic endeavors, you're going to be on one foot at a time while you're doing things," said , said Jason Schatzenpahl, a fitness specialist at the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center in Aurora, Colorado. 

Examples of balance exercises include:

• Shifting your weight from side to side
• Standing on one foot
• Walking heel to toe
• Using a balance board or stability ball
• Doing tai chi, yoga or Pilates.

Benefits of doing balance exercise include:

• Prevents falls
• Reduces the risk of lower-extremity injuries, such as knee and ankle injuries
• Improves proprioception (the ability to know where you are in space)

How much balance exercise do you need?
There's no limit to how much balance training you can do safely — you can do it every day if you want, Laskowski said. A 2015 review study found that doing three to six balance training sessions per week, with four balance exercises per training session, for 11 to 12 weeks was effective in improving people's balance.

How can you avoid injury when doing balance exercise?

The main risk of doing balance exercises is that you might fall, Drew said. Make sure you have something close to you that you can hold on to if you start to fall, Drew said. If you use equipment such as a stability board, you should make sure you are on a flat, stable and nonslippery surface, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Start with an easy balance exercise, like shifting your weight from side to side or standing on one foot for a few seconds, and gradually make your sessions more challenging — for example, by increasing the time you spend on one foot, the ACSM recommends. Also, you should start on a stable surface and in a single position before adding any movements or balance exercise equipment. 

Flexibility Exercise

Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and may improve your range of motion at your joints. There are two types of flexibility exercises: static stretching, in which you stretch a muscle without moving, and dynamic stretching, which combines stretching with movements. 

Examples of static stretches include:

• Stretching the hamstring muscles by sitting on the ground with your legs straight, and leaning forward
• Stretching the calves by stepping forward with one leg, and shifting your weight toward the front leg
• Stretching your thigh muscle by bending one leg back toward your buttock, and holding on to your foot

Dynamic stretches are intended to get your muscles used to the types of movement you'll be doing during some other part of your workout, said Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester, Minnesota. For example, if you plan to do an aerobic activity such as running, warm up with some dynamic stretches for your legs (see some examples below).

Also, you should start with a slowed-down version of a dynamic stretch, and then, as your muscles warm up, you can increase the speed of the movement. As with strength training, you may want to work with a personal trainer, or watch videos online, to learn the proper technique for dynamic stretches.

 
Examples of dynamic stretches include:

• High steps: Raise your knee toward your chest, hold on to your shin and then bring your leg back down. Then, do this with the opposite leg. You can do this while standing in one place or while walking.
• Ankle stretch: Raise one foot up slightly off the ground, keep your leg straight and flex your foot with your toes pointed up. Repeat with the opposite foot.
• Arm swings: Start with your arms straight out in front of you, with your palms facing down. Walk forward, and swing your arms together to the right so that your left arm goes across your chest. Then, swing your arms the opposite way as you keep walking, and repeat a few times.
• Arm circles: Hold your arms straight at your sides, parallel to the floor. Do arm circles in each direction, making bigger circles as you get more flexible.

Putting it all together
Ideally, you should include all four types of exercise in your workouts. But that doesn't mean you have to do four separate workouts, Drew said. You can combine some exercises together, like strength and balance training. For example, you could do bicep curls while standing on one leg. Some workouts, such as yoga, incorporate strength, flexibility and balance exercises.

A sample workout might include running or walking briskly for 30 minutes on a treadmill for aerobic exercise, then doing strength and balance exercises combined, and finishing by doing some static stretches, Drew said. "Your exercise program should include a bit of all four

Concepts of Excercise

Introduction

Now we take care of the ca
lories-in part of our equation. What about calories-out?

We all know that exercise is the way to get our calories out. But is there a way that we can get most of our calories from our fat store?

I am going to describe how to pick the right exercises to efficiently burn fat. It will begin with an introduction to the Basic Concepts of Exercise Physiology. Using the concepts we learned in this page, I will guide you to design an exercise regime to maximize fat loss in the subsequent Cardiovascular Exercises page and Weight Training page.

Introduction to Human Energy Systems

Similar to the way we digest and absorb energy, the way we expend our energy is also highly complex. Our Primary Energy System is the ATP System which provides immediate energy at all time. There are three Secondary Energy Systems: Phosphocreatine System, Lactic Acid System and Aerobic System. They are used by our body to replenish the ATPs broken down for energy in the Primary Energy System. At any given time, all three Secondary Energy Systems are employed. The proportion in which each system is employed depends on the energy substrates availability and the intensity of the exercise.

ATP System (Anaerobic)

For immediate energy, our body just grab the ATPs (Adenosine Triphosphate, ie the energy currency used by humans) floating around in our body. Unfortunately, humans only store about 80g to 100g of ATPs at any given time. To replenish used ATPs, we have three Secondary Energy Systems that can resynthesis them: Phosphocreatine System, Lactic Acid System and Aerobic System.

Phosphocreatine System (Anaerobic)

Phosphocreatine (PCr) System is the fastest system to generate ATPs. It doesn't require oxygen. When our body senses that we are beginning to exert maximal effort, it breaks down PCr for energy to resynthesis ATPs that are used up. While PCr is being broken down, energy from other sources helps to resynthesis PCr such that PCr can be used when all-out effort is needed later. Since resysnthesis of PCr is much slower than its break down, PCr System can only provide energy for 5-8 seconds of maximal effort. Beyond that, other fuel source must be used. As a result, PCr System is the primary fuel source of sprinting, intermittent all-out efforts in ball games, weight lifting and other exercises that requires quick burst of energy.

Lactic Acid System (Anaerobic)

Lactic Acid System is the second fastest. It also doesn't require oxygen. It releases the glucose in muscle glycogen. Then glucose is broken down into lactic acid to release ATPs. The lactic acid generated can be transported to cells to be oxidated for energy or it can be transported to the liver to re-generate glucose when we have energy from other sources. Similar to the PCr System, the Lactic Acid System can only lasts about 60 to 180 seconds of all-out effort. It is the primary fuel source for short distance runs like 200m and 400m or 100m swim.

Aerobic System

Aerobic System is the slowest way to generate energy. Unlike the other two, it requires oxygen. But the good thing is that it can use many different kinds of molecules for energy: glucose, lactic acid, fatty acid, keto acids from the breakdown of proteins and many others. Since most people do have a big reserve of energy in body fat, energy supply from the Aerobic Sytem can lasts very long. Basically, any exercises that lasts more than a couple minutes use this as the primary fuel source. One thing we can learn from these energy systems is that, Aerobic Energy System is the only way to burn fat.

Muscles

To perform any exercise, we need to use our muscles. There are three types of muscle in our body: skeletal, cardiac and smooth. Cardiac muscle is the muscle of heart. Smooth muscle is the muscle of internal organs. Skeletal muscle is the muscle in our limbs and torso that allows us to move. In this section, we will concentrate our discussion on Skeletal Muscle.

Each piece of human skeletal muscle is like a bulk of fiber-like cells. We call those cells Muscle Fibers. There are three major types of muscle fibers: 1) Type I muscle fiber; 2) Type IIa muscle fiber; and 3) Type IIx muscle fiber.

Comparison of the different muscle fiber types:

It is obvious from the table above that Type IIx is the most powerful fiber but it doesn't last long (because it mostly relies on anaerobic energy system). In contrast, Type I is the least prone to fatigue but it is not as strong (because it mostly relies on aerobic energy system). Type IIa is somewhere in between. When we exert power with our muscle, the slow Type I muscle fibers are recruited first. If that's not enough, then Type IIa fibers are recruited and finally Type IIx.

It turns out that every piece of muscles in our body contains all three types of muscle fiber. However, the muscle fiber type composition and number of muscle fibers are basically determined by genetics. It is possible to weight train to stimulate the muscle fibers (Type IIa and IIx) to grow bigger and more powerful. It is also possible to do enough cardiovascular exercises to improve the oxidization power of a muscle (to improve the oxidization efficiency of Type I muscle). [EEP00]

Three Phases of Energy Expenditure

• For each exercise session, energy is expended in three different times. Obviously, energy is expended during the exercise. Let's call this Exercise Energy Expenditure. Most cardio machines give you an approximation of energy you expended during exercise. You can check the number of calories burned in most cardio machines. For other type of exercises, you can estimate your energy expenditure using some online calories counters like Calories Per Hour.com.

• Immediately after the exercise, the body needs energy to recover. The recovery is performed to return our body back to the pre-exercise state. It includes oxidation of lactic acid accumulated in blood, repair torn muscle tissues, etc. Let's call it Post-exercise Energy Expenditure (PEEE). PEEE is found to be an insignificant source of energy expenditure. It is about 22kcal for one hour of low intensity exercise or 41kcal for one hour of high intensity exercise. [PRHM97]

• For muscle tissues gained as a result of exercise, you also need energy to maintain them. It costs 22 calories per day to maintain one kg of muscle whereas only 3 calories per day is needed to maintain one kg of fat. [BPAHM00]

Energy Storage

• Energy substrates like carbohydrate, protein and fat are used to provide energy for our body to function. But what happens to them when we consume them in excess of our current needs? Where are they being stored? And how are they going to be utilized when our body is running out of energy from food? In this section, I will explain that to you.

• First, we will start with Carbohydrate. Our body stores excess carbohydrate as glycogen. Glycogen is mostly stored in liver and muscle (skeletal, cardiac, smooth). There is also a small amount stored in kidney and small intestine.

• Note that glycogen stored in muscle is only used locally for the muscle that stores it. In contrast, the glycogen in liver can be released to the blood as glucose and then pick up by tissues for energy.

• If you have exercised continuously for over two hours like taking a long hike or near the end of an intense basketball match, most likely you might have experienced muscle cramp. This is because your muscle exhausted all its glycogen and your liver couldn't make glucose fast enough to replenish the loss. To combat this problem, you are recommended to drink sports drink like Gatorade every hour during prolong exercises. Sports drinks is basically sugar water with salt. The sugar inside will help you replenish the muscle glycogen. The salt inside will help you replenish the salt you lost while sweating. Obviously, sports drinks are very bad for fat loss if you drink it in other cirsumstances because the sugar inside will make you fat as discussed in the diet page.

• Next, we will continue with fat. Excess Fat are stored in various places under our skin or wrapped around our internal organs. We call this subcutaneous fat. There is also a small amount of fat stored in skeletal muscle that we call intramuscular fat.

• Subcutaneous fat is what makes us look fat. So reduction of the fat there is the goal of these pages. Subcutaneous fat is released from the fat tissue throughout the day to the blood and is transported to various places in the body to be oxidized for energy.

• Intramuscular fat is similar to muscle glycogen. They can only be used locally for the muscle. During exercise, majority of energy from fat comes from intramuscular fat.

• Finally, we turn our eyes to protein. There is technically no natural storage for protein. However, if you do weight training, protein is used to build muscle. In a sense, this stores protein for future use. Without weight training or any physical activity, there is no way to "store" protein.

• During exercises, a very small percentage (about 3-6%) of muscle protein is broken down for energy. [N02] Muscle protein is also broken down during starvation. That's why you see severely starved people are nothing but bones wrapped with skin.

• As we can see, while muscle protein is little used as an energy source and protein is not stored naturally. We can consider muscle protein as protein storage in all practicality. During muscle protein breakdown into amino acids, amino acids are released to the blood stream. Therefore, the energy from amino acids can be taken up by body tissues

Energy Storage breakdown of a 70kg non-obese man:

Source: Everything except Protein is from [FM04]. Muscle Protein content is suggested by [BPAHN00]

Why do I need exercises in addition to diet?

• You may wonder why you need to do exercises to lose fat. You might argue that if we can reduce fat using the diet I described in the Diet page, why do we need to do exercises? There are two major reasons.

• Let me start with a not so obvious one. Since our stomach always stay the same size, doing exercises allow us to eat more calories dense food than living a sedantary life. For small stomach people, that means you can eat more energy dense food like your favorite ice-cream or candies. For people who has a big stomach, exercise is the way to increase food choices such that it becomes easier to maintain a diet. Secondly, exercise is good for general physical health. It makes you feel better about yourself and keep you in a upbeat mood. Both are pluses for maintaining a diet.

• Another natural question you might have is that if I do exercises but change nothing about my diet, can I lose fat? Apparently, you can. However, this won't easy, if you know that to lose 100g of fat, you need to burn 900 calories. This is equivalent to a 70kg person running at 8km/h for 1 hour 36 minutes! To do the roughtly the same, you need to skip a McDonald's Meal of Big Mac + Medium Fries + Diet Coke (940kcal). For most people, the latter is easier. Obviously, a combination of both diet and exercise can make the process even easier and effective.

Out Take

• I hope what I described in this page helps you understand the basics of Exercise Physiology. In the next two sections, I will use concepts developed here to explore the effective means to lose fat using Cardiovascular Exercises and/or Weight Training. Good luck and happy fat loss!

EXERCISE

Introduction

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Over the 365 days we would encourage that you integrate exercise into your plan. We have provided you with 2 different workouts that you can follow in the gym. You can also join some of the classes provided at the company, please check the board. Any regular exercise will benefit you during this plan. Please try and exercise at least twice a day 3 days in a week. Also aim to walk 30 minutes a day for at least four days a week.

Proper Form 

We cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain strict form on all movements. This means stabilizing your body and contracting your abs so you isolate the primary intended muscles. For example, when doing a standing barbell curl, tighten your abs and do not rock or swing the weight. By tightening your abs, you stabilize your body and prevent momentum. This will also help condition your abs and save your lower back from injury.

Warm-Up Properly 

Before every session you should warm up properly, involving foam rolling, dynamic stretching, mobility exercises, static stretching and activation exercises prior to starting your main session workout.

Rest, Don’t Nap, Between Sets

We recommend 60-90 seconds of rest periods between sets. This allows your body to recover some of its expended ATP but is not so long that you lose the flow of the workout.

 We are here to help!! In this article we will outline the ultimate female training plan, detailed with information, guidelines, and specific examples of training programmes.
 One of the fundamental mistakes most females make is they simply avoid doing resistance training i.e. weights! The primary concern women have when it comes to weight training is, “I don’t want to get big or bulky.” we are here to tell you that you won’t!
What is the most common thing you see women do in the gym? Cardio! And if they do lift weights at all, they tend to pick up the 2kg dumbbell and do endless reps. As mentioned already women must complete challenging resistance exercise up to 12 reps, for multiple sets.
Now, we will go over a few essential free-weight and compound exercises that you must be doing - 

NUTRITION COUNT

We realise with work commitments and people’s social lives that sticking to a plan isn’t always as easy as we would like. Therefore, please think ahead to allow yourself a better chance of making the right choice. This plan has been designed for OPTIMAL results. Everyone who has followed this plan has had great results. We are all different and want different things from the plan. The more you stick to the plan, the better the results. Once you get the results and feel great, look great, you don’t want to go back to feeling tired, bloated, overweight, and feeling like you are out of control with your weight and health.

We realise for some people the thought of cutting out caffeine, alcohol or anything from the list makes your diet sound like hell. If you are someone who drinks lots of caffeine you may feel that halving the amount will make a difference and benefit you when it comes to weight and health improvements. For some of us this is a life- changing plan where some of the foods and meals are so different from our regular eating habits. We just want to stress the emphasis that you might opt to change 50% of your habits and not change the others. As long you are aware that you may not get all the results you are after, it will still be a small step in the right direction to a healthier life. All recipes are provided in the recipe card section. Meals such as fruit salad and other snacks are not in the recipe card section as you can either buy them or don’t need to be explained how to make them, such as carrots.

Regular Basis – I have highlighted this because people who live healthy lifestyles sometimes eat foods that aren’t on the approved list during the plan, like chocolate or ice creams. A healthy eating plan doesn’t encourage eating these foods because they don’t provide the body with lots of healthy nutrients. However, we except that from time to time these will be eaten - that’s life

EATING PLAN

The major benefits of this eating plan are that you get to eat REAL food. There is no more point systems, calorie counting or weighing of food. You may have tried many diets or eating plans previously. However, if you have found you have regained the weight or still feel tired and bloated, then the diet didn’t work. You have probably heard us say before “Abs are made in the kitchen” or “You can’t out train a bad diet”. These quotes don’t imply that everyone wants a flat stomach but often we believe that we can eat LOTS of junk food on a REGULAR basis and undo this by exercising, this doesn’t and will never work, sorry. This program will include exercise but our main focus is nutrition. Exercise and activity is essential for a healthy lifestyle and helps us burn calories, shape your body, increase energy and plays an important role in weight loss.

NUTRITION

This program is going to feel different to anything else you may have tried. You get to eat lots of yummy foods. Everything we eat during this plan has the aim of increasing energy and vitality and not leaving you feeling hungry, deprived and craving more food. The majority of us eat a lot of processed quick-fix foods on a regular basis. When we eat like this we often need, pills, supplements, and loads of caffeine just to get us through the day. This is not great for our short or long term health and it makes us sick. Eating lots of processed foods puts major stress on our bodies because we aren’t designed to eat them on a regular basis. This means that our body ends up working overtime to clear the toxins we have eaten from it. One of the main aims of this plan is to give your liver a break. Our liver has many roles such as removing toxins from our body, balancing blood sugar levels, breaking down hormones after they have served their purpose and storing nutrients. Therefore, if your liver cannot work properly you will experience many problems, such as weight gain, intolerances to food, tiredness, bad skin etc.

Caffeine 

Caffeine is addictive and we are consuming too much.  Most of us like a nice cup of coffee but we don’t want to start relying on it for energy. We often drink coffee and have a maximum of two cups a day. We often try and 

drink these before 2pm so it doesn’t affect our sleep. Drinking a substance that stimulates the body doesn’t make much sense before going to bed. We all tolerate caffeine differently so be aware of how it makes you feel. If you are consuming high levels of caffeine (10 cups a day) try and reduce it by half to start with. 

Treats 

This is a lifestyle plan so we have included treats. These are healthy treats which actually taste great and contain lots of health benefits, not something we get from process treats such as biscuits. Just be aware that they are still to be eaten once in a while. Eating all the homemade fudge is still calories and won’t help you with your weight loss goals. 

Bread

Bread has been introduced to the plan as having a piece of bread once in a while is fine. People often rely on bread for breakfast lunch and sometimes even dinner. It’s so convenient, but not always the best choice, especially shop bought bread. We have used sourdough bread in our plan. We believe this is the healthiest bread for us with minimal ingredients and it also tastes great. You can choose another type of bread but please be aware of the highly processed shop bought bread.