My Summer Transformation: Week 3

As you may know by now, Fran and I are on a serious mission to get "bikini comfortable" for summer. It's not about a goal weight, or being skinny. It's about feeling confident in your own body.

We're doing it the healthy way: Good old diet and exercise... and getting help from a few products along the way. We're experimenting with exercise- what do we enjoy, what do we hate and what is showing us the most results.

I've been swimming 2-3 times a week at Virgin Active and training once a week with Flexi-Sports (more on them later). I've also been trying to eat less sugars, cooked foods and carbs and more raw veggies and lean proteins.

When it comes to diet and exercise, there is so much reading material that you could easily spend days and days reading up on a healthy lifestyle while you eat your way through three packets of Nik-Naks. So I've found that while it's good to research what you're interested in, reading (and believing) all the material on healthy lifestyles can easily overwhelm and confuse you to the point of giving up on the idea altogether.

I find, the best idea is trial and error. For example, I've read a few times that fruit is the enemy and should be avoided at all costs. But I find that fruit helps to fill me up and keep my mind away from cakes and chocolates. I've also found that raw veggies make me feel lighter and healthier than boiled/grilled/fried veggies. And bread- whether rye, low GI or health, makes me feel bloated and full, only to leave me hungry an hour later. For other people, it may be the complete opposite.

My friend Claire is a diet and fitness expert and personal trainer at Attune Kinetics. I've asked her for a few tips on diet and exercise. This is her advise and expertise, read through it, try it all and see what works best for you.

DIET


1. WATER
2L of water per day may not be enough for you- the amount of water you need to be drinking a day is worked out as a factor of your body weight and also how much activity you are doing a day. So make sure you get at least 2L of water into your body every day-your skin will love you too and it will help with your energy levels!

2. LOW GI
Beware of LOW GI Bread. It has more carbohydrates and calories than other breads which isn't ideal for weight loss or even weight maintenance. Although you think you are being healthier you can actually eat less low GI bread than brown bread for example.

3. BREAKFAST
As everyone says: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skip it and you are likely to start picking up weight. It kick starts your metabolism for the day and gives you energy to get going! Start small if you aren’t used to fitting this meal into your day.

4. EAT MORE FREQUENTLY AND LOSE WEIGHT
There is definitely something to be said for this! Don’t skip meals. Not only will only encourage your body to go into ‘starvation’ mode and hold onto everything you eat later that day but it is likely
you will be really hungry late in the day when you really should be eating less not more.

5. BE PREPARED
You don’t want to get stuck on the road and be hungry-this will force you to have to compromise and buy what seems like the healthiest option at the shop. Rather prepare healthy meals and snacks the night before to take to work or on a day out.

EXERCISE

1. IS CARDIO BEST FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
Cardio is a great form of exercise for weightloss but although you tend to burn more calories doing cardio than weights your metabolism drops soon after you have finished the cardiovascular exercise. After a good weights session your metabolism is elevated for about 3 hours afterwards. Combine the two for the most effective weightloss regime and to keep injuries at bay. Kettlebells are great for this!

2. EXERCISE WHENEVER YOU CAN
Do a little bit of exercise if you are feeling peckish or bored at home. 20 Jumping Jacks or Burpees, Sprinting on the spot for 1min and then 30 crunches done throughout the day (3 times) will energize you and make you stop and think if you are really hungry before you reach for the nearest chocolate bar.

3. CRUNCHES
Most of us know by now that hundreds of crunches won’t give you that flat stomach you are after. Often high cortisol levels (caused by stress) encourage fat storage around the midsection-manage your stress levels by eating healthy foods in the right portions regularly during the day, exercise and most importantly get enough sleep!

4. HAVE A GOAL
Usually it helps to enter a fun run or walk so that you get the weightloss benefits on your way to getting fit enough to take part in an event. It’s easy to say you want to loose weight but just as easy to not do all the training you Need to be doing to get there. These events are also a big social occasion and you have a great sense of achievement after doing your first 5, 10 or even 21km walk or run!

5. VARIETY IS KEY TO GETTING RESULTS
Not only will this keep boredom at bay and keep you training but it will keep your body guessing so your body doesn’t adapt to the same exercise routine you are doing day in and day out. You don’t need to revamp the exercise routine completely but do vary the reps, sets, rest breaks and intensity of the
cardio or heaviness of weights lifted.

Click on the image to enlarge

This special is really cool way to get ideas and expertise specific to your own body and lifestyle.

Find all the links to follow my and Fran's journey to bikini comfortable here.