insideKENT Magazine Issue 24 - March 2014 | Page 91

© Jill Tipping

As the insideKENT crew consists of people of all shapes, sizes and fitness levels, I thought I’d use our team
as guinea pigs in this feature, asking Jessie to give his top tips for each of us in our individual walks of life.
Though your own profile might not match one of these to the ‘T’, we’re sure you’ll learn something useful,
and will hopefully make a change or two to live a healthier life in 2014 and beyond.
Adam - Publishing Director

Donna - Editor

• Age: 31
• Current activity level: Fairly active
• Current lifestyle: Spend a lot of time driving across the county and to work
in the car, but try and get to the gym at least 1-2 times a week and play
football on a Sunday morning when time allows.
• Food, diet and fitness goals for 2014: Cut out takeaway and fast food by
eating more home-cooked food. My weakness is bread and I have started
to eat more chocolate than I ate before, so I need to concentrate on
keeping the weight off (lost over a stone in 2013) by eating well and not
falling back into old habits. I’d like to tone up a bit more at the gym and
push myself a bit harder to keep trim after losing weight.
• How much time to commit to health and exercise every week? 2-3 hours
per week / 1-2 evenings and a weekend morning.

• Age: 34
• Current activity level: Sedentary (unless I'm running through the supermarket
or after one of my kids)
• Current lifestyle: I have three little boys, and due to my 1-year-old's erratic
sleeping schedule (or lack thereof), I could fall asleep anywhere, anytime
if I close my eyes for more than five seconds. Throw in a full-time job,
trying to keep my house presentable and making sure my kids don't
starve, I have very little 'me' time, or time to exercise or plan meals.
• Food, diet and fitness goals for 2014: Eat less sugar Eat more veg. Maybe
.
try going on a chocolate fast. Forever. Lose the baby weight (2 stone!),
get back to being able to run a few miles without stopping.
• How much time to commit to health and exercise every week? I could
do a half hour here and there, wherever I can fit it in.

At 31 years old, you’re still in a good place to set yourself up for life in terms
of health and fitness, so up the gym time to 3-4 times per week. Just by
adding one or two extra days a week, you’ll see incredible results – and do
your sessions in the morning if you can. For the morning workouts, do
interval training, which is basically giving it 100% (like a sprint), followed by
a minute of slow to moderate recovery for the duration of your workout.

One of the most important things you can do is schedule things, and trim
the fat out of your schedule. Find those little windows of time and let your
schedule rule you, and don’t just say you need to work, work, work, or that
you can’t make time for yourself.
So on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you know that you have some free
space in your schedule where you don’t have a meeting. Block off half an
hour to go for a brisk walk, or do another type of exercise you enjoy – one
that can clear your head and give you some exercise at the same time.

Also, with upping the exercise, you get a bit more freedom with your food,
so takeaways once a week won’t hurt you. If you’re concerned about your
weaknesses with certain foods, and you think they might cause you to fall
back into old habits, cut them out. Swap white br ad for brown or sourdough,
e
or if you know you can control yourself, eat those guilty pleasures in
moderation.

3,500 calories equals one pound, so to lose one pound a week, you have
to create a deficit in your body of 500 calories a day. If you love chocolate,
switch from milk chocolate to dark chocolate, and only cut out a few squar s
e
so you know that’s all you can have. Don’t take the whole chocolate bar
with you to the couch thinking you’ll only eat a little bit – that will never
work. Have just enough to satisfy your cravings.

One of the best things you can do to maintain your weight is to prepare
your own home-cooked meals – that way you know exactly what’s in it,
and won’t be eating hidden saturated fats or simple carbs. You can also
make sure you’re eating enough protein with each meal and stick to proper
proportions (1/3 protein, 1/3 starchy veg and 1/3 leafy greens).

Eating more veg is a great goal, but concentrate on cutting out sugars.
Surround yourself with good snacks to start breaking the sugar habit. If you
want to lose two stone, exercise in the morning if you can, and most
importantly make sure you start scheduling in time for yourself to be active.

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