Username:

Password:

 

Bookmark Us | Tell a friend | Call me back!

Exercise & Fitness

Exercise and fitness are discussed in great detail by our resident fitness consultant Jonathan Scott. Nevertheless, it is useful to discuss them as part of our journey into diet and nutrition.

Firstly, from the slimming page, you can see that based on the energy balance concept the more energy you burn the less energy you have to reduce in your diet in order to lose weight. This makes weight loss and weight maintenance (once you've lost the weight) much easier.

There are two main types of exercise:

Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise

This is of low intensity, and can be sustained for long periods of time, 10 minutes up to many hours. Example of this type of exercise include, walking, gentle jogging, cycling and swimming.

This type of exercise helps you burn fat and so help reduce your fat stores.

Resistance or strength exercise

This is of high intensity and can only be sustained in short bursts of a 1-2 minutes or less. Examples of this type of exercise include lifting weights, sprinting, carrying heavy shopping.

This type of exercise helps you preserve and even build up muscle, helping to ensure that weight loss is predominantly fat not lean.

Whatever type of exercise, the good thing is that your metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn at rest) will be elevated for up to 24 hours after exercise! Meaning you are burning more calories even when you are not exercising. How good is that?

One of the commonest asked question is how to eat around exercise. The answer is simple if you think of your body as a car, you need to fill the car up with petrol before going on a journey, and you need to refuel it afterwards. Even though you are using exercise for weight loss it is important to heed the following advice.

• Don't exercise on any empty stomach as you are unlikely to perform as well, plus, you may do yourself an injury.
• Keep hydrated throughout exercise and rehydrate afterwards.
• Consider a snack before and/or after exercise to give you an energy boost, at these times the food is going to be fuel NOT fat.

Benefits of exercise include, improved blood pressure, improved glucose tolerance, reduced cholesterol, lower resting heart rate, improved lung function, improved performance and stamina, increased sex drive and virility, boosted immune system, well being (exercise releases natural opiates and endorphins), healthier looking skin and hair.

NB: For those on Phase 1 and Phase 2, you are not recommended to undertake any additional exercise than you had been doing routinely prior to dieting, unless directed by your GP or a member of the eurodiet™ professional support staff.