ISSUE 7/05

Over Indulgence

By Gillian Robertson

Gillian Robertson

How often have you heard yourself say "Right, I am going to be really careful this month and not eat or drink too much" or more likely "What the heck, I am going to enjoy myself - I'll sort myself out next month!"

We all start off with good intentions but somewhere along the way, with all those social functions and days out, we seem to go off the rails. The will power slacks off and hey presto - before we know it we have put on lbs in just a couple of weeks.

We feel fat and horrible and our clothes feel too tight, so what do we do? We turn to the nearest fad diet and try to lose weight as quickly as possible. The problem is, although we may lose the weight quickly, it all goes back on again in no time at all. Then we find ourselves having to start back at the beginning in time for the summer holiday bikini blitz.

Remember, as life is long-term we need to think about our health long-term.

The answer is actually quite simple - we need to burn off more calories than we take in from our food and drink. But how do we do that? Well, either we need to start exercising or we need to increase the intensity of our workouts.

Taking part in regular physical activity is the best thing we can do for our health. Apart from keeping our weight down it can help reduce the risk of our developing numerous diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and colon and breast cancer.

It is recommended that we do 30 minutes of physical activity for at least 5 out of 7 days and it can be accumulated throughout the day.

Physical activity does not just mean jumping around in an aerobic class, it needs to include other things like running up and down stairs or walking instead of taking the bus. It is important to try a variety of different activities such as dancing, pumping iron in a gym (or with a personal trainer - and I can recommend a good one!) or going for a brisk walk in the park, until you find something that you really enjoy. If it is ever to become part of your daily life, you really need to enjoy it.

Here are a few tips to help sort out the diet -

• Try to switch from caffeinated drinks like coffee or tea to de-caffeinated. Water or herbal teas are best.
• Cut down on alcohol. Alcohol is converted into sugar by the body and is then stored as fat. Try to limit drinking to one or two evenings per week. Take the car so you can't drink.
• You don't need to cut out crisps, chocolate, sweets and nuts completely. We all want a life and personally I can't imagine a life without chocolate, the key is to regulate how much and how often. Try to limit these to a once a week treat and offer them round to your friends first so there is less for you.
• Drink a large glass of water before your meal; this will help increase your fluid intake and fill up your stomach so you will feel full quicker.
• Try to cut out sugar, or at least cut it down (your taste buds don't take long to adapt)
• Cut down on white refined flour products such as cakes, biscuits and bread. Sandwiches may be temptingly nice for lunch but are usually calorie loaded and can often bloat you. Many people actually have a wheat intolerance, so try and opt for alternatives such as salad or pasta.

So go on, make this year the year when you really do it!

It will only take you a couple of months to feel the difference and then you can treat yourself to something nice with the money you will have saved by buying less sweets and drink.

Good Luck!