Lifestyle...not exercise

How many times a day could you count to ten?

Standing at the kettle, waiting for it to boil. Waiting for the pop tarts to leap out of the toaster. Waiting for the shower to get hot. Waiting for adverts to finish telling you how much you want those mop slippers. Waiting is a lot of time wasted. Add that to walking up the stairs! Picking up the children's toys or all of your partner's clothes from the bedroom floor. They're so bloody messy, aren't they? But you can use this to your advantage.

The nuts and bolts of exercise is 'movement'. That's it. Take away the gym plan sheets, the lycra and floor mat and you simply have a body that is moving through ranges of motion. When you get a personal trainer in, or press play on a fitness DVD, you are simply making that choice to get up off your butt and MOVE. These movements align your body to stress your muscles, increase your heart rate and develop muscle tone, with minimal risk of injury. You'll find them littered all over the internet as “Exercises you can do anywhere”, but too often, we think that means we should use them for a structured, planned and convenient home workout. Yes, do that....but at the end of your fitness session, don't revert to lazy, muscle straining movement.

What I'd like to challenge you to do is incorporate beneficial movement into your daily life...and do away with the waiting. Put it in the bin with those nasty back bends you do when picking up laundry or shopping bags from the floor.

An example:

Visualise what you're doing when you bend at the back during a house tidy. As you bend, your lower back (most likely twisting to the side) is becoming strained -especially as you pick up the weight, such as a shopping bag. With a complete misalignment of your body and with your lower back engaging to pull the weight up to waist level, not only are you straining and risking injuring yourself, you are also missing a great opportunity to engage one of your largest muscle groups -in a healthy, beneficial and productive way. Visualise the same house tidy. Your partner's stinky socks and clothes are strewn over the bedroom floor. You're mad, understandably, but you're going to have to sort it out. Rather than huff and back bend, SQUAT! 

--Face forward, engage your core, feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart and flat, toes facing forward, or outward in a plie position, keep your torso tall, bend your knees and push your bum back as though you're about to sit in a chair. Grab that sock. Now power through your legs, engaging your quads until your legs are straight, squeeze your glutes (bum) at the top of the movement.

Bending your legs is the way you're supposed to reach items on the floor. It's in every workplace and health and safety guide....for a reason! You don't want to injure yourself. Ten items on the floor equals ten squats....free of injury risk AND you're engaging your buttocks, thighs, calves, hamstrings and lower back. . That's what they're for. Day to day FUNCTION. Build in lunges as you walk around picking up the children's toys or to the kitchen for a coffee. Waiting at the kettle? My favourite is to do ten press ups or do tricep dips on the worktop.

Walking up the stairs? Skip every other step to increase the height that you'll be lifting your body, engage your core and power through your legs. A flight of twelve steps and you've just done six step ups that will more effectively use and tone your legs and bum. You were going up there anyway, so why not do it with an engaged core, correct breathing and alignment. That same flight of stairs could give you twelve calf raises.

Whether you're building correct and beneficial movement into what you're doing anyway, such as climbing the stairs or tidying up, or whether you're utilising more effectively the time you have waiting for a cup of tea, YOU CAN DO MORE. Just do something! This isn't going to get you ripped as a stand alone method, of course, but it just makes sense, for safety and for day to day benefit.  Okay, it may look a little odd...but don't say you never sing into your hairbrush in the privacy of your own home!  Your home is the place where you can look as stupid as you look and you're only subject to your own judgement; so naked star jumps while your shower warms up isn't an issue. 

Needless to say, safety is always important. Don't go crazy at the kettle, you're not warmed up. If you can't balance well on the stairs with calf raises and don't have a rail, find something else to do. But have fun, be productive and make the most of your time. Not only will you decrease your risk of injury and strain in your day to day movement, but you'll benefit your muscle tone and physique.

Eat, dammit! Eat!

From fad diets to deciding only to eat one meal a day, honestly, there's so much bad information out there wrapped up in novelty and the idealistic idea of seeing quick results, it's no wonder people really find it difficult to get that body they dream of. Actually, fair enough. Jump on the cabbage soup diet, or only eat foods beginning with a particular letter each day, or starve yourself. Yes..you'll lose weight. But don't feel too emotional as you bid it farewell and wave off the train at the station. You'll meet again, bigger and bolder than ever.

I'm not about to launch into too much detail about how the body reacts to a sudden drop in calorie intake. There's enough out there about the unhelpful effect it has on the metabolism. There's enough out there about how these diets often imbalance your intake of nutrients which are important for the simple day to day functioning of your body. Simple physiological logic and knowledge about how the body works lies unseen beneath the glossy veneer of fad promises and 'quick fix' sales pitches. But instead of raging about the ins and outs of calories, metabolism and energy expenditure, I'd like to bring to light the simple fact that these extreme and fad changes to your diet and routine are far too big a commitment to see success long term. I will explain why. First, a little more whinging.

Most often, these 'clear out the cupboards' eating regimes lead to what's referred to as 'yo yo' dieting. Why? Because it goes back and forth. Motivated to de-motivated. Succeeding to failing. Unfortunately, the failing part of this repetitive motion usually involves a greasy Chinese takeout, an entire pack of biscuits and an 'oh bugger it' shopping spree for the goodies cupboard. More of a problem than the actual food involved in this event, is the psychological feeling of failure. The guilt. The buckling in the knees of your self-esteem.

Success comes from the psychology of the individual. The fad diets exploit this with expert precision. Promises in big bold letters flash up on your internet browser, coupled with a before and after photo proving its success. 'Get your dream body in 30 days!' and the like. Everything you've dreamed of...and so easy! A click and a simple inputting of your bank details and you'll get your new food plan, either scrapping everything from your cupboard and starving your body of nutrients, or with such intricate meal plans with such particular ingredients, that you just won't find the time to build it into your life. Or find the money to get everything in the cupboard. At least, not long term.Whether it's just too difficult to glug on a meal shake around the family dinner table or time and money make it too difficult to keep up with the daily grind of a more intricate healthy eating plan, most people eventually justify failure.  Read this and take it in:

Don't take on too much at once! Don't change everything! 

The last thing to do with a new client wanting to shed fat and see a healthier side to life is to book him into a marathon for a couple of weeks time and run the poor guy into the ground on the first session. With all the fresh enthusiasm, he'll give it a damn good go. Everything he has, in fact. But setting him an hour on the treadmill after taking his money, knowing he'll start flagging after 10 minutes just isn't fair, ethical, or productive. It's certainly not going to show him success and spur him on. Set too many reps, he'll fail. Set too high a time on the treadmill, he'll fail. His self-esteem plummets. He doesn't want to feel like a failure again...so he skips the session. Eventually, he'll put the whole idea and regime into the bin...with last year's resolutions. Now...you see the sense in that don't you! Rarely do smokers give up in one try, however motivated they are when they snap that last cigarette. Success stories usually involve nicotine patches and electric cigarettes. Same with any drug or habit. Too much, too soon is not likely to work. Our psychology, as well as our body, hates prohibition.  However, achieving small, realistic goals leads to self-esteem. Self-esteem leads to motivation to see more success. And guess what? Motivation will lead to the success of more achievable goals.  That's not a 'cycle'...that's a 'snowball'.  

So...”dieting”. If you see the sense in the above, scrap that word from your vocabulary. Put it in a bin with 'healthy eating regime'. What? Bear with me. I want you to think about 'tweaking'. Yup, that's right. You're going to 'tweak' your diet (meaning, your intake of food and drink). For the most part, leave your shopping list alone, for now. This will be the equivalent of getting our wannabe marathon runner (let's call him Jim) to start walking to work instead of driving, or taking the stairs instead of the lift. Going for a brisk walk with the dog in the evening...before the pub.

With Jim's fitness tweaks in mind, how can you mimic that regarding your diet, on a daily basis? What could you succeed in giving up or substituting? Not usually words you'll hear from a personal trainer, but while doing this don't be too optimistic. Go for realistic. Do you snack in the car? Probably crisps, haribo and handy food if you do. Can you do without that? Or at the very least, substitute crisps for something more natural and healthy? A bag of crunchy, sweet carrots? Raisins? Could you substitute every other cup of coffee with a glass of water? Maybe you could actually eat breakfast!

Here are a few simple ideas for your tweak. A blanket rule that serves as “part b” for any of these ideas, is that eating less than you might usually do..or at least being aware of when you're full, is always going to help. That said, don't over complicate them and choose a maximum of three to attempt on a daily basis for a week. Add some more for week 2 and so on.

Snack in the car?

Skip it if you can OR substitute typical car snacks with fresh fruit, handy vegetables or nuts.

Eat breakfast,

Perhaps just something light and easy if you find it difficult to eat in the morning. A slice of toast and a glass of pure orange juice. Yes, it's adding food to your intake, but will give you a little kick start and minimise a mid morning scream for energy and sugar at the vending machine.

McDonalds fan?

A large quarter with cheese meal with a coke is nudging towards 1,700 calories in one, less than fulfilling, nosh frenzy. Try a Subway instead. It's just as cheap and you can pack it with fresh veg...don't worry, they sell coke if you've still got your heart set on it. If you insist on the ol' Maccy Dee, maybe try the medium fries...or could you do a small? What if you actually got a double cheese with small fries? You'd probably still be full...and it all adds up to a happy meal. Enjoy the toy!

Tea time tweaking

Even if you don't tweak the content of your evening meal, how about tweaking the plate arrangement. Most of us over estimate how much we can eat, so we pile that plate high and add an extra dollop for good measure. Try spacing each type of food out on the plate. Dished up, no food group should be in contact with another. Keep a centimetre between each group. You'll still fill up, but you won't have to make that 'waste not, want not' effort with those last gruelling mouthfuls. Alternatively, use a smaller plate. Sure, knock yourself out, pile it as you usually would. You'll dish up less, it's a step in the right direction...which you chose to make when you reached for the smaller plate. You cleared the lot...but feel good about yourself. You made that choice!

Drink a tall glass of water before your meals.

Decide always to leave a little food on the plate. Just a little.

Fish fingers for tea?

Fish in breadcrumbs or batter. Yummy, sure. Just as cheap are tins of tuna or kippers if you shop around.

Cupboard full of crisps?

Okay, they're yummy, sure, but what about nuts? You want a savoury, nibbly snack, obviously. A number of options are available that are tasty and better for you -but then, a punch in the face is better than a baseball bat to the noggin. We're tweaking, so keep in mind that tweaking the amount you eat is always going to help. That said, try popcorn instead of crisps. Better yet, grapes, chopped fruit or vegetables such as carrots are filling and taste great. Dunk those carrots into a dollop of hummus for an extra treat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture actually considers hummus to be a meat alternative due to its high protein content (¼ cup contains 6g of both protein and fibre). Win.

These are just some ideas which you can take as they are. Alternatively, they may have given you ideas about what you can tweak in your current diet. YOU know your lifestyle and what you can achieve. When it comes down to it, most of us know which foods are less helpful against which ones are probably a better alternative. Don't get too stiff and rigid about it, but just be aware, making little changes here and there that you can be sure to achieve. Then add some more the next week, or take a particular tweak to the next level. Do weigh yourself before you start, but don't get hung up on it. At the end of Week 2, perhaps with 6 tweaks under your belt, get back on the scales. It's most likely that you've seen results. Keep in mind, that if 'calories in' is still higher than 'calories out', you'd still be looking at having gained weight.  But that's not actually important right now.  With enough tweaks under your belt as you continue through the weeks, your efforts will amount to a significant enough change to see the results you've worked for.  If you weigh yourself after Week 2 and feel a tad disappointed, please remember that you are not on a fad diet.  You are succeeding!  You have instigated changes in your daily routine.  You had the ability to change and do what you set out to do, you should pat yourself on the back and continue to Week 3, knowing you have what it takes!

As an addition, alongside your diet tweaking, why not try stealing a few of Jim's tweaks? Whether you want to just tweak your diet on Week 1 and couple your new Week 2 tweaks with some tweaks to your activity levels, keep them simple and achievable. You know how to set achievable goals and common sense really is all you need.

GO FOR IT. You CAN!

Sod the gym

Here's a fact: most clients that ask for my services are not looking to achieve peak physical fitness and more efficient performance. It's likely that very few are looking for sport specific training to improve their body's strength and speed or to lower heart rate, blood pressure and decrease the likelihood of disease. Most clients simply want to look good. I don't blame them, to be honest. I'm much the same. Most of us are. As cliché as it sounds, we live in a society that is saturated with the idea of perfection and beauty. Billboards advertising soap will find reason to stick at least a half naked, trim and smooth body over half the advert. It's intimidating. And while we may have occasional notions of running a marathon or cycling across a country, most of our concerns and conversation have more to do with aesthetic appearance and appeal.

Okay, fact number 2: if you focus on a sport, an active discipline, a hobby that demands particular functions of your body, you'll see the benefits of your time, effort...and enjoyment. Find something you love to do and something you want to be better at and as you push your body, as you endeavour to climb higher, run farther or faster or cover more distance on your Sunday morning bike ride, your body is going to shed fat, build necessary and functional muscle and increase the efficiency of your cardiovascular system. You'll feel better, be better, have an added branch to your social group...and, of course, look better.

This is the kind of fitness I care about and care to encourage. Personally, I loathe the gym. It's time consuming, expensive and usually packed out to the point where you'll need to compromise your workout plan because some oak is sitting on the weight bench, checking himself out in the mirror.

Added to this, it's far too easy to get into a rut, blunder through a stale program and, essentially, waste your time.

Fitness can be simple, cheap, effective...and sociable. I first opted to become a personal trainer due to my love of working with people and my enjoyment of fitness...and I'd never set foot in a gym. Unfortunately, the entire learning process pretty much forces a student of the fitness industry into that environment. My body suffered, as did my enthusiasm, soon leaving me a tad despondent about the entire idea. So, back to the fun stuff.

The best workout I've ever experienced was in a boxing club. It was a shabby hall with a few skip ropes and a boxing ring. For floor work, you were lucky to get a mat. But I got into the best shape I've been in, before or since. There were no weights, no treadmills....just a bunch of likeminded people pushing their bodies to the absolute limits using high intensity movement, plyometrics and body weight. It strips fat, it tones and builds muscle in a more comprehensive way than you' might see in the gym and it ups your fitness levels, while being cheap, quick and sociable. Plus, it's very easy to do it in your living room or a sunny park. .