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Butcher's Dog! Regular
outdoor fitness tips from the canine on creatine. Cold wet
nose and glossy coat guaranteed.
Lose The Lard!
You might have noticed the new Government
campaign to fight obesity, according to them just brushing
your teeth more vigorously or walking up the stairs three
times a week will make you fit and slim. Well, I have news
for you, there's a simple equation here - eat more calories
than you burn and your body will store the extra as fat and
you'll put on weight. Pure and simple. If you're exercising
and not losing the pounds it's because you're eating too
much, if you're not over eating and still gaining weight,
then you're almost certainly not burning enough
calories.
I'm not going to get mixed up with
calorie calculations and so on, just keep focussed on the
big picture. Here's some simple tips to get rid of that
tummy...
Walking Burns Fat
You're an outdoors person right? The good
news is that long hill walks are an idea way of burning fat.
At low intensities, as when walking steadily, your body
switches to fat as fuel and burns it slowly and steadily. It
will always be using sugars as well, but mostly just to
help it burn the fat. A five or six hour hill walk will burn
more fat than a one hour run at a much faster pace, so just
get out there and walk. Slow jogging is a substitute, ditto
cycling to work, but walking really is best.
Don't Worry About The
Stats
You'll see lots of figures suggesting
that if you walk for an hour it's the equivalent of burning,
say, a chocolate digestive biscuit. Not so because your
metabolism stays raised for hours after you stop exercising,
so you're burning more just sitting on the sofa...
Eating Properly
If you're exercising lots but not losing
weight, you're eating more than you're burning. The trick
though is not to go on some deranged crash diet - that fools
your body into thinking you're starving and once you start
eating 'normally' again, it'll pile on the pounds. Plus
you'll be short of energy and bored too.
Instead try eating sensibly. Cut out
cake, chocolate and biscuits except for the occasional
treat, stop drinking alcohol, or drink less of it, as it's
packed with useless calories and avoid anything with visible
fat in it. One simple trick, when you're shopping, is to
read those labels and avoid anything with more than 10
per-cent fat in it. You'll be surprised at what that
includes... Watch out for stuff like sausages, ice cream,
cheese and taramasalata.
You shouldn't feel that you're on a diet
at all, just eating less of the really fattening
things.
Little And Often
Research shows that it's better to eat
small portions, more often rather than waiting for your
appetite to grow into a mighty beast then shovelling it
down. You'll also end up with a steadier energy levels
rather than a boom / bust cycle of starve and munch. Think
every three hours or so.
Still Not Losing It?
It's dead easy to snack on stuff and eat
much more than you think. Try keeping a diary of everything
you eat for a week and you'll get an idea of where those
extra calories are coming from - a mid-morning flapjack,
whew, loads of fat and sugar - you'd be better off with a
banana...
Build Some Muscle
If you can, get down the gym and build us
some muscle bulk. Lean tissue actually needs more energy to
keep it going than fat, so you'll use more calories even
sitting in an armchair, plus you'll be stronger and less
prone to injury too. Regular strength training will also
raise your metabolic rate while you're resting making it a
double whammy. As you get older, your metabolism slows down
and you lose muscle, so arguably, the older you get, the
more important it is to keep that muscle mass topped
up.
Not Rocket Science
It's mostly not rocket science and if
you're into the outdoors, you're already doing an activity
that's ideal for fat burning. Don't feel you can't walk up
the stairs by the way, but don't expect the government
recommendations to have a major impact on your
waistline...
Keep training
The Canny Canine
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