Rosemary's Blog - 18th July 2016

Live life to the full!

Since my last Blog which I wrote after I returned from Austria a lot has been going on.

The Portuguese football team were the surprising victors of Euro 2016. In the UK we have a new Prime Minister and we were all shocked by the tragic terrorist attack in Nice in France last week. The longer I live the more I realise the huge value of life and that, in a stroke, a life can end and our world can be turned upside down. With that in mind, I firmly believe that we should live our life to the full and take whatever steps possible to maximise the life we have and to grasp the opportunities that present themselves to us.

If you are logging onto our website the chances are you are concerned about your health, weight and fitness. We all know that these aspects of our life are inter-linked and that we have to make a personal effort to achieve enhanced health. But it is within our control and it doesn’t have to be difficult. Some small, significant changes can transform our body and our lives and here are my simple suggestions that might help you turn a life-saving corner.

1. Get into the habit of just pulling in your stomach. It may seem a little thing but doing so will improve your posture and strengthen your stomach muscles. You will be surprised how much good it will do for you. So, whether you are sitting or standing, get into the habit of pulling in!
2. Have a long drink before every meal. It takes time for our stomach to recognise that something has arrived inside it so by having a drink before we eat helps the process of knowing when we have had enough.
3. Serve yourself one spoonful less of rice/pasta/potatoes so that you get used to eating a little bit less. It will make a real difference to your success.
4. Serve your wine in a smaller glass and don’t fill it too full. We drink according to how much is in our glass. If there’s less, we drink more slowly. Try it. It works!
5. Decide on two dry days each week. Choose days when maybe you are home late and perhaps having a drink is just a habit. It is so good for our body to have a break on two days a week. Alcohol ages us, adds empty calories (that means there are no nutrients), and leads us into temptation. Two dry days really helps.
6. Cut down the butter on your bread or toast. I only have salad cream on my sandwiches and I don’t miss the butter at all. If you are dining out and the restaurant brings you warm bread, you really don’t need the butter or the olive oil dip! Oil and butter add so many calories they will seriously hinder your weight-loss progress.
7. Always grill or dry fry your meat. All that unnecessary fat will drip away and save you lots of inches!
8. Say ‘no’ to nibbling. Eating between meals is the biggest cause of slow, or non-existent, weight-loss. Make sure you choose a breakfast or lunch that will fill you up till the next meal and only allow yourself a piece of fruit in between if you are really desperate!
9. Some of us were brought up with our parents drumming into us ‘don’t leave anything on your plate’. In the post-war era when rationing food was still prevalent it must have seemed incredibly wasteful but, thankfully, those days are past and now we can leave food if we have served ourselves too much and hopefully we can learn not to give ourselves quite so much next time.
10. All of the above are positive ways we can cut calories and lose a few lbs but remember, the more active we are, the more weight we will lose so get moving. It makes a massive difference to our health and wellbeing.

If you need some help on your weight-loss journey why not join our online club. It is inexpensive, incredibly effective and we will help you achieve your weight-loss dreams.