Disclaimer:
The information in this site is not a substitute for advice from your medical practitioner. Consult your GP before you start any exercise programme, especially if you are over 40 or have not exercised for some time.

Disclaimer:
The information in this site is not a substitute for advice from your medical practitioner. Consult your GP before you start any exercise programme, especially if you are over 40, pregnant or recently postnatal, or have not exercised for some time.

Four Small Changes

As in Weeks One and Two, this week there are just four small changes to make.

• Increase your walking - try and take two fifteen minute walks every day, or any combination of walks that takes your daily total to around 30 minutes.  Wear a hat or hood and gloves and watch your step if the path is wet or muddy. If you walk briskly, you should be able to easily cope with any rain. Indoors, make sure you take the stairs instead of the lift, and walk up and down any escalators. Every little helps.
• Drink yet more water - gradually increase your intake to a litre and a half a day this week.
• Add another serving of fruit and another serving of vegetables so that by the end of the week you’re eating three pieces of fruit and four servings of vegetables a day.
• Work out your Daily Calorie Requirement and make sure you’re getting enough to eat!

What’s Your Daily Calorie Requirement?

You’ll need your calculator for this one...

1. Find your weight in kilograms (that’s your weight in pounds divided by 2.2).
2. Multiply this number by 25 to find your Base Metabolic Requirement (BMR).
   For example, 60kg x 25 = 1500 kcalories.
3. Add a percentage to your BMR to account for your current level of activity - be honest!
   A sedentary office worker can add 20% extra, someone who works out three times a week can add 40%, and someone who has a very active job or who trains every day could add 50-100%. The harder you work, the more you should eat!
   This is your Daily Calorie Requirement (DCR).

Make sure that you eat at least enough to supply your BMR, preferably meeting your DCR if you want to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose body fat, eat a little less than your DCR (but always at least your BMR) and take a bit more exercise.
Dipping below your BMR can cause your metabolism to slow down, to conserve energy, and that will make your body hang on to its fat instead of burning it.

Next Week...

We’ll be working out how many carbohydrate calories you need per day, and looking at how resistance training can boost your fat burning as well as your strength.