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[PTKeith]

Hi all. Been a while since I have been here. Been really busy building up my PT business. But I have decided to retire from work now so I will have a little more time on my hands.

I will be putting up a few posts about lifestyle change and exercise that you might find useful.

So let's start with the D word. I will say it once and then we won't mention it again. Diet. There I said it. You should never be thinking about how many kilos you want to lose over a period of time. That just ends up as a yo-yo weight loss.

Cause and effect. You eat healthily, you exercise regularly, you don't have treats. (Your rewards are clothes in smaller sizes) the effect of this is you are slimmer, fitter and healthier. But this never stops you just carry on leading this lifestyle. So the weight never comes back.

So to lose weight we have to restrict our calorie intake, I always say to my clients to chose your favourite foods, you want to make it enjoyable. Does not have to be rabbit food, that was diets that failed in the 70's. And eat foods that are nutritionally dense to help keep you full, and increase your fibre intake.

Finally, remember it's a journey. Fast weight off is fast weight back on. Don't eat a bar of chocolate in disappointment just because you did not lose a kilo this week. Look at the end goal. And most importantly, get moving. Throw away the box sets and put on the exercise video.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, so let's go!!

[Tweedygirl]

I have a full household and find it embarrassing to exercise in front of others - I have an exercise ball and weights - do you have a recommendation for a workout I can do early (before they wake lol) and before work that wont be too noisy and that will help me lose weight... I have lost 3 stone through diet but I am "wobbly" now and hate it!!

[PTKeith in reply to Tweedygirl]

Hey. Anything you do will help. Try and do exercises that get your heart rate up. Make sure you warm up first. Start with 30 seconds exercise the 45 seconds rest and see how many you can do.

Good exercises are running on the spot, squat jumps, leg thrusts holding onto a chair, high knees, jumping jacks. You can also use the weights to do some squats, lunges, shoulder press, bent over row, kettle bell swings.

Each time you do it try and either do more reps if it's weights or last longer and be faster if it's aerobics.

Hope this helps,?

[Tweedygirl in reply to PTKeith]

perfect thank you I want to try to do everything at home so I will give this a go

[Hidden]

Hi Keith,

At the minute I find it hard to find things to do that don't cause pain. I have a slipped disc in my lower back which means any floor work, even on a padded yoga mat, severely hurts my back. I also have a torn ligament around my knee.

Do you have any suggestions as to what exercise I could do that wouldn't cause further pain and injury? I do enjoy yoga but haven't done it since my knee problem arose.

Any help would be appreciated!

Have a good one,

Deb

[PTKeith in reply to Hidden]

That's hard, but not impossible. You will have to do the exercises seated. So shoulder press, upright and flat rows, side lateral, triceps extension, bicep seated curls. The laying down you can do chest press tricep press.

Hope this helps

[Hidden in reply to PTKeith]

Thanks very much! I'll take that on board, do some research and crack on

[Trierisme 1st 7lbs]

Hello PTKeith, nice to meet you..... I think it’s very good of you to come onto the forum and offer tips and advice, and probably dispel a few myths regarding diet and exercise..... I’m already looking forward to picking your brains and asking for tips lol !

All the best Trierisme...

[Stoozie]

Hi. Thanks for the offer of help.

I'm a runner, but at the moment I keep lowering my immunity because I like long slow runs. Would intervals be a better choice?

[PTKeith in reply to Stoozie]

You should mix them up. Do a long run one day then some faster interval stuff on another day. I love doing sprints it really gets the old metabolism kicking off. If you run over the park try some boot camp type stuff. Like hill sprints, long jumps, frog jumps, hitch kick, jumping jacks, squat thrusts.

[Stoozie in reply to PTKeith]

So how long can I go for the long run without compromising my immune system?

[PTKeith in reply to Stoozie]

How long do you usually run for? Have you been told by a doctor that long runs are hurting your immune system, or is it something you have seen on the internet?

[Stoozie in reply to PTKeith]

Thanks for the response. My longest run to date was 3 hrs. It's studies like this which made me think this was the reason I had lots of viruses this winter compared to others: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1...

[PTKeith in reply to Stoozie]

Sorry to be pedantic, do you do this length running every day? How long have you been doing it for?

[Stoozie in reply to PTKeith]

I started couch to 5k in September, by november I was running for approx 1 x 1hr run, 1 x 1.5hr run and a (longest) 3 hr run per week.

Sometimes i would do a low impact aerobic session too. But I've reduced it a bit now to see if it helps health-wise, 2x 1 hr runs, a 1.5 hr run and a longer walk. (Per week)

[PTKeith in reply to Stoozie]

To me this does not sound horrendous and I would not think it would hurt your Immune system. Most marathon runners run every day. I suppose the question is do you feel better not doing it. Don't forget sometimes fatigue can make you feel sluggish. If you are doing these runs to get fitter, I would say there are better ways, that take up a lot less time.