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Portion size, calorie consumtion and food choice are probably the big 3 as far as maintaining healthy body weight.  Of the 3 it depends on your current diet as to which will have the biggest impact.  Here we will look at food choice.

How a food releases it’s energy, very simply depends on it’s composition.  Simply put, carbohydrate ased foods tend to release their energy fairly quickly, particularly the more processed sugary kinds.  A higher fibre content will slow things down here as fibre takes longer to digest.  Protein and fat take even longer to digest and release slower.

The key is to add protein to main meals to slow the release.

Simple tips for slow release (low glycaemic) eating

• Porridge is good, try not to overcook it, as it releases slower when more grainy.
• In fact, this is the case with most veggies as well, eat them raw or steamed when possible
• Apples and pears are the slowest releasing fruits to snack on.
• Try eggs for breakfast (not fried!)
• Aim to go for bread free lunches on some days, opt for fresh protein  salads instead.
• Don’t be scared off by fats.  Include good fats such as oily fish, nuts, seeds or olive oil.

Simon Lesser works as  a full time Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist in Bournemouth.  He works with a range of clients from a private  gym in Bournemouth, Dorset – for more information call 07748 914368 or visit simonlesser.co.uk

Winter really can be a tough time for training and the short days and mucky weather can be enough to make us hibernate!  Here are some more winter tips that I often give to my Personal Training clients to keep the training levels and motivation high.

Train in a group

For example, joining a local running club or going cycling with others can often be enough motivation to keep you going.  It really can be soul destroying on your todd, and this may be the extra motivation you need, even if you’re afraid to let others down that’s great.

Buying the right gear

Generally, exercise shouldn’t be about all the gear (and no idea) but buying a few winter essentials can make outdoor training more enjoyable.  Winter baselayers will keep the warmth in and keep you dry, a superb option.  Some decent waterproofs help, as well as decent gloves and headgear.

Be flexible with exercise

Check the weather often to choose the best times to get out, but be willing to be flexible.  If it’s chucking it down all morning then see if you can wait til later.  If all else fails have a gym program as a back up.  Remember its your fitness that will benefit come spring next year.

Also see the other article on winter training.  http://www.simonlesser.co.uk/articles/winter-training

Simon Lesser works as  a full time Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist.  He works with a range of clients from a private  gym in Bournemouth, Dorset – for more information call 07748 914368 or visit simonlesser.co.uk

We are now offering Circuit Training / Boot Camp every Saturday in Bournemouth.

This is a superb way to get in shape, aimed at all levels and abilities.

Circuit training still remains  the best all rounder fitness session available.  Most exercise can be very specific and targets certain areas of fitness or isolated areas of the body.  Running for example improves lower body endurance and overall fitness, but a limited amount of upper body work, strength or core stability.

Circuit training offers such a range of exercises that it is more complete, and therefore suitable for both novices training once or twice a week but also advanced exercisers who need to cross train or compliment existing exisiting programs.

We meet at the entrance to The Miramar Hotel, Bournemouth. 9am-10am.   Cost is £6 per person.

Contact us if you need more info, or simply turn up on the day.  Hope to see you there!…

boost metabolism with exercise

Metabolism can basically be described as how efficient your body is at burning calories.  There are 2 types of metabolic rate, resting metabolic rate and active metabolic rate.

Basal metabolic rate

This is simply the number of calories you burn if you simply lay on the couch all day without moving.  This amounts to around 60-75% of your total daily expenditure and is required to keep the body functioning as normal.  This is a surprisingly high percentage and would explain why some people do little or no activity and still stay slim.

Active metabolic rate

This includes the calories we burn during every day activity and exercise, making up the remaining 25-40% of calories.

Boosting metabolism

There are a number of ways to boost metabolism.  Every time we eat we burn calories purely to digest the food. Yet another reason to eat little and often. Exercise will boost metabolism in two main ways.

Aerobic activity increases the active metabolic rate by burning extra calories as well as making our fat burning potential more efficient.  Following aerobic activity there is an `afterburn` effect where we burn calories at a higher rate for up to 24 hours afterwards.

Weight training will maintain lean muscle tissue which is metabolically active and has a greater impact on basal metabolism.  Essentially the more muscle tissue we have the higher the basal metabolism (which accounts for 60-75% remember!).

Yet more reasons to eat little and often and exercise regularly.

How heavy should I be?

A simple, yet commonly asked question. We all want to know what our ‘ideal’ weight is and how much we need to change to get there. There are a number of ways to work this out.

Measuring your BMI

If you go to your GP or clinic they will measure your BMI which stand for Body Mass Index. This is basically a score based on your height and weight and it is calculated by using the following simple equation;

Weight (in KG) divided by Height (in Metres) squared ²

So for example let’s say someone is 1.75 metres tall and weighs 80kg. The equation becomes

80 divided by (1.75 x 1.75) which becomes, 80 divided by 3.06 = 26.1 (too easy huh?)

This person would have a Body Masss Index of 26.1. Now we need to work out what the score means. The chart below shows the meaning behind BMI scores.

Considerations

Due to different body types, changes in muscle and water, and various other factors the BMI is not always 100 percent accurate. A BMI of 30 is likely to tell a story but 25.5 or 26 is no cause for concern.

Simon Lesser works as  a full time Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist.  He works with a range of clients from a private  gym in Bournemouth, Dorset – for more information call 07748 914368 or visit simonlesser.co.uk

Specifically we run 12 week weight loss courses covering nutrition, exercise and behaviour.

Glycaemic index or `GI` as it is commonly known measures the speed that a specific food releases it’s energy. GI has been around for many years but only more recently has it had such good coverage.

The Glycaemic Index works on a scale of 0-100 with a high score indicating a faster release of energy. Pure glucose or something like table sugar would get a score of 100. Foods are often rated high, medium or low GI depending on their rating and it’s the low GI foods that help us lose weight.

Why GI works

Slow releasing foods are more likely to be utilized as energy, keeping energy levels steady and reducing hunger levels. Conversely high GI foods release quickly, sending energy levels into a rollercoaster effect and if we don’t use these calories then they are stored as body fat.

Slowing the release of foods

There are numerous resourse that give you the GI of particular foods and these are a good guide. Adding protein to meals is one of the best ways to slow the release of the meal. Food that are high in fibre like fruit and vegetables also tend to be low GI.

Ask anyone about their eating habits and they will tell you their diet is better than it really is. We tend to have misconceptions about what we really eat, not being mindful of the amount of processed food we eat or the units of alcohol we drink. This is when a food diary is helpful as a reality check.

Reasons for keeping a food diary

The main reason is mentioned above – it’s a reality check and it’s not until you keep a food diary that this hits home. If you are totally honest then you will probably look back over a few days with your head in your hands. People often tend to change eating habits once staring a food diary and this has obvious benefits.

How to keep a food diary

This is the easy bit. You can just scribble it all down on a sheet of paper or be more organized and use a computer spreadsheet. Simply write everything you eat for a period of at least 3 days including one work day and one none work day (ie thursday, friday, saturday). There is no reason why you can’t keep a food diary for a whole month if you feel you are eating better as a result. Be sure to include all the following information;

• The day of the week
• The time of day
• The food (of course!)
• Any further details – tinned/ready meal/fresh etc
• Add all fluids including water, alcohol, tea, coffee, soft drinks..
• Be completely honest!!

Do this for a few days and it will change your perspective on food!

Simon Lesser works as  a full time Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist.  He works with a range of clients from a private  gym in Bournemouth, Dorset – for more information call 07748 914368 or visit simonlesser.co.uk

From a weight loss perspective all exercise is good. The current guidelines are that we should do something on most days of the week and this could be anything from gardening to a walk in the forest. This can have a massive impact on weight loss as well as our health.

Exercise works well for a number of reasons

• It burns calories and therefore body fat
• It boost metabolism
• Exercise helps to reset hunger
• It promotes healthier living

Aerobic activity burns calories

Burning calories directly clearly helps weight loss or more importantly fat loss. An average workout burns 500 calories and this is a significant amount when you look at exercsing 3-4 times per week, every week of the year.

Resistance training boosts metabolism

When we perform resistance exercises wit even the lightest weights we increase muscle density. Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue as opposed to fat which just sits there doing nothing. So the more muscle we tone, the higher our metabolism. No there’s a way to lose weight!

Calorie burning

When it comes to exercise, calories burned is definitely an issue. An hour of hard work in the gym needs to be worthwhile so here are some average calories burned by a 70kg person shown by the type of moderate to intense activity:

When we talk about losng weight we talk in terms of stones or kilograms, using the scales as a measure of success. For example we may aim to lose two stone before the next holiday. This is not always a productive way of looking at body weight, for one main reason.

The scales will not show changes in body fat, lean muscle tissue or water.

Even professional scales will only show overall weight and commonly people can make significant progress, losing inches off the waist, feeling 1000% better but in some cases the scales may even go up! If we change eating habits and exercise routines we get changes in muscle tone and hydration and this will not be refelected on the scales. It’s easy to jump on the scales every morning, only to be disappointed that yesterdays great efforts haven’t changed things at all, often leading to a morning of comfort eating to feel better.

Body fat composition is a much better alternative. This indicates the amount of fat stored both under the skin and internally around the major organs. And as internal fat is a bad thing there are health implications attached as well. Body fat composition can be tested quite easily with a local health professional, gym or nutritionist. There are a few methods available with differing accuracy with the most common and more accurate being `skinfold calipers` and `bioimpedance` tests.

Another even easier approach is purely by clothes sizes. When we lose body fat we tend to see waist measurements reduce, trousers feel loser, belt notches go down and shirts feel baggier. It sounds so simple but it really works. Find a pair of non elastic trousers that you loved and can’t fit into any more, make a note of where they get to and go from there!

Throw away those scales!

Simon Lesser works as  a full time Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist.  He works with a range of clients from a private  gym in Bournemouth, Dorset – for more information call 07748 914368 or visit simonlesser.co.uk