Welcome to 2015!!

Welcome to 2015 and to my first blog post of the year. By now you’re probably just getting over the New Year and Christmas period and you’re avoiding the scales that are sitting in the corner of the bathroom staring at you menacingly. So here are my tips to get back on the health and fitness bandwagon.

Get back into a routine

Over the Christmas and New Year period, that great routine that you had the whole year goes out the window. Between catch-ups with friends, the office Christmas party and Christmas itself, it’s hard to stick to a normal routine in terms of eating and exercise during this time. This can easily lead to those extra kilos piling on. Getting back into a good routine will help you incorporate regular exercise back into your life.

Exercise in the morning

Getting up and exercising first thing in the morning not only helps boost your mood for the rest of the day, but it also helps boost your metabolism and will reduce those sugar cravings. More importantly if you exercise in the morning, come 6pm, when you’ve had a long day and the last thing you want to do is exercise, you won’t have too.

Get enough sleep

Getting at least 6-7 hours of sleep per night is crucial in the world of weight loss success. If you skimp out on sleep and are one of those people that think there body can survive on 4 hours then read this. Not getting enough sleep can cause your Leptin (hormone) level to decrease. This means you won’t feel as satisfied and full after you eat, thus causing you to consume a greater portion of food and more often.

Eat small meals every 2-3 hours

Eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours not only helps stimulate and speed up your metabolism but will stop you from feeling so famished that you then overeat.

Make water your best friend

Along with eating a good breakfast, drinking water is up there with one of the golden rules of weight loss. Drinking a glass of water helps start your metabolism for the day, keeps you hydrated and will help flush out all the nasty toxins from your body. Drinking water at regular intervals helps keep those hunger pangs at bay and allows your body to really tell you when you’re hungry.

Be prepared at work

I’m sure this is one you’ve all heard a million times. “Take your lunch to work don’t buy it to lose weight” But if one thing I’ve learnt is that being in control of what you’re putting in your mouth is the key to weight loss. Yes there are so many more healthy take away options now, however, you can never be 100% sure of what else they have added to them. Times this by getting lunch out 5 days a week and all those little extra calories can add up quite quickly. Look on my Nutrition page for a few of my favourite lunch ideas.