5 Simple Tips to Losing Weight and Getting In Shape

The most effective way to lose weight or increase your fitness and strength is to develop a routine that 1) fits in with your lifestyle, 2) is maintainable, and 3) suits your personality.

Here are 5 simple tips to help you lose weight and get into shape:

1) MANAGEMENT - It is important to develop and maintain a routine that works with your lifestyle because you want to make exercise a regular thing, not just something that happens on the spare of the moment or one your day off, or once a week, or when you can fit extra funds in your budget. Create stability in your goals and make the time for good, regular physical activity AT LEAST 3 times per week, or more depending on what your fitness goals are. Keep it simple and be prepared to change your routine if it doesn't work or if your circumstances change. REMEMBER: You don't want to get in shape just because it's nice weather for a walk, or because summer is coming up, or because you are going overseas next month. You want to get fit so you can feel healthy, happy and proud of yourself, long-term, for the rest of your life! Get a writing pad, write down your goals, the reason for your goals, your plans, things that motivate and inspire you. Get a diary and fill in all your daily activities, then work around this to achieve an exercise plan that is realistic and convenient for you.

2) MIX IT UP - by planning for different training on different days, for example: Toning Tuesdays- do weights and exercises that strengthen; Fun Fridays - do something that you enjoy such a dance class, martial arts, or a gym class with a group of friends; Swimming Saturdays - whether you have a pool or use you local pool, do laps or join a water aerobics class; Slimming Sundays, walking, jogging, running, cycling, fast-paced cardio, anything that gets the blood pumping and the calories burning. By putting variation into your workout routine, not only are you preventing things from becoming boring or repetitive, but you are also allowing your body to recover and adjust, and also building a long-term routine that you can keep.

3) SHORT AND SWEET - If your fitness level is not so good, or you are a busy person with not much time on your hands, or both, it IS OKAY if your workout isn't too lengthy. In fact, having regular short periods of exercise throughout the day will help you increase your fitness levels faster, lose weight faster and also will allow you to recover quicker. A group of studies have shown that if you work out for 15 minutes 4 times a day, you can lose weight quicker than someone that workouts for 1 hour once a day. This is mainly due to the frequency of exercise increasing the metabolism and therefore increasing the calories that you burn throughout the day. Any exercise is good! Doing 5 sit ups is still better than doing none. Make the time for yourself even if your time is limited. An excuse is a choice to fail. Remember why you want to do this!

4) BE KIND TO YOURSELF - Don't set unrealistic goals. Losing weight and getting fit takes time. Your body is amazing, however you can't expect it to completely empty out all fat and fill with lean muscle over night. The most important things is doing NOT planning. Work on your routine and stick to it. Re-evaluate in 4 to 6 months time. Eat healthy foods, and look after your body. If you do have a treat, unhealthy snack or a binge all is not lost. You can work it off! So many people give up their goals to get healthy and fit often because they gave in to cravings or skipped a week of exercise. But this is okay, you are only human. As long as you are moving forward you are doing good. If this happens to you on your journey just think, you may have eaten a slice of cake or had a lazy weekend, or worse! But you have also been working your butt off and that's what matters! :-)

5) WRITE IT DOWN - This is a really useful tool to weight loss and fitness and it's so simple! And it's FREE! Once you have decided on your personal goals, get started on them right away!

For example: Say you want to start getting out of bed early, eat 3 healthy meals and two healthy snacks per day, drink 1-2 litres of water, get to bed at an earlier hour, write it all down as a schedule. Wake up: ....AM. BREAKFAST:...... MORNING EXERCISE: 50 sit ups + 30 minute walk. MORNING SNACK:.... LUNCH:... AFTERNOON EXERCISE: 30 minutes of cycling, weights, or gym class.. AFTERNOON SNACK:... DINNER:... CUPS OF WATER: 8. Stick this sheet of paper on the fridge.

THEN, compare this daily by writing everything down as you go; EXAMPLE: out of bed at: 7:30AM (needs improvement) BREAKFAST: bowl of muesli, piece of fruit. (getting better) MORNING TEA: Coffee and toast (needs improvement) EXERCISE: 30 minute walk, 30 minutes of yoga (impressive) LUNCH: big garden salad and fresh juice (pat self on the back, good work!) AFTERNOON EXERCISE: none (poor go.. Try again tomorrow) AFTERNOON SNACK: Apple and hand of cashews. (good) DINNER: Steamed veggies with brown rice (great!) CUPS OF WATER: 4 (need to increase).. List any extra exercise, extra calories consumed, notes, Then stick this on the fridge beside your goal sheet and compare. Leaving the extra comments to yourself with help you to keep optimistic, laugh it off, and improve each day. This one really worked for me for the first few weeks of journey to health and fitness. The added attention of it being on the household fridge increased my drive to have only good things to write out and made me feel even prouder when I reached my goals.


Keep at it and enjoy the new you! You WILL get to where you want to be! Just remember that even baby steps will get you there eventually, the only thing that won't is standing still. Keep moving forward. Xx