By Heather

​I am currrently at the lowest weight I've been in 10 years!

Having reached this optimal weight, I decided I don't want to lose much more but I do want to tone up. To this end, two months ago I increased my level of strength training. Actually, who am I kidding? I started a regular schedule of strength training for the first time in my life and the impact on my body has been awesome. 

Note: Strength training is the same thing as resistance training.

What counts as resistance training?
Resistance training normally doesn't require much movement from one place to another; it's achieved using the body's own strength.

​Examples include:

• Situps in all their various forms
• Push-ups
• Pull-ups
• Leg-drops
• Weights and so on...

What isn't resistance training?
Any activity that involves a huge amount of movement and can increase your heart rate significantly e.g. running, cycling, dancing, football and other sports that involve a lot of moving. These are  cardiovascular exercises or simply, cardio.

Why is resistance training good?
1. It increases your strength (and energy) levels which is good in itself
2. It improves your muscle tone and with consistency builds muscle
3. It increases your metabolism;  the more skeletal muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate i.e. you burn more calories when you're doing nothing which certainly cannot be bad 

What's harder - resistance training or cardio?
Personally, I would say resistance. Cardio involves a repetition of the sam movements over and over again so you can jog or cycle, for example, but have your mind in another place entirely.

A successful strength traning workout involves lots of different actvities and your mind has to be more engaged in the session. Indeed, the first sessions are almost imppossible. Two months ago, I couldn't do two consecutive bent-knee leg-drops (the easiest form) it took me two full months to get to six consecutive leg drops.

And the best bit? I found that I was eating a little more but still maintaining my weight. This goes to show that the combination of cardio and resistance does help with weight maintenance. 

If you don't already do both, start to incorporate both forms of exercise into you regime to get more out of your work outs. Currently, I do two 5 km jogs per week and two sessions of resistance training. I also use cycling as a mode of transport if I'm not going very far. 

​Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
​

By Dr Harry
​
Fibre is an essential component of the diet. Even though it is not absorbed by the body, and therefore has no nutritional value on its own, fibre is vital to maintain a healthy digestive system. Another way fibre helps your health is by adding bulk to your food. 

These two features of fibre illustrate the two different types of fibre: soluble and insoluble. 

Soluble Fibre
Like the name suggests, soluble fibre dissolves in water. It comes from parts of plants which draw in water and by forming a gel helps slow down the passage of food. So when it sits in your stomach it stays there for longer helping you feel fuller and reducing overconsumption. In this way fibre is a great brake on overeating by making you feel full and satisfied helping to control your appetite. That's why it is so difficult to eat a whole bowl of cabbage.

Insoluble Fibre
Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water and passes through the body unchanged. Because it helps food to pass through the body in a timely manner, if you don't get enough fibre in your diet you may feel constipated! 

​My wife and I have recently upped our fibre intake considerably by eating a lot more legumes. 

Many people get a high fibre hit first thing in the morning by eating cereals such as bran flakes, weet-a-bix, shredded wheat etc. for breakfast because these are marketed as "high fibre". Personally, we like oats because oats are a great source of fibre but are also low in sugar and salt (which the other cereals mentioned tend to have added to make them more tasty). So oats are all-round very healthy.

You can read our blog dedicated to oats here.

The recommended daily intake of fibre is 25g for women and up to 40g for men. Exact figures depend on age and gender, but a general rule is: the more the better! Unfortunately according to the British Nutrition Foundation, we are usually missing out on this daily target, only eating 60% of the recommended amount of fibre per day. Over time, this can have a negative health impact.

One way to get some extra fibre in your diet is to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you consume. For example, why not add a sliced kiwi to your breakfast routine?

The exact amount of fibre per food varies, but a minimum should be 3g per 100g (or 3%) to count towards your daily fibre intake. Some foods are "high" in fibre which is defined as 6g of fibre per 100g (i.e. 6%).

Fruit and vegetables are generally high in fibre, so as long as you are getting your "five-a-day" you should meet your daily fibre target.

Foods high in fibre:
​

​Some foods are higher in insoluble fibre while others are higher in soluble fibre. Since they both have a positive effect, it's best to get a mixture in your diet. Some super foods are high in both insoluble and soluble fibre. You may not be surprised to learn that oats contain both types of fibre.

Insoluble fibre is that which is based on cellulose - a plant component found in green vegetables and whole grains.

Soluble fibre is based on pectin and gums and is found in all fruits. 

And by the way, chips don't count - unless they contain the potato skin! 

​Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
​

By Heather
​
As this small analysis shows, not all oats are equal. The key differences are:

• The way in which they're processed before being sold
• The rate at which they cook
• Their texture and
• Their nutritional content. On the nutritional front, all oats except instant oats are equal. Instant oats, the most processed variety, tend to contains added sugar and are therefore slightly higher in calories.

Oats are a great source of fibre (fibre helps to reduce cholesterol), thiamine and iron. Oats contain more soluble fibre than any other grain. This results is slower digestion ultimately meaning you feel fuller for longer.

Oat groats are the only source of antioxidants called avenanthramides. These compounds are known to protect one from the hardening of arteries.

All in, oats are definitely one of the best foods you can have for breakfast. I have them almost daily.

This nutritional information was taken off the pack of Mornflake Coarse Oatmeal, Scott's Old Fashioned Porage Oats, Scott's Original Oats and Quaker Oats So Simple. I had no idea that the sugar content was so different!

​

​Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
​

By Heather

After a hard day’s work, there’s nothing I desire less than exercise. I also hate waking up early in order to exercise so finding an appropriate time to exercise has always been challenging for me.

When should you exercise?

Find a time that’s easy for you. The number of calories you burn is not impacted by the time you choose to exercise at all.

For me, midday, after a hard morning of graft seems to work well and weekends, as soon as I wake up. I have, over time, discovered that if I tell myself I’ll exercise later...later never comes. I have to do it as the first thing during the weekend because after that, there’s always something much more fun to do.

How intensely should you exercise?

Mild to moderate exercise is good enough for most people. Moderate exercise should make you warm, sweaty and slightly out of breath. Anything that gets you out of breath and very sweaty is vigorous activity.

Recommended activity levels

Britain’s Chief Medical Officer, the Government’s top doctor, recommends the following:

• Adults should undertake about 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five times a week;
• This activity doesn’t have to be taken all in one go;
• Included is anything that gets you warm, slightly sweaty and a little out of breath, including brisk walking.
• If you’re at risk of obesity or have a medical condition such as diabetes, you need to exercise more than this: about 45-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five times a week is necessary.

Does the US Government advise the same?

Pretty much. The US Department of Health splits its recommendations into aerobic activity and strength training. They recommend that:

• Aerobic activity. Adults should get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (that is equivalent to 30 minutes times 5) or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity. They also recommend that this activity be spread out across the week.
• Strength training. Adults should undertake strength training at least twice a week. For strength training there are no specific guidelines on amount of time.

​Note that these are the minimum recommended guidelines for exercise. You can do a lot more if you wish and if you’re trying to lose weight, you will need to do more. Whether or not you are trying to lose weight, the key message is:

• Exercise regularly
• Mix up aerobic exercise with strength training
• Lifestyle things like walking to the shops or walking the dog count as exercise if you walk briskly.
• Some exercise is better than nothing: set a weekly target and assess whether you met it at the end of every week. 

If you mess up one week, scrap it and just set new goals for the following week. You don’t have to make up the lost exercise. If you can, great, but being over ambitious can lead to feelings of failure causing you to give up exercising entirely.

​Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
​