Here's some of my tips:

1. My strong advice is to reduce gluten as that will increase your energy for starters and that alone will probably reduce your weight drastically.

2. If you're not big on exercise then incorporate it into your day. Walk 30 minutes of your journey to work & 30 minutes home or in your lunch break. Make sure you have shower facilities or rexona wipes handy! :)

3. Don't listen to the excuses, just do it...even the fittest have the same excuses but before you convince yourself that "tomorrow you will do extra exercise" just push yourself to live for that moment. Be strong willed.

4. Focus on the result & reinforce how good you ALREADY look! Stay focused.

5. For 3 months do 1-2 hours exercise a day for between 3-5 days a week, then after that initial 3 months you will be able to go off the beaten track & back onto it & be back to toned in under 2 weeks. Learn how to control your exercise goal/s.

6. Take your ipod (i prefer to listen to the birds) or phone your Mummy & chat or your boyfriend or anyone willing to chat & listen to you pant (so I've been told).

7. Buy a bicycle and just ride at a moderate pace, just enough to tighten & tone your upper thigh & buttocks areas. Maybe 2 hours a week.

8. Exercise before any big meal. Actually, exercise before any meal...snacks not included (snacks are usually fruit or nuts).

9. Skip dinner it works for fast weight loss, but you have to be willing to listen to your stomach instead of counting sheep.

10. Invest in a tape measure and then be prepared to invest in new pants/jeans and basically all your bottoms as you will lose inches off your waist and hip areas!

I have an abundance of health tips but it really comes down to what works for me, may not work for someone else. Find your niche & stick to it, don't beat yourself up when you eat a few too many chocolate biscuits or indulge in your favourite ice cream (I am most annoyed they make gluten & dairy free almost everything now days, thought I had that sweet tooth cured for a while).

Good luck, especially over winter.

Xv

Post Last Updated:18.05.2008 at 08.05

Just sit and relax @ the balcony of my house with some cigar and coffee.. and just free my mind.. :D

Post Last Updated:11.06.2008 at 14.08

I just want abs- thats it!!! it just takes so long, ive been doing 50 crunches/50 leg raises and 50 push ups as well as pilates and its not doing anything!!!!!!!

Miss Claire I would be doing 100 of each, morning & night...if you want results. When I was 14 I wanted a perfect stomach so I did 100 sit ups using the end of my bed every chance I got...I was a little obsessed but it didn't take long at all. :)

For me, I'd always recommend technique over quantity. There are many people who spend too long doing 100+ situps, crunches, etc however they may not necessarily help with body shaping. A few trainers taught me to focus on how you work with the exercises. Such as situps and ab crunches, you should really squeeze the abs when you do the workout rather than trying to do as many as you can (and too many people "swing" rather than stomach crunch). Your body will know if it's working or not and you can feel the workout in the abs.

Just remember, you can take your time and don't need to do too many but just make sure you SQUEEZE your abs.

to get perfect abs you need to do a minimum of 200 situps a day- and yes, it does work.. i perfected my abs when i was younger by doing that

here's my advice:

Dont starve yourself when trying to lose weight. This will slow down your metabolism in a hurry. Avoid 5 to 6 hour gaps between meals without eating.

Be committed to eating smaller meals at regular intervals. Prepare food in advance and bring it with you. Never eat sporadically and plan each meal. The common mistake is to skip meals and eat too little during the day. This makes you vulnerable for eating junk food later in the day. Eating to lose weight takes planning.