Lethargy, a common symptom of event-driven fitness. Sadly, even if the event in question is so monumental that the resulting pictures will live on your mantelpiece forever, it doesnt increase your desire to hit the gym until at least half way through the engagement process.
But six months is plenty of time to see a big difference and the most important way to handle it is sensibly - you have your fertility to think of now.
Gillian Reeves, National Group Exercise manager at Virgin Active health clubs, says that in six months you can lose you as much as 24lbs.
If your goal is to tone up and lose weight to look your absolute best, you can do a lot in six months, Gillian tells us, aim for steady weight loss of between one two llbs a week. If you lose any more than this, you are likely to put weight back on very easily and the whole process of excessive weight loss and gain in a short period of time is a stress on your body and doesnt promote good health in the long term. Research indicates that excessive yo yo dieting can cause fertility issues so stick to a structured achievable exercise and eating plan that you can work into your lifestyle and maintain for the long term.
If you are new to exercise, start by working three cardio sessions into your week that all last 30 minutes each. You can choose any activity such as a Zumba fitness or Group Cycle class, jogging or power walking or swimming. Push yourself during the 30 minute session so that you feel that you are working at a perceived effort level of seven out of ten. After two weeks, add in two strength sessions a week, you could do this at the beginning of two of your cardio sessions, for example, try using the ViPRs or TRX at your local health club. This equipment is user friendly and fun too.
After your first month, keep the cardio sessions the same but up the intensity by adding an interval format where you exercise at high intensities for short bursts of a few minutes followed by a few minutes of lower intensity exercise and repeat for the 30 minute session. Keep your strength sessions and try some different exercises rather than keeping to the same routine.
In your third month, maintain the interval format for cardio and increase the time to 40 minutes. Keep your strength sessions twice a week and again try some different exercises.
For months four six, change your types of exercise to give your body a new challenge and keep it adapting positively to the exercise demands so you can see results and continue to improve rather than reach a plateau.
If you are already exercising, make a change to your usual routine and try something different. If you are used to running twice a week, change one of your runs for a swim or boxing session. By giving your body a new physical challenge, it will be forced to adapt and you will see the results through inch loss and improved muscle tone.
Take a look at your nutrition and what you are putting into your body. No matter how much exercise you do, if your diet isnt right, you wont see the best results. Its simple, cut down on sugary foods and alcohol, make sure you are taking in enough energy and choose foods that will release energy slowly throughout the day such as rice, nuts and seeds. Keep a balance between food groups i.e. protein, carbohydrates, fibre and fat avoiding excessive fat intake.
