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 Yes
it's that time of year again... the run up to the holidays.
And, as requested, and thus promised - here is our run up
to the holidays guide. Our aim? To glow by the end of the
year. Depending on what level you are at, you'll be incredibly
trim and fit by late December, or glowing from the results
of working out hard. The good news is, you do have 6 weeks
to transform yourself for New Year's Eve - plenty of time
to make an impressionable image, and possibly even steal the
floor when entering a party.
If you've been a devout follower of Jane
Fonda's Year of Fitness and Health Living 2004,
you may not need this run up. Did you miss our month by month
guide? Don't worry, Jane Fonda's Year of Fitness and
Health 2005 is coming around the corner!
Can you achieve it? Yes! Absolutely! How are you going to
do it? We're going to diet, workout and maybe even practice
our posture. One thing to remember is steering slightly of
course for a day or so is fine in moderation. One of the worst
things to do is start an awfully depressing diet (usually
recommended by a "friend" which involves mass consumption
of a low carb soup) during the holidays, and then take your
misery out on everyone else (I know we have been guilty of
this!)
So in order of priority, lets start our run up to the holidays!
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The diet, it doesn't matter if you are a yo-yo dieter, or
first timer, by now, you will probably know how a diet works:
We consume less than we burn - when we eat more than we work
off through our daily lives and workouts, we put on weight.
Naturally, the opposite is true. When we eat less and workout
more, we lose fat, and of course feel better.
Though it would be fantastic to wake up and immediately halt
our unhealthy snacks, meals and everything else in between,
for more people, it is simply impossible. A cut back is in
order.
Week One 15th November
Start a meal diary, and write down everything
you eat each day. Don't leave anything out, review it the
following day and bring your eating habits into a three meal
a day template, continue your diary through to the next day.
Now you've added some structure to your meal habits, it's
time to start cutting down.
1. Cut down on meat.
2. Substitute low-fat for high fat foods.
3. Cut down of sugar.
4. Avoid salt and salty foods.
5. Eat fewer processed foods.
6. Emphasize the complex carbohydrates.
7. Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement.
8. Drink plenty of water.
9. Drink little no alcohol an caffeine.
10. Seek lots of variety in food.
11. Go for balance and moderation.
Week
Two 22nd November - Week Three 1st December
Now you'll have higher control over what you
do and what you want to consume. The unwanted excess sugars
and salts will have worked their way slowly out of your system
and will continue to do so as time goes by.
Complex carbohydrates
These are the main course of a healthy, high energy diet. Of
the total calories your consume daily, 60 - 75% should be complex
carbohydrates.
Proteins
Protein should represent 15-20 percent of your total daily
calories. This is your diet's essential condiment.
Fats.
These should constitute the smallest portion of a healthy
diet - a little oil for the flavor and for essential acid.
Fats can provide as little as 10 percent of your daily calories
Week
Four - Week Seven
Stay on track and continue as you are. Just
remember to not stray off course with treats and sweet foods
during the holidays. It may be your responsibility to do
the meals this year, shop around for a good healthy cook
book, our choice being Jane Fonda's Cooking for Healthy
Living, or Martha
Stewart's Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook (2003)
we advocate Martha's Christmas cookbook alongside Jane's
Cooking for Healthy Living, because they are
are sumptuous and healthy.
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 Exercise
without doubt, is the most key element to physical improvement.
One of the reasons we didn't spend a huge amount of time on the
above section on healthy eating, is cutting back and moving towards
a healthy diet is the fundaments of the game. Exercise however is
far complex.
We want (and will!) burn as many calories as possible by December
24th, minimum. If you are at a stage where you haven't exercised
in a very long time and are overweight (check your body status by
Clicking
Here for a quick calculation) you will need to break
your body in for regular aerobics classes by walking first. So lets
get started.
Week
One: 15th November
Beginners: If you haven't exercised in a long time,
take a walkman and start walking for a minimum of 30 minutes, continue
this for a week, increasing your pace and time gradually.
Jane Fonda's Walkout is the best walking workout, and
worth the purchase. Fitness walking is an easy, convenient way to
burn fat while improving muscle tone and building cardiovascular
strength. The music in the walking programmes is arranged to vary
in intensity while the beat of the music controls your pace.
Intermediates: We're going to slowly increase your workout
load over the next 6 weeks; when you may be starting with Low
Impact Workout, you may also end up finishing with
Jane
Fonda's Workout Challenge!
Start with Jane
Fonda's Favorite Fat Burners (a low/high impact workout)
and do every other day for week one. If you can manage more, then
go for it. But remember to have at lease one day of rest each week.
Week
Two: 22nd November
Beginners: By now, your body will be ready to start
aerobics. Continue your walking everyday routine, but three of those
days, make Low Impact Aerobic Workout days. When I started a weightloss
program and was very much overweight. I used walking to break my
body in, and then did low
impact aerobics every other day. This is incredibly
effective, and you'll start to notice a difference.
Intermediates: With the Favorite
Fat Burners everyday (resting every 5-6 days) start
skipping skipping
rope sometime during that day you're working out. Why?
It will keep your metabolism topped up and ticking fast, it is amazing
what this can do for you, and it only takes 10 minutes, tops!
Week
Three: 29th November
Beginners: Continue walking every other day and
doing low impact aerobics every other day. After every aerobic class
however, go for another walk) You'll want to increase you walking
by pace, time and distance.
Intermediates: It's now time to increase your workout pace,
and demands. Progress to Jane Fonda's Complete Workout, where the
aerobics are higher than Favorite Fat Burners, but the class still
gives a light option for the low impact student. If you don't have
Complete Workout, and can't purchase it, then add wrist weights
to your Favorite Fat Burners class. Put skipping before and after
each aerobics session.
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