ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: Take a Good Look at Yourself

By Bruce Greenall

I guess one of the reasons you are reading this article is that you are not particularly happy with your weight or should I say how your body has distributed this excess weight.

In simple terms, you need to look specifically at those areas that need the most work. If, for example, you have excess fat around your middle, it is pointless spending time developing your upper body mass as your problem area will remain. Of course, general exercise will improve your health but as I said previously, certain areas may need more work than others to be effective.

In completely simple terms, you need to do more. If you put calories in your body, you need to burn them off again or you increase in size and weight. If you spend a lot of time sitting down, then you need to spend some time standing or walking. Do not spend all evening in front of the TV. This invariably follows a large evening meal and with no exercise, food will take longer to digest. Consider a lighter meal and then a walk before settling down for the evening. Another thing to be wary of is not eating anything around an hour before going to bed. The body will be sleeping and not burning calories effectively.

Now let us consider food. It is fairly obvious that diets do work but only if you have the self discipline to keep to them. Easier still, do not worry about diets but eat sensibly. What I mean is cut out snacks, chocolates, confectionery and all those things that you really know are just a treat. Try not to snack between meals and listen to what your body is telling you. We all know when we eat a large meal, we sometimes feel uncomfortable as the stomach fills up. You need to recognize this sign and stop eating.

Unfortunately a lot of what we eat that is good for us does not taste quite as nice as the food that is bad for us. This of course makes self discipline that much harder.

To conclude. look at your body, assess your problem areas, eat sensibly and exercise but the main thing you need to encompass by all this is that you need to enjoy what you are doing.