Monday 1 October 2012

How Many Calories Do You Want To Burn?

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It's Monday.  The calorie scales after a weekend of fun groan from all the delicious cocktails you drank and yet, a smart and talented woman like you dare to ignore the chime of the clock as it strikes gym o’clock!

You promptly divert all thoughts about exercise to a black hole in your head and focus instead on your list of tasks to achieve for the week.  Exercise, surely it can wait right?  After all, why bother thinking about that tempting piece of cake or that delectable 5 course meal you shared with the new boy in town when you simply have got oh so much to do.  Right?  Wrong!

Admittedly, your body looks great in that new dress but what are you going to do when you have a little wardrobe crisis after a few more indulgent weekends like so?  There’s only so much bulge that even the ‘ultimate magic secret slimming firm control knickers’ can cope with. 

So let me rephrase; how many calories do you need to burn after your weekend?  I suppose it depends entirely on how many of the extra treats that 'shall not be named' you had.  

To avoid any panic attacks over clothes in the future, make sure that you fit in a date with exercise.  On a positive note, your options for burning calories truly are endless.

For example, assume a female weighing 60kg spends 45 minutes cycling to work.  She could burn 300 calories.  Increase the tempo on the bike and you could be burning up to 600 calories per exercise session.  

Walking is also a great energy busting activity, in that you could burn up to 200 calories depending on your speed.  Choose a route with hills and this could increase up to 300 calories.  

Running is brilliant as you could burn anywhere between 500 to 600 calories depending on your weight, speed and distance.  This really is an excellent calorie burner.

Swimming is not only relaxing but 45 minutes in the pool for the same female weighing 60kg could result in an energy deficit of around 400 calories.  If a slice of bread provides approximately 100 calories, then you are not doing too badly.  The butterfly stroke is another efficient activity and for this movement you could burn up to 600 calories.

Playing sport such as tennis, squash or volleyball are all fantastic options for burning calories so why not join a team?  It's also fun and a great way to make new friends.

Alternatively, you may prefer the gym whilst we head towards winter.  Even resistance training exercise with weights burn calories when you perform the activity.  As you build muscle tone and increase lean body mass, your metabolic rate will rejoice and utilise energy in the form of calories.  

Before you commit to hours and hours of exercise, research does recommend less calories in, so make eating fewer calories from treat foods your top priority.  

When this fails, balance the energy scales with regular activity to burn excess calories after a fun weekend, but to also keep your heart ticking happy.  

For tips on how to incorporate little bite sized portions of exercise through-out the day, read Keep Your Body Moving and visit my page dedicated to Exercise 'Push Yourself'

So next time it’s exercise o’clock, think back to your long, lazy, indulgent boozy lunches and dinners with girlfriends over the weekend.  Let me remind you...did it start with something like this?  That single innocent little drink...




That's right ladies, think real hard and say yes to exercise.  Your body and heart will thank you for it.


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