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The lose one stone in 28 day challenges/shreds that appear in January. People say " I want to lose a stone by February"

The main problem with these challenges is that people may well have gained nearly one stone in December and this is though sheer excessive drinking, wolfing down the junk food, chocolate logs, takeaways and going nuts throughout the month of December

Most people overlook the fact they may well be one stone heavier than they were in November

So someone who may well have been 11 stone at the start of December may well be not far off 12 stones by new years day through effort and dedication to chocolate logs, takeaways and consuming enough alcohol to destroy their liver

So lets assume someone through effort managed to get their weight up to 11st 12, this means if they were to lose 1 stone in 4 weeks they would only be 2 pounds lighter than they were at the start of December

EXAMPLE
Start of December = 11 stones
Start of January 11 stone 12 pounds
Start of February= 10 stone 12 pounds (assuming challenge completed and not quit by day 4)

EQUALS
Net loss of 2 pounds from start of December to start of February

Is it possible to lose 2 pounds in weight? yes very easily, cutting back significantly on fizzy drinks (have a glass of water instead of a glass of cola when thirsty) one very minor switch - there are many more simple switches you can do

Also introducing a small level of exercise, if the person was sedentary throughout 2025, then merely a 1/4 mile stroll twice per week would be a major step forward
(but plans like that cannot sell - hence they are not promoted)

People in January are more likely to attempt extreme methods when they don't need to.

Starting any plan in January is not a good idea, it is possibly the worst month to make any new changes to your lifestyle, thats the bad news.

The good news is that the best time to make a start on a new lifestyle is any time between the months of February to December

For example, if you wait until February to join a gym then most of the January new starters will have quit, meaning the fitness machines won't have massive queues
(nothing worse than doing a days work in January, heading to the gym after work and then spending ages standing in queues for machines to become available)
Join the gym in February and the queues for machines will be non existent - which makes going to the gym a more productive experience, less time consuming, and less crowded experience.

Back to the lose one stone in 28 days, making those reasonable changes throughout the year (ie, being consistent but sensible) will yeald much better long term results than a 4 week shred/lose a stone challenge.

Next topic, training after the age of 40 = this topic is going to open a can of worms

Staying fit as you get older, why bother???

After all you could follow my "become an old person plan" where you get to enjoy takeaways, being drunk and watching sky sports, if you are on the old person plan then parking in town is not for you.

Have you seen the prices of the car parking charges in the city centre, I did and my wig fell off, I had to pick up my wig from the floor and put it back on my head...... I mean, how on earth are you supposed to do your shopping when you are paying that much for parking??????

Now for those who remain active this isn't really a problem because 2 hours is amble time to do what you need to do.

But if you are 40 years old and you are already hitting the weighing scales 6 stones heavier than you should be then you are going to have serious problems.
(**** note - if you got plenty of money never fear because you can afford those charges, and you can probably afford to use public transport too)

BUT.......if you are not rich and you are waddling around then you will have the following problems

* Mobility problems meaning you are a much slower walker than a fit person, so takes you longer to do the same shop as a fully fit person.

* You become exhausted more quickly meaning you need rest breaks, this takes time, meaning you need to pay more for parking (are you wealthy enough to do this?)

* You could use the bus, but can you physically stand because all the seats are taken, can you afford the bus?

* Can you stand at a bus stop for possibly an hour if the bus you want is missing.....we all know the concept of polite queuing is starting to become a thing of the past, what happens if someone physically stronger than you decides to push in in front of you?

* During your shop you suddenly realise you are running out of parking time, can you get back to your car in time to put more money in the slot, or will you get a nice £120 fine because you can't walk fast enough

* YOu could park in a space further away from the ciry centre, near kelham island for example, but can you physically walk to and from kelham island without almost dying of exhaustion and sweating like a horse in a sauna.....parking further away is not practical unless you are physically fit

* Because you are spending ages walking to and from the city centre, means you have less time for shopping, so shopping trips become more expensive.

But we all know the above bullet points are not reasons to motivate people to start thinking about getting fitter in middle age, the humble photoshoot for some reason is one of the things people start to do a plan.

Staying fit in middle age and retaining your mobility as you get older
Or
Leading a more sedentary lifestyle, piling on the weight, becoming an old person before your time and gaining mobilty problems

Choose wisely

The 2nd paragraph comes with the promise of pizza, watching footy on sky sports and drinking cheap supermarket booze on your sofa

Assuming you are middle aged and have worked your way into a decent job, decent pay, good terms and conditions etc....

What would happen if the company you worked at went bust and you found yourself in a position where you had to do a physical days work for very low wages (meaning you needed to do lots of overtime to prevent going into debt and losing your home)
Working hard in your 40s, 50s, 60s doesn't sound that appealing to me

Especially given it is unlikely anyone in their 40s will be retiring before the age of 70 - unless you are rich

How have we got onto this subject, the original paragraph was about staying active in middle age or becoming an old person before your time and getting mobility problems - due to inactivity

With the cost of doughnuts and buns upwards of £3, people will soon have no choice but to start making curries, like this one for about £2.20

Thats probably cheaper than a pasty at a cheap major food chain

Add a few extra veg, such as a carrot, maybe 1 baby potato, maybe a couple of florets of brocolli and that is 2 people fed curry for less than £1:50 each

3 good meals for less than the cost of one burger, and that is from a cheap burger outlet
Celery, onions and carrots often make good bases for soups, but make great bases for savory mince dishes - £4 of meat from the local market

3 portions for £5 or around £1.60 per person

And shopping locally not only supports local businesses means you avoid being held to ransom by rip off price increases by big businesses.

Produce from the market, you cannot go wrong

60cm lost for Jackie age 55

With 30 minutes per week of fitness at home.

Not as easy as it sounds, however this post highlights the importance of getting those initial stats on the first PT session (and that is before the workout starts)

Many people are funny about stats and tape measures, however without the initial stats we don't know what progress is being made. The problem comes when people realise they are losing bodyfat, we then do the initial starting stats (often 3 weeks after starting PT) which means the stats are not accurate because the bulk of the reduction will come in the first few weeks

Doing your starting stats on week 3, is like joining a weight loss group on the 2nd January, but then doing your starting weight on January 23rd.

As for weight loss, no I don't think weight loss is a good measure of sucess, because you need the customer to have really walloped the jaffa cakes for a good 6 weeks before doing their initial starting stats (this encourages customers to lead an unhealthy lifestyle for a few weeks before they start)

So MEASUREMENTS - these are the 2nd best judge of success

But PHOTO is the number 1 way to check progress, photo before the 1st session and another photo 4 weeks later

But here, we have the measurements, and the loss has mainly come from the lower tummy area and tops of legs.

Achieved with 30 ,minutes per week

Consistency being the key

Weight loss - for best results you need to take your initial starting weight, before you start your weight loss plan - not 3 weeks after starting.

Because weight loss leaders are fully aware that the heavier you are, the better the result will be, so in January, you can guarantee that customers will have spent the previous 6 weeks fattening themselves up over the christmas party season.

In fact, with the right diet and correct amount of alcohol, junk food, cakes, chocolates, crisps etc....someone could be 2 stones heavier than they were in the middle of November if they have been walloping the junk food excessively.

So for this reason the customers start weight has to be measured BEFORE they make changes to their eating habits over January.

Someone walloping the jaffa cakes, could lose 1 and 1/2 stones over the January diet season, but still be 1/2 stone heavier than they were in November - but this could be seen as a RESULT

Well done to the customer, they get the I lost one stone certificate and this is a success story.

But if they had not drank/or ate to excess - then their starting weight could be less, but this means they would not lose as much weight - so not a good result

For weight loss to be seen as a good result, you need your customer to fatten themselves up for a few weeks, to give the appearance of a fantastic weight loss result, and starting wight taken on DAY 1

PRAWN AND TOMATO PASTA

Try this recipe, it is prawns, cherry tomatos and spagheiit, method

1) Half the cherry tomoatos (6 tomatos)

2) sq**rt some tomato puree into a wok

3) add your prawns and cook for about 2 minutes

4) add your tomatos, cook for about 2 minutes

FOR THE SAUCE

150ml water
Garlic powder
tumeric
Smoked paprika
mild chilli powder
(dash of each spice)

Into a measuring bowl, quick whisk with a fork and then add to the tomatos and prawns

Continue to cook until sauce thickens which will take about 3 to 4 minutes

Add your spaghetti

Job done

A meal in 10 minutes

Are you ready for active travel?

Forget about trying to look good in Speedos on the beach, thats not important the question is do you have the type of fitness that really counts, for example can you stand up on a crowded train for say 1 hour without fainting/keeling over (you could be a youtube star - when everyone starts filming you when you are laid out on the floor)

person filming says.... "well it was shocking nobody came to help, everyone got their phones out and started filming"

So the saturday get together with drinks, all good until its time to go home and you discover that 2 of your trains have missed, so you have to wait for a 3rd train, and if there are not enough seats on the platform you are standing (standing is OK if you are fit, not so if you are unwell)

So onto the train you go and its off to Barsnely and there are no public loos in the train station, so provided you are fit, you can easily navigate the stairs, go over the bridge and use the loos in the bus station .....BUT NO.....they are closed too, so there is a big queue outside the one remaining disabled toilet, so provided you got a strong bladder you are good to wait, if you are getting older then you are f(beep)ed.

For the fit and active, you have an alternative option, you can hot foot it to the pub accross the road, order a shot, down it, hot foot it upstairs to the loos, sprint down the stairs back into the bus station to catch your bus - you are fine, fit people have nothing to fear

But for those less psyically able, the option of hot footing it across the road and up the stairs is not an option, you are in the awful dilema of do you wait in the disabled toilet queue and miss your bus, or do you take your chances get on the bus and hope you don't wet yourself on the way home.

Active travel, now thats a reason to stay fit and look after your wellbeing.

Looking good on the beach, no, train to stay fit.

BUt then you think, although its comical thinking about it lack of loos, this could be a barrier to those less physically able to coming out, imagine how they must feel when they can't access the most basic of hygiene facilities - its not that funny

People less able might think "that could be a reason not to socialise" so they may not go out, become lonely and isolated just because they cannot access basic facilities.

The best way to switch to healthy eating is to make it nicer than eating junk food. I would be very suprised if once people got into the habit of eating healthy tasty food - that they would then choose to go to eat overpriced junk food

This is easy

INGREDIANTS

1 chicken breast
A mixture of red, yellow and orange peppers (1/2 of each)
1 onion
BBQ seasoning
Salsa sauce

METHOD

1) Chop everything up

2) Add the chopped chicken to the wok, stir fry for 2 mins and then add 2 teaspoons of BBQ seasoning, cook for a further 2 mins

3) Add the chopped vegetables and stir fry for another 2 mins

4) Add 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of salsa sauce + 1/4 pint of water

5) Gently stir everything until the sauce is thick (this should take 5 mins)

JOB DONE

Warm a couple of tortillas up and enjoy

Its the dreaded chicken and brocoli which everyone hates - but its an undeserved reputation

This is a stir fry that takes under 10 minutes as you are using prepped vegetables, and if you get some sweet and sour sauce or curry sauce from the local takeaway, its like having a chinese takeaway on the cheap

Recipe in comment section below