Get fit from your office!

With summer just around the corner (we hope), the fear of tiny tops and shorts, or even worse- the dreaded bikini- is ever looming. 

If, like a lot of people, you are sat behind a desk for the majority of your day, it is difficult to find the time to get fit and stay active. There are however ways to improve the levels of physical activity in your day to day life without making massive lifestyle changes or having to sign up for costly gym memberships.

Try and walk or cycle to work or if that is not possible, get off a stop earlier on the bus or train and walk the last part of your route. You could even find a carpark a bit further away from your office if you drive to work.

Stand while talking on the phone and try walking over to your colleagues desk to talk to them rather than calling them.

Take the stairs instead of the lift of escalator.

Go for a walk in your lunch break. You could use a tracking device such as the Fitbit Ultra to keep track of your progress and even share with friends and family online. Build up gradually to walking at least 10,000 steps a day. Set goals and reward yourself when you reach them.

And just remember- small changes in your daily routine can add up to big changes in your health!  

Bikini Body Countdown Part 2

Your summer holiday is approaching and the weather is hotting-up. You should be excited but the fear of stripping off in direct sunlight is niggling at the back of your mind... Well, don't panic and check out our Bikini Body Countdown Part 1 for how to get started on the road to your dream body by setting realistic goals and keeping track of your progress.

As anyone will tell you, the fastest way to kick-start your weight-loss is not only to watch what you are eating, but also to increase the amount of exercise that you do. Again, it is important to be realistic with your exercise goals. If you do very little exercise and you suddenly start going to the gym every day for two hours, you are going to lose interest very quickly (and quite possible do your body some damage too!) Ease yourself into a new fitter lifestyle by setting practical goals that fit with your lifestyle. Take a brisk walk in your lunch break or walk to and from work instead of driving. Get your family involved by walking the kids to school or going on a bike ride together at the weekend. Find an activity that you enjoy and you are much more likely to stick to it! Even small changes will make a huge difference to your level of fitness and will help you maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

If you need a bit more motivation to keep track of all of the positive changes that you are making, perhaps you should consider investing in a health tracker such as the Fitbit UltraWireless Tracker.

The Fitbit Ultra monitors your activity all day to provide you with real-time feedback on steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed to encourage you to walk more and be more active. It wirelessly uploads your data to Fitbit.com so you can gain deeper insight into your daily or monthly fitness and sleep levels with free online graphs and charts. On Fitbit.com, you can earn fitness badges, connect with friends to share and compete on fitness goals, or join the Fitbit community for advice and encouragement. So you can get fit- one step at a time!

Bikini Body Countdown Part 1

The sunshine has finally come out and summer no longer seems a distant dream! But if the sudden prospect of sun on your bare skin has left you feeling terrified of cracking open your summer wardrobe then don’t panic! By making only a few changes to your lifestyle you could be bikini confident in no time!

Be realistic- you are not going to shed 5 stone before your Summer  holiday by drinking vinegar and having ice baths! Fad diets are difficult to stick to and can leave you feeling (and looking) worse than when you started. Yoyo dieting is one of the worst contributors to long-term weight gain. Eating healthily and getting more exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy weight- sorry, but there really is no magic lotion or potion!

Before you start trying to lose weight, weigh yourself- it might not be as bad as you thought!
Keeping track of how your weight changes can also help you track your progress and see the rewards of all your hard work! You can of course do this using a pen and notebook, but if you like to keep up to date with the latest gadgets and your smartphone is the centre of your life, then why not invest in a gadget to do all the hard work for you.The Fitbit Aria Wi-FiSmart Scale measures your weight, body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI) to provide a full picture of your weight trends. The Wi-Fi enabled scale lets you set goals, track your progress effortlessly, and stay motivated each and every day. Your stats automatically upload to your Fitbit dashboard where you can get a more comprehensive view of your health and fitness and track your eating and exercise habits so you can work out trends in your weight loss (or gain) and work out what really works for you!

Keep checking back for Bikini Body Countdown Part 2…

Get bikini ready quickly and easily!

Summer is quickly approaching; bikinis and crop tops are appearing in the shops. The countdown to our Summer holidays has begun!

If like a lot of us, this time of year has you feeling optimism and dread in equal parts, you are not alone- it is stressful pulling on last summer’s sundresses or trying on the first bikini of the year! But if you know that you are not going to like what you see- then why not do something about it now! 

There are plenty of ways to lose a bit of weight and tone up without having to starve or torture yourself! Find an activity that you enjoy- try a dance class or Zumba, or perhaps trekking in the fresh air? See what is available in your local area and step outside your comfort zone- you just might enjoy it!

Eating healthily doesn’t have to be a chore either- swap your soggy sandwiches at lunch for a nutritious soup and try out a new fruit or vegetable every week- you could be missing out on something really delicious!

There are some great apps out there to keep track of your calorie intake and exercise too. MyFitnessPal lets you record all the food that you eat and works out the calories and nutritional content of your daily consumption. It also lets you record your exercise and offset calories burnt against calories eaten, encouraging you to be more aware of your daily energy input and output. You can track your progress with charts and build up a support network of your friends and family or even other dieters.

If you would prefer to let a gadget record the amount of exercise that you are doing during the day (and gain a more accurate insight into your daily activity levels) you could invest in a FitbitUltra. The Fitbit wirelessly transmits the information that it gathers all day to your smart device or computer so that you can see where you can make improvements and congratulate yourself on your achievements. There is even the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale that measures your weight, body mass index and body fat percentage to provide a full picture of your weight trends. It allows you to set goals, stay in control and stay motivated every day.

A lot of people are surprised by the unexpected calories that they are inadvertently consuming every day and shocked by how little activity they do in their day-to-day lives- sometimes just being aware of where you are going wrong can make huge changes to your weight, fitness and overall health and help you get that bikini-ready body back in no time at all!