Hello <<First Name>> 
Our weight is one of those issues that is often a point of conversation amongst friends and is regularly on our mind. Let’s be honest, most people would like to lose a few lbs, there are those who would like to gain some, and a few fortunate ones who manage to maintain their healthy weight without even thinking about it.
It is a fact that as we age our metabolic rate, (that’s the rate that we burn calories), slows down so it is naturally a little harder to lose weight – and easier to gain it. Add to that the fact that our lives are probably less hectic than they used to be so we don’t burn as many calories as we used to anyway. Perhaps we also dine out more and enjoy extra holidays, often leading to weight creeping on. Add all these factors together and we can see clearly why our weight might go up as we get older.
The problem is that being overweight in our later years can be seriously damaging to our health and general wellbeing – we only need to recall the frightening death toll in 2020 from COVID-19 where the greatest number of deaths was from patients who were older and/or were overweight or obese. So, it is really important that we don’t just ‘throw in the towel’, accepting that getting fatter is inevitable as we age. It most definitely isn’t. However, we do need to make some food choices and stay active if we are to win the battle.
Mary, (with whom I write this Newsletter), and I have each been running weekly classes for around 50 years. Mary’s classes have focussed more on fitness and mine have concentrated on weight loss combined with exercise. We share a passion for helping people to become fitter, healthier and happier. We both enjoy the fact that many of our members have grown older with us and we love that they are still keen to keep themselves healthy and in shape.
Last week, one of my members of over 35 years, Rachel, who is now in her 80s, popped on the scales. Her weight had stayed the same – again. In fact, Rachel’s weight had remained the same for four weeks running. She isn’t particularly overweight but she told me she was disappointed with herself. After asking her what she thought was holding her back, she confessed that it was biscuits. ‘I keep them in for the grandchildren – but they’re all grown up now’ she laughed, ‘so I don’t need them, do I?’ Rachel realised she had answered her own question. The solution was simply not to buy the biscuits that were tempting her and stopping her from losing those last few lbs.
We all have our ‘go-to’ treat. For some it’s chocolate or cheese, for others it’s biscuits or bread. Or it may be that your extra glass of wine or tot of gin has become a regular habit. The key to success is to recognise what your weakness is.
We often find ourselves wanting something to nibble either because we feel peckish or because we pick at a treat out of habit, but by doing so, we are really hindering our weight-loss progress. So, what is the solution? I suggested to Rachel that she cut up some carrot, celery, cucumber and courgettes into sticks and if she felt she wanted to nibble on something, they will be ready to eat in a Tupperware box in the fridge.
When I rang Rachel a few days later to ask her permission to include our conversation in this Newsletter, her opening words were, ‘I haven’t had any biscuits!’. And this week on the scales she had lost 1lb! Well done, Rachel!
If you want to lose a few lbs take a look at our section on Motivation: How to Lose Weight, Getting Motivated to Lose Weight, Health Risks of Obesity, Speed up your Weight Loss, When the going gets tough, BMI (Body Mass Index) Explained and Knowing your Metabolic Age can be a Real Motivator.
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Recipe of the Week
CORONATION CHICKEN SALAD
This is an exotic and very tasty salad that will impress your guests. Simple to prepare and it is very adaptable to the number of servings you need. Here I give you the recipe per person so just multiply the quantities to suit your serving needs.
Serves 1
Prep time 10 minutes
Per portion: 300 calories (approx. - depending on ingredients)
Coronation Chicken:
60g cooked chicken, (no skin) chopped
1 tablespoon Heinz Salad Cream
1 tablespoon 0% fat live natural yogurt
½ teaspoon curry powder
For the Salad:
Salad leaves
3 cherry tomatoes, halved
2cm cucumber, chopped
I small stick celery, chopped
¼ red pepper, chopped
¼ yellow pepper, chopped
1 x wedge each of different melons (eg Honeydew, Galia, Cantaloupe, Watermelon), chopped into chunks
½ fresh mango or papaya, skinned and chopped
4 strawberries, hulled and quartered
- Make up the Coronation dressing by mixing together the salad cream and live natural yogurt then stir in the curry powder and mix well. Stir in the chopped chicken and mix well. Set aside.
- Place a selection of salad leaves on a serving plate then top with the chopped salad vegetables (retaining the tomatoes till the end). Then arrange the pieces of fruit on top of that.
- Finally place the Coronation Chicken mixture on top and decorate with the halved cherry tomatoes.
- Keep chilled before serving.
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Coronation Chicken was created in 1953, when renowned florist Constance Spry and Cordon Bleu chef Rosemary Hume catered for a banquet to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II.
It is believed to be inspired by the 'Jubilee Chicken' created for George V's Silver Jubilee in 1935.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
Following on from Rosemary's theme for this week and assuming you want to lose some weight, let's explore how daily activity and exercise will help you lose weight faster and reach your goal.
One fact that is quite hard to grasp is that by far the greatest number of calories we spend each day is spent by just keeping our body functioning, even when we are at rest. We call this our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and this works out, on average, at 1 calorie per minute. This means that over 24 hours, we will burn 1440 calories just by being alive.
You possibly think that you eat a lot fewer calories than that every day, yet maybe you keep piling on the pounds. Sadly, many of us under estimate how much we eat and over estimate how active we are. If you carefully follow Rosemary's eating plan from The 28-Day Immunity Plan, you will be eating approximately 1440 calories each day, and just by going about your everyday tasks you will be burning some extra calories, but now let me help you lose extra weight by spending even more calories by being more active.
Things you might not know:
• The 1440 calories per day is only an average based around a female weighing 11st. The more you weigh the higher your BMR. Go to www.healthline.com to learn more and accurately calculate your BMR according to your sex, age, height and weight. Your personal calculation will also include your current activity/exercise calories to give you your individual daily total of calories that will maintain your weight.
• If you want to lose weight, and now you know your personal BMR, you have a choice to make. Either lower your food intake by 500 calories or up your exercise by 500 calories to give you a deficit that will result in a weight loss. Another option is to do a mix of both. Drop your food by 250 calories and up the exercise by 250 and you will get the same weight loss result.
• As we age, our BMR lowers so it can be harder to lose weight but there is some good news as we can counter this by working on strengthening our muscles. Muscle is calorie-hungry tissue so this is where our strength exercises come in. Keep up a regular strength-building programme by working out to the Advanced Whole Body Strength Programme on our website. Let's aim for the greatest amount of muscle we can achieve for our age.
• Now let’s look at burning calories. If we walk 3 miles in an hour, we will burn around 300 calories and add 6000 steps to our goal of 10.000 steps per day. Go uphill and calorie burning increases significantly. That's why our daily walk is such a winner for both weight loss and fitness!
Exercise Calories burned in 30 minutes for 3 different body weights:
| Activity Weight: |
9 stone |
11 stone |
13 stone |
| Walking (3.5mph) |
135 |
175 |
189 |
| Cycling/Rowing (stationary) |
210 |
252 |
294 |
| Swimming (moderately) |
150 |
175 |
221 |
| Low Impact Aerobics |
165 |
178 |
221 |
| Aqua Aerobics |
120 |
144 |
168 |
| Yoga/Tai Chi/Stretching |
120 |
144 |
168 |
| Tennis |
210 |
252 |
294 |
| Golf |
105 |
126 |
147 |
| Gardening |
135 |
162 |
189 |
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THIS WEEK’S FITNESS CHALLENGE
1. Get out of breath at least once every day this week. Going upstairs twice consecutively will do it!
2. Aim to walk at a steady pace (3.5mph) for an hour 3 times this week. Plus, do a 30-minute walk on all the other days.
3. Do the Advanced Whole Body Strength Programme 3 times this week to increase your muscle.
4. Choose another activity from the list above. Ideally one that you may not have tried before. Rosemary's Salsa DVDs are great for low-impact fat-burning aerobics for example. Doing the full workout will burn hundreds of calories!
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And Finally...
You might like to look out for River Walks on BBC2 on Monday 30th at 7pm where you will find me and BB and Sky meandering along the River Soar as part of the programme.
Enjoy your week and make the most of feeling fit and being active. We only live once.
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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