Whether you are celebrating the New Year or having a quiet night in, it matters not. The most important thing is that we are embarking on this fresh New Year with hope and optimism and a determination to live every day to the full.
Our motivation is high after eating and drinking significantly more than usual so what better time to make some small and simple changes that could dramatically benefit our health and fitness. This is definitely something that I need to do!
THE 3-DAY BINGE BUSTER PLAN!
Shift your Christmas weight in three days by following this simple plan:
Daily allowance: ½ pint milk. Unlimited tea/coffee/water/low sugar squash. (No alcohol or treats!) Meals are interchangeable between days and can be repeated.
Day 1
Walk for 30 minutes as briskly as possible
Breakfast: 1 egg plus 1 slice wholegrain toast spread with Marmite Lunch: ½ pint soup (any of the soup recipes on the website are suitable) plus a slice of wholegrain bread or toast. Dinner: Starter - ¼ pint soup (try to eat 15 minutes before main course).
Main - 200g white fish, baked, steamed or microwaved, plus unlimited vegetables excluding potatoes. Mary’s Exercise Challenge: Do one of the Pilates workouts and pretend skip on the spot x 120
Day 2
Walk for 30 minutes as briskly as possible
Breakfast: Porridge (1 Blue Portion Pot or 35g dry oats) cooked with water and served with a little milk and 1 tsp runny honey. Lunch: ½ pint soup plus a low-fat live yogurt Dinner: Starter - 28g cooked prawns (try to eat 15 minutes before main course).
Main - 1 small breast of chicken, baked, steamed or microwaved, plus unlimited vegetables excluding potatoes. Mary’s Exercise Challenge: Walk up and down stairs three times consecutively, twice during the day. No stairs? March with knees high x 120 twice during the day.
Day 3
Walk for 30 – 40 minutes including an incline for part of the distance.
Breakfast: Special-K or other high-fibre cereal (1 x Red Portion Pot or 40g) served with milk and 1 tsp brown sugar. Lunch: Large salad of leaves and vegetables with no dressings, served with 50g cooked prawns or chicken, and a dash of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar. Dinner: Starter - Small salad dressed with soy sauce or balsamic vinegar (try to eat 15 minutes before main course).
Main - Three-egg omelette cooked without fat except for rapeseed oil spray, plus unlimited dry-fried mushrooms and grilled tomatoes plus salad (optional). Mary’s Exercise Challenge: Do theSeated Strength Workoutor the Standing Weights Workout.
For the following few days keep up your daily walks and avoid snacking between meals and just eat healthily and sensibly along the lines of The 28-Day Immunity Planor follow The 3-2-1 Dietif you wish to lose more weight.
New Year Radio
I’m looking forward to my first appearance on Scala Radio on New Year's Day at around 11 am. I’ll be chatting to Angellica Bell about New Year's resolutions and sharing a couple of my favourite music tracks.
I'm also looking forward to appearing on several BBC Local Radio stations across the country on Tuesday 4th and Thursday 6th January when I'll be talking about New Year resolutions and ideas to help everyone make a healthy start to 2022. Details will be posted on Twitter (@rosemaryconley) and on our Facebook page(@RosemaryConleyCBE) once the schedules have been confirmed.
Recipe of the Week
Low-Fat Stilton Pears
This is a delicious way to combine the sweetness of ripe Conference pears and the strong flavour of Stilton cheese and it can be served as a starter or for a light lunch.
Serves 4
Per serving: 175 kcal/5g fat
Preparation time 15 minutes
4 ripe Conference pears
4 fl.oz cider or apple juice or use juice of 2 lemons
50g Stilton cheese
50g low-fat soft cheese
1 tbsp 0% fat Greek yogurt
1 Little Gem lettuce
Peel the pears and slice in half lengthways, then carefully remove the core with the tip of a teaspoon. Dip the pears in the cider/apple or lemon juice to prevent them from discolouring, and set aside.
Meanwhile, mix the Stilton, low-fat soft cheese and the yogurt together in a small bowl until fairly smooth.
Now fill the cavities in each of the pear halves with a teaspoon of the cheese mixture and place them on lettuce leaves on serving plates.
Keep chilled until ready to serve. Serve with a dessert knife and fork.
Rosemary's suggestion of a 3 Day Binge-Buster following the excesses of the festive week is brilliant and I for one will be joining her in going for it. You get to the point when you feel the need to cleanse the body with a blast and then settle back into your normal routine. But what if your normal routine has slipped into a less-than-healthy pattern? You may have not been exercising as much as you would like recently and your eating has gone a bit awry. Maybe you’ve gained some unwanted weight and are generally feeling sluggish. Then it might be a good idea on this eve of 2022 to make a New Year’s Resolution.
Here are a few tips to making a resolution work for you...
Pick just one! More than one will be much harder to manage and may result in failure.
Be specific and realistic. 'I want to lose a stone by March 2022' or 'I will go out for a walk every day.'
Write it down and refer to it regularly, particularly if your motivation wanes - which it will!
Tell others your resolution and seek their support. Many research studies have shown that the 'buddy' system really works!
Keep a 'Resolution Journal' to track your progress and record your successes.
Now, we all know that resolutions are easy to make and hard to keep, so assess how strongly you resolve to stick to it. According to a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology those who set a New Year’s resolution are 10 times more likely to actually change their behaviour than people who don't. Now, I hear you say that you have set them before and failed at the first hurdle. Set-backs will occur but never view them as a failure but more as a ‘learning experience’ not to be repeated!
In a recent Wellness Survey, when asked what type of resolution people planned to make this year, the overwhelming response was to improve their physical health. One positive effect of Covid may have been to make us much more aware of the need to take care of ourselves and to realise what is important to us.
So, let’s get on with the 3 Day Binge-Buster and follow on with The 28-Day Immunity Plan to guarantee remarkable improvement in your physical health. We are on the journey with you folks!
And Finally...
From both Mary and from me we wish you a very Happy New Year and may this be the year we all grow fitter, healthier and even happier!
Rosemary's suggestion of a 3 Day Binge-Buster following the excesses of the festive week is brilliant and I for one will be joining her in going for it. You get to the point when you feel the need to cleanse the body with a blast and then settle back into your normal routine. But what if your normal routine has slipped into a less-than-healthy pattern? You may have not been exercising as much as you would like recently and your eating has gone a bit awry. Maybe you’ve gained some unwanted weight and are generally feeling sluggish. Then it might be a good idea on this eve of 2022 to make a New Year’s Resolution.
