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 There are three main events that prove most effective in motivating us to lose weight: a very special occasion such as a wedding of a close family member, post-Christmas when you have let rip over the festive season, or a forthcoming holiday!
As the holiday season is now upon us, our minds inevitably turn to the image of ourselves on the beach or the sun-deck of a cruise ship raising the possible need for us to lose a few lbs and tone up our body in preparation. After all, we want to look our best in our swimwear and in our elegant eveningwear.
Even if we are not going away, it is always pleasing to be able to wear last year’s summer fashions and feel that they fit comfortably. So, let’s do it.
This Newsletter sets out a 7-Day Challenge. Whether you are going on holiday or not, this week’s advice will give you a terrific kick-start to your weight-loss efforts. Of course, you can continue for longer if you have more weight to lose.
It includes a 7-Day Eating Plan (adapted from The 28-Day Immunity Plan) and Mary is giving you a 7-Day Exercise Challenge. Combine the two and you will see a wonderful result that will motivate you to carry on if need be.
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THE 7-DAY EATING PLAN
Your Daily Allowance:
- Milk Allowance: 425ml (¾ pint) semi-skimmed milk (dairy or plant-based)
- Eat three meals a day
- Avoid all snacking
- Meals can be interchanged or repeated within each category (for instance you can choose the same breakfast every day if you wish.)
- Desserts: Select one dessert each day from the following options:
- 100g live natural yogurt or one probiotic drink plus one portion of fruit from the following list:
- 60g blueberries or one pear with skin or one apple with skin or 12 seedless grapes or 200g melon or 100g fresh pineapple or 1 fun-sized mini banana or half a full-sized banana or 200g raspberries or 150g strawberries or 2 satsumas or similar or 150g fresh fruit salad or 2 kiwi fruits.
- Or if not having the live yogurt or probiotic option have any two portions of fruit.
- Keep hydrated. Drink as much water as you wish. Tea is unlimited, made with milk from your daily allowance, or better still drink green tea if you like it. Keep coffee to a minimum. Low-calorie drinks are unlimited including low-sugar squash.
- Alcohol. For best results, keep alcohol to an absolute minimum.
- Dry-fry using Frylight rapeseed oil spray
- Vegetable stock cubes add significant flavour when added to the cooking water when preparing vegetables, potatoes, pasta and rice.
- Bread: Wholemeal, whole-wheat and wholegrain bread are basically different terms for the same thing and all are whole grain. Use this in place of white bread.
- Alternatives to fat: In sandwiches, try spreading your wholemeal bread with low-fat dressings in preference to saturated fats like butter or margarine. Products such as Branston Pickle, low-fat mayonnaise, extra-light soft cheese, HP Sauce, fruity sauce, tomato ketchup, Marmite, mustard, and horseradish sauce are great alternatives that can be spread straight onto the bread.
Record your progress:
- Weigh yourself once a week on the same scales and at the same time and write it down.
- Measure yourself around the narrowest measurement around your waist every week and write it down.
DAY 1
BREAKFAST: 2 x normal Weetabix with 1 tsp demerara sugar, (or 14 x Fruit & Nut Weetabix-Minis), with milk from allowance, plus a piece of fruit. (V)
LUNCH: 300ml Mixed Vegetable Soup plus one slice wholemeal bread (no butter). (V)
DINNER: Spaghetti Bolognese
DAY 2
BREAKFAST: 150g live natural yogurt mixed with 150g raspberries or strawberries in addition to additional fruit and yogurt. (V)
LUNCH: Two slices wholemeal toast topped with 200g baked beans. (V)
DINNER: Chicken and Pepper Stir Fry with Rice OR Sweet Potato, Green Beans and Cauliflower Curry (VE)
DAY 3
BREAKFAST: 1 small slice wholemeal toast spread with Marmite with one egg, poached or boiled, plus an orange. (V)
LUNCH: Crunchy Pepper Salad (V) – chopped pepper, cucumber, celery, grated carrot, sliced red onion, chopped raw mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, served with two tablespoons of cold baked beans. Serve with low-fat dressing or soy sauce.
DINNER: 200g Cod steak, steamed or microwaved, served with 100g new potatoes with skins plus unlimited fresh vegetables OR Baked Aubergine with Chickpea and Bulgar and Feta (V) served with 100g new potatoes with skins plus unlimited fresh vegetables or salad..
DAY 4
BREAKFAST: 50g Fruit ‘n’ Fibre with milk from allowance and a teaspoon of demerara sugar. (V)
LUNCH: 1 x sliced banana, 100g strawberries or raspberries plus a sliced pear served with three tablespoons of live yogurt in addition to additional fruit and yogurt. (V)
DINNER: Chilli con Carne OR Chilli Pinto Bean Burritos (VE)
DAY 5
BREAKFAST: Four pieces fresh fruit (excl. bananas) in addition to additional fruit and yogurt. (V)
LUNCH: Chilli Bean Soup (V) plus one slice wholegrain bread.
DINNER: Two egg omelette with dry-fried mushrooms sprayed with rapeseed oil, plus unlimited salad (V)
DAY 6
BREAKFAST: 50g Special K cereal plus milk from allowance and 1 tsp brown sugar. (V)
LUNCH: Spread 2 slices wholegrain bread with horseradish sauce or low-fat mayonnaise or salad dressing and make into a jumbo sandwich with 30g wafer-thin beef or chicken or ham or tofu or chickpeas, and unlimited salad vegetables.
DINNER: 150g roast chicken breast (no skin) served with 100g dry-roast sweet potatoes plus unlimited vegetables and low-fat gravy made using the vegetable water OR Parsnip and Pepper Cakes with Red Pepper Relish (V)
DAY 7
BREAKFAST: 30g All-bran served with milk from allowance and 1 tsp demerara sugar, plus a boiled egg. (V)
LUNCH: Salmon Wrap: Spread a tortilla wrap with 1 tsp Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce then fill with 25g smoked or cooked salmon or mackerel, chopped salad leaves, peppers, cucumber, celery and cherry tomatoes. Wrap as a parcel, tucking in the edges as you roll it up. Cut in half horizontally to make two wraps.
DINNER: Chicken Pasta: Spray a non-stick pan with a little rapeseed oil and heat. Dry fry 100g chopped chicken breast (no skin) with half a chopped onion in the pan and season with freshly ground black pepper. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic and toss the chicken in the pan until it changes colour. Add a sliced green pepper and a can of chopped tomatoes, ½ small chilli (optional) finely chopped and a dash of Worcestershire sauce and allow to simmer for five minutes. Serve with 110g cooked weight pasta (45g uncooked weight) which has been cooked in boiling water with a vegetable stock cube.
By clicking on the recipe names in purple above you can access each recipe or to see all the recipes for the Plan click here. (V) = Vegetarian (VE) = Vegan
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If you stick to this Eating Plan, and follow the Fitness Challenge below, you will be truly amazed at the results at the end of the week. If you want to lose more weight, then simply continue onwards with the plan until you are content with your weight.
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Serves 1
Per serving: 300 Calories, 1g fat approx.
Prep time: 5 mins
1 tortilla wrap per serving
¼ red onion finely chopped
¼ each of two different coloured peppers, finely chopped
1 mushroom, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
Fresh coriander (optional)
1 x teaspoon Chilli and Ginger Dipping Sauce
28g tuna, canned in brine, or sardines in tomato sauce
- Spread the centre of the tortilla with the dipping sauce.
- Sprinkle the finely chopped peppers, onion, mushroom and celery on the sauce in the centre.
- Break up the tuna or sardines in a small bowl and place on top of the salad vegetables then top with fresh coriander if you wish.
- Now wrap the tortilla edge that’s closest to you over the contents, tucking it under the filling, then fold in the sides of the wrap like a parcel before rolling it up into a sausage shape.
- Squeeze to secure then cut diagonally in the centre to serve.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
The holiday season is upon us and there is no better time of year to encourage you to up your efforts on the fitness and body shaping front. Even if you are not planning to go away it is good to be in the best shape possible at this time when the weather is warmer and we wear lighter clothes. So here is my pre-holiday fitness challenge. And I love setting Challenges!
Whilst Rosemary has given you a 7-Day Eating Plan which will get you off to a great start, if you're going to make a real difference to your fitness and body shape for your holiday, the ideal time to start is 4 weeks before you go. I suggest you do the DIY Fitness Test from The 28-Day Immunity Plan at the start and finish and you should be delighted with the changes in your results!
Even if you start just 2 or 3 weeks before you go, you will have a good result if you stick to the Challenge. We always say that after 2 weeks you will definitely feel the difference but after 4 weeks you will see the difference!
Just before a holiday I start ploughing through my wardrobe looking for those items I want to take with me - you may well do the same. How lovely it will be to try on your most favourite items and they all fit perfectly!
What do I need?
First and foremost, we need the motivation to do it! It really helps to write down some goals you want to achieve, then you are much more likely to achieve them. So set a date in your diary for your start and finish and commit to it. Tell others that you are planning to do it as that increases your motivation. Anything from 1 to 4 weeks. The Challenge is a 7-Day Programme which simply repeats every week, so how long you decide to do it for is entirely up to you. For the strength workouts you will need, ideally, a resistance band and hand weights or 1-litre water bottles. If you don’t have a resistance band, exchange those workouts for the one using weights.
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THE 7-DAY FITNESS CHALLENGE
How to do the Challenge:
- Do the DIY Fitness Test from the website and record your results. If you have The 28-Day Immunity Plan book there is a chart at the back.
- Measure yourself. Ideally do a full body measure but you can do just your waist if you prefer.
- Weigh yourself and record it. If you have a copy of the book, there is a chart at the back for both weight and waist measurement.
- Select at least two options each day. Try to follow the instructions in the video as closely as possible but always listen to your body and judge what level of intensity is right for you. Adapt it to suit your ability.
- Combine it with the 7-Day Eating Plan.
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THE 7-DAY FITNESS CHALLENGE
DAY 1
AEROBIC: 30-minute walk/slow jog/run
STRENGTH: Do the DIY Fitness Test from the website and record your results.
DAY 2
AEROBIC: 35-minute walk/slow jog/run
STRENGTH: Standing Band Workout
PILATES/BALANCE/BALLET: Intermediate Pilates
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Not everyone likes a Challenge. It may be that you may have set yourself one before and not succeeded which makes you wary of committing to another. To increase our chance of succeeding at any challenge, there is no doubt we all need a strong goal and that can carry us through.
Maybe there is a wedding on the horizon or a special family gathering or school reunion that you want to look your best for. Whatever it is, if you commit fully, you will see and feel outstanding results.
To take a quote from Muhammad Ali: 'It's a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself'!'
So, we must believe in ourselves too... you can and will succeed!
Let’s do it!
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And finally...
So, there we are. A Challenge you can use to give you a big kick start right now or at some point in the future. Once you have done it, you will be able to return to it time and again when you need to give yourself a boost.
I am very confident that once you realise how brilliant you feel after doing it for the first time, you can put it into your arsenal for a kick start when you need it.
Go for it!
Have a great week.
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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as it says on the bottom of many email signatures:
