Kickstart Your Weight Loss and Fitness Plan

So, we are now well into the first week of 2010, so you should by now be planning your New Year health and fitness regime. Many of you will be wondering what exactly you will do this year to finally get fit and lose weight. Hopefully we can help you to make a fail safe plan to kickstart your weight loss and fitness this year.

Firstly, decide how you are going to lose weight. To lose weight successfully, and to maintain that weight loss, you need to combine a healthy diet with regular exercise.

Your New Year Healthy Diet

The diet needs to be balanced, low in sugar and high in nutritious fruits, vegetables, pluses as well as lean meat and dairy. You need to be aware of the amount of sugar in foods such as bread, cakes, pasta and vegetables that have a high glycemic index (GI). Potatoes are high GI, which is why French fries and chips are so bad for us – sugar, salt and fat. The diet rules for slimming down in 2010:


  • Eat less sugar – remember that sugar comes in many forms
  • Eat smaller portions
  • Increase your protein intake and reduce carbohydrate (which in turn cuts sugar)
  • Get your five a day – 5 portions of fresh fruit or vegetable every day
  • But do not drink copious amounts of fruit juice (sugar)
  • Drink water only – no soda!
  • Black coffee is allowed as it can boost your energy levels when exercising and aid recovery (muscle soreness)

Your New Year Fitness Regime

Regarding fitness, please remember that getting fit is a very easy thing to do for most people – that is, easy on a physical level. Where people fail is on the mental level. Why? People usually lose faith in themselves after trying some pointless exercises that do not work, such as stomach crunches and slow jogging twice a week.

Exercise can get you very fit but you need to do the right sorts of exercise at the right intensity. Crunches will not make your stomach shrink, slow jogging will not turn your body into a fat burning furnace.

So, what should you do? Here is the MotleyHealth.com plan for 2010…..

  • Every week exercise at least 4 times
  • Do two weight training / resistance training sessions
  • Do two intensive cardio sessions

Simple? The weight training is essential, as building healthy and lean muscle tissue not only makes you look more athletic it also helps to boost your metabolism and therefore burn off more of the food that you eat.

The intensive cardio sessions, which can be anything from circuit training, dance, running, cycling or martial arts classes, are to build endurance and burn fat. Intensive exercise has been shown to be more effective at burning fat, especially visceral (stomach) fat than the slow, steady pace. So do not go jogging, instead run in the park and do plenty of sprints. Fartlek your way to fitness!


We have many options here at MotleyHealth.com. Home workouts are essential for parents that cannot get out the house in the evening. Martial arts classes are highly recommended fore their boot camp style circuit training drills and the motivation you get from other students.

2 Comments on “Kickstart Your Weight Loss and Fitness Plan”

  1. One item I disagree with is your recommendation to not go jogging. Some beginning exercisers just do not have the level of physical conditioning to perform high intensity interval training right from the start. Building up a healthy cardiovascular foundation through moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise may be safer than trying to perform high intensity sprints after leading a sedentary lifestyle.

  2. MotleyHealth says:

    That is a very good point Aaron.

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