In last week’s article I suggested those who want to lose weight might want to look at the factors that could be preventing them from losing pounds.

The main things to think about were: diet, exercise, sleep/rest/ recovery and stress – physical, mental and emotional.

For those who found themselves saying yes to one or more factors: don’t panic, there are many things that you can do to make changes to your current lifestyle.

Firstly, focus on one thing at a time, if you attempt to change everything at once you’re setting yourself up for failure, which could potentially make you feel worse.

Diet Is your diet preventing you, not only from losing weight/bodyfat but also making you miserable?

Food is your medicine cabinet, if you eat foods with no nutritional value, that are only pleasant at the time of eating and which leave you feeling hungry and lethargic ask yourself: is it really worth it?

Food has a huge effect on your mood. When you are hungry and your blood sugar is low, you can feel angry and agitated.

But, if you eat the right foods and prepare your meals you’ll actually find you will rarely get this feeling.

Have three meals a day with no processed food, plenty of protein and vegetables at each meal, including breakfast, and see how your mood changes.

Your energy levels will increase, you will become more productive and, I guarantee, life will feel a little easier. Just try it for a week and see what happens.

Exercise There those who do too much exercise and those who don’t do any or enough and you need to find a balance.

Exercise is addictive – you release feel-good hormones endorphins.

We need them in our lives and exercise is an incredibly healthy way to get them. But sometimes people take it too far. And, more than likely, anyone who is into fitness has been guilty of this at some point... me included. Find the right balance for your lifestyle and your goals as, in the long run, doing too much training will leave you injured, feeling lethargic and eventually fatter.

Doing too little or none at all will leave you incredibly unfit in many different ways. Your heart and lungs will suffer, you will become overweight, the fat around your organs will increase, you’ll suffer back pain and other joint related pain.

My advice is to try to exercise three to five times a week. Not every session has to be pushing yourself until you feel sick. Include walking, yoga, pilates into your routine, focus on getting fitter, more flexible and stronger – this will lead to you living a happier and longer life.

SLEEP/REST/RECOVERY No two people are the same. Some need more sleep than others, some can function fully on five to six hours a night while others need eight to 10 hours. The amount of sleep you need will depend on many different things, including how active you are throughout the day, your diet, and your lifestyle.

Whatever amount of sleep is right for you, you need to focus on getting this as often as you can. When you sleep deeply your body fully recovers from the stresses and strains of daily life and your mind has time to relax and process all the information you have been taking in throughout the day. If you suffer with problems sleeping try some meditation before bed and avoid caffeine after 2pm. This will make a huge difference to how you sleep.

STRESS Are you able to control the amount of stress you are under? Can you make some changes to reduce it?

If it is out of your control then focus on doing activities that will help you relax, such as yoga and meditation. Take time out – never underestimate the value of spending time by yourself, away from stressful situations. This will help to clear your head and make the situation seem more manageable.

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