Health & Fitness
Ask Donna...
Q. I have been working out for the past four months, walking 1 hour a day on the treadmill, 6 days a week. At the start I lost weight quickly but over the past three weeks I haven’t lost a single pound. What am I doing wrong?
A. Firstly, well done on working out so consistently. Getting a routine is the hardest part to becoming more fit. Your body has adjusted to the demands of the walking and you have become fitter. To loose further weight you now need to burn more calories through doing more than you can achieve comfortably. My suggestion is to change from walking for one hour to switching to a 30-minute session made up of 30 seconds jogging and 30 seconds of walking per minute. As you become fitter, you can adjust this programme to increase the time spent jogging and reduce the time spent walking.
Q. I’m wearing a strapless dress for my wedding and I really want to tone my arms. My fiancé says the best way to tone up is to lift weights. I’m worried that this will make me bulk up. Any advice?
A. Lifting weights does not make you bulk up. You will only bulk up lifting weights when you lift extremely heavy weights. In fact, lifting weights is one of the best ways to lose weight and tone up those arms because it helps your body burn more calories by working harder. The first step towards toning up is to start exercising with your own body weight, with push-ups or tricep dips. Then move on to light weights, or dumbbells, doing a chest press or tricep pull- down. You could also try a dynaband to help tone your arms.
Q. What exercises can I do to get rid of love handles?
A. Love handles are body fat and the only way to get rid of them is to do cardiovascular sessions such as jogging, cycling or using the cross-trainer in the gym. You can get rid of love handles by toning the lower back and abdomen through sit-ups or back extensions on the floor or on a Swiss ball. However, the only way to really get rid of love handles is to put the work in!
Q. My wedding dress is a corset top that laces up the back. I have quite a bit of fat on my back that lodges under my arms where my bra straps lie. Are there any exercises I can do to tone this area up?
A. The good news is that there are many exercises to tone this area. Cardio exercises such as the cross-trainer, swimming, or doing toning exercises using light weights, such as lat pull-downs (see diagram). Take a dumbbell in each hand and place them over your head, now pull your arms outwards and downwards to the side of your body, keeping the weights in line, continue down until the weights are in line with your shoulders and push back up and start over.
Q. I want to loose weight and I know that exercise is the answer. I find it really hard to stick to exercise. I’ve joined a gym twice but I never went. I am getting desperate as my wedding is only 7 months away and I have 2 stone to lose.
A. The gym isn’t for everybody so do not give yourself a hard time that you couldn’t get into it. Exercise is an essential ingredient to losing weight and the key thing is to pick a form of exercise that you like. Try cycling to walking with friends to swimming or to working out at home watching the TV. Set yourself realistic training goals that take account of how much time you have available to train and what days you will be free. If you have set days to train and you stick to them, you won’t feel bad on your days off. Keep a diary of what you want to do and mark tasks off as you go along. Train with friends or work out watching your favourite TV show or listening to your favourite music – whatever will keep you going. Enjoy it! Keep an eye out for my exercise at home programmes coming shortly.
If you have a question for Donna, please email dmdunne@wit.ie
