Odyssey Bit

When we start on a fitness kick, it’s tempting to exercise every day while motivation is high. This is a bad move, and one that will see our enthusiasm burn out within weeks, because we’re always knackered and won’t see the massive improvements us to expect for our Herculean efforts. We’re not giving our muscles the time they need to recover and grow.

This will definitely give you a good chuckle. 😂

We can be skinny on the outside, but fat on the inside. Visceral fat is the type that builds up around our organs and often results in a pot belly. It’s linked with heart disease, several cancers and type 2 diabetes. Check our waist-to-height ratio to see if we’re at risk. Grab a piece of string and use it to measure our height, then halve it. If it doesn’t fit around our waist, get exercising – visceral fat is the first type to go when we start working out.

OMG I'm laughing so hard at this! 😂

If we invest in a fitness tracker, don’t just sit back and assume that following the preset targets will lead us to glory. Adjust the steps, active minutes and calorie targets regularly to build on our progress, or make them more realistic if we never get close and have started to ignore them. If we don’t engage with our fitness tech, we’ll quickly discard it.

Variety is the spice of life, and many sports and activities support each other in ways we won’t realise until we try it. For example, strength training for our legs and core will make us a better runner, while those addicted to dumbbells will find Pilates works muscles they’d never even considered.

The fast track to a better diet is found by using our weekends wisely. Use the extra time that we have on Saturday and Sunday to meal prep, making large batches of healthy meals that we can portion up to cover at least a couple of midweek lunches and dinners, avoiding the dietary perils of takeaways and meal deals.