FITNESS RULES FOR FASTING
WHY EXERCISE?
That old adage, “Daily exercise maketh for a healthy life and lively mind”, is all well and good, but the saboteurs of all good intentions, Temptation, Procrastination and Distraction, tend to make exercise an erratic achievement for most people.
Exercise is especially challenging if you’re juggling the demands of parenthood. Even though I know I’ll feel much better afterwards, some days if my husband didn’t proverbially kick me out of the door with my running togs on, I myself would most likely fall victim to the three scourges. Whether it’s the long-drawn-out bedtime rituals of frisky toddlers or the clearing up of spaghetti-smeared kitchen walls, parenting saps desire to do anything at all in the evening other than collapse on the sofa with a glass of wine in hand to watch the latest Scandinavian import TV series. Or maybe that’s just me.
But really, do we have to exercise? It’s a question I’m often asked on retreat. Many people think that exercise is just about burning off calories, but there’s so much more to it than that. Along with helping you to achieve and maintain your ideal weight, physical activity can do the following:
•Reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and some cancers.
•Help keep your bones strong and healthy.
•Improve your mood, reduce feelings of stress and help you sleep better.
•Give you strength and flexibility – attributes that seem to translate as much mentally as they do physically.
I also believe that on top of all these worthy benefits, exercise adds life to your years.
Sometimes it’s a simple matter of making exercise more important to you. Also, if you’re paying up front for an exercise class, you may find it’s harder to miss. My days are dramatically improved by 30–60 minutes of exercise, whether it’s running with my dog on the beach or Pilates with the girls. Exercise provides variety, buzz, a glow, a sense of achievement and perspective, plus it helps offset any guilt about enjoying that glass of Sauvignon at the end of the day!
HOW MUCH EXERCISE DO YOU NEED?
In 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) issued global recommendations on the amount of physical activity we need to stay healthy. They recommend that adults (aged 18–64) should build up to at least 2½ hours of moderate intensity aerobic activity, 1¼ hours of vigorous intensity activity, or a combination of the two each week. We should also incorporate two sessions of muscle-strengthening activities, such as weight training, every week. Although we can meet these recommendations by doing just five 30-minute workouts a week, less than a third of British women are active enough for health. And the benefits don’t stop at 30 minutes. WHO stresses that additional benefits can be achieved if we double these minimum recommendations.
Focus is often placed on structured physical activity, such as hitting the treadmill or a spin class, but this is far from being the only factor when it comes to the calorie-burn equation. We’ve all heard the advice about getting off the bus a stop early, or taking the stairs instead of the lift, but in reality how useful is this? Well, just think about it… as technology progresses we’re at our computers for longer and longer periods each day, we shop online rather than going to the high street, we catch up with friends over Skype or Facebook rather than meeting them in the flesh, we watch TV to relax at the end of a busy day and sometimes we’re just so busy that we don’t think we can allow ourselves an extra five minutes to walk rather than take the car… the thing is, if you’re looking to lose weight, the total energy you burn off has to be higher than the amount you eat and every little step helps.
Collectively, unstructured activities are referred to as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) and include all activity-related energy expenditure that’s not purposeful exercise. NEAT is actually pretty cool since some of us actually alter NEAT levels according to what we eat without even thinking about it. In other words, one of the secrets of the naturally slim is that they fidget and move more if they over-eat. In fact, one of the ways I was taught to help identify different body types during my training in India was to notice how much of a fidget people were when I was consulting with them! Without fail, those who had “ants in their pants” were the naturally slender types. So if you’re more of a couch potato, walking off dinner is clearly a very good idea! A basic pedometer can track how far you walk each day, and trying to beat yesterday’s step count can be addictive. The next generation of activity monitors track every move you make, and some even help you to understand your sleep patterns.
WHAT COUNTS AS EXERCISE?
Physical activity doesn’t just mean sweating it out at the gym – any movement that gets you slightly out of breath, feeling warm and a little bit sweaty, and that makes your heart beat faster, counts (yes, I know what you’re thinking and that kind of workout counts too). You can choose from sport, active travel, structured exercise or housework. Even small changes are beneficial and you’ll get more benefit from a brisk walk every day than from dusting off your gym membership card once a month. If you’ve never been very active, it’s not too late to start. The key to developing an active lifestyle that you can keep up long term is to find an activity you enjoy.
FINDING INSPIRATION
I’ve found that nothing works better than a bit of inspiration when it comes to changing habits. Over the last two decades, charity events such as marathons, 10km runs, cycle sportives and adventure racing have helped to motivate people to train with a goal in mind. Who would have thought that tens of thousands of women wearing sparkly bras would happily do the “Moonwalk” through the night in London and Edinburgh, kept going only by a sense of camaraderie and a shared purpose to raise money for breast cancer research?
Gyms, too, have revolutionized – it’s no longer just about feeling the burn. Classes such as Zumba®, salsa and hula hooping, where having a laugh is every bit as important as burning off calories, have become part of many people’s fitness regimes. “Outdoor gyms”, like those run by military fitness types, have got all shapes, sizes and ages into the mud and pushing out the press-ups of a Sunday morning. For those willing to go even further, road- or mountain-biking, kitesurfing and triathlon provide accessible competitive events that you can now do much more easily at your own level.
TOP TIPS:
•Book an active holiday to get yourself started.
•Sign up for a charity run or hike.
•Achieve inner calm with yoga or sweat it out in a Bikram studio.
•If dancing’s your thing, try Sh’Bam™, the latest craze to follow Zumba®.
•If you have kids, encourage them to play active games and join in too.
•Work off job frustrations with a boxing or martial arts class.
•Treat yourself to a one-to-one with a personal trainer.
•Volunteer for a local conservation project or do some heavy-duty gardening.
•Get back to what you were good at in school – badminton and netball are popular team sports that stand the test of time.
•Improve your commute to work by walking or cycling.
RULE 1: TAKE THE FIRST STEP
As the saying goes, “Every journey starts with a single step”. If there’s anything preventing you from taking that first step, take some time to think about how you can overcome this. From there, set yourself a realistic activity goal for the week. Make sure you write it down and, even better, tell a loved one that you’re thinking/going to do it – it makes it more real to share your conviction.
RULE 2: TAKE IT FURTHER
The next step is to monitor your progress – an activity diary is an ideal way to do this – and plan to add a little more each week. Keep setting new goals and challenging yourself. Variety is also vital as you can get into a rut with your exercise programme just like with anything else. Follow the lead of international sport coaches who insist on variety to keep minds fresh and stimulated, or sign up to a sport where you’ll be under the watchful gaze of a coach.
RULE 3: TAKE CARE
If you’re new to exercise, or haven’t done any for some time, you should always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The benefits of activity almost always outweigh the risks, but if you have a health condition or are just starting out, your doctor will be able to advise on any activities that you should avoid or take extra care with.
RULE 4: GO FOR THE BURN
The table on page 168 shows how long it takes a person who weighs 70kg (11st) to burn 100 calories while engaging in various activities.
You’ll get the best benefits from a structured exercise plan, especially if you do some of your training at a high intensity and include some weights. But if you’re not quite ready for that, fitting extra movement into your day is a good way to get started. If you take the stairs instead of the lift, get off the bus or train one stop early and are generally more active without actually working out, you could lose at least 6kg (1st) in 12 months, so long as you don’t eat more to compensate! If you’re already exercising regularly, instead of just focusing on doing more exercise, take every opportunity to do things the active way.
When you’re fasting, a great way to boost your calorie burn is to focus on increasing your NEAT. Together with the advice below on exercising, this will make sure you’re doing everything you can to achieve the best shape possible.
| ACTIVITY | TIME NEEDED (MINUTES) |
| Skipping | 8 |
| Jogging | 12 |
| Gardening (weeding) | 14 |
| Swimming (leisurely pace) | 14 |
| Cycling (light effort) | 14 |
| Scrubbing the floor (vigorous effort) | 15 |
| Vacuuming | 18 |
| Dancing | 19 |
| Playing with children | 21 |
| Walking the dog | 24 |
| Food shopping (at the supermarket) | 28 |
| Driving a car | 32 |
| Computer work | 43 |
You might be disheartened when the running- or step-machine tells you you’ve burnt 87 calories when you’ve been sweating for at least 15 minutes. After all, it doesn’t even add up to a skinny cappuccino. Don’t despair! You burn fat even after exercise because you primarily use carbohydrate fuel during the exercise, which takes time to replace, so in the meantime, your body burns fat for energy. In other words, your metabolism is raised for a little while after your workout.
EXERCISING AND FASTING
EXERCISE AND THE 16/8 FAST
But what about exercising while fasting? As you’ll know from the “Fit You and Your Life to Fasting” chapter, the 16/8 fasting pattern is often used by people who are looking to get into their best shape ever, and workouts are usually done in a fasted state.
However, it’s important to remember that most of the studies on exercise while fasted were done on men, and we know that women’s bodies may respond differently. This means that, when it comes to the 16/8 fast, the rules for men and women are slightly different.
MEN
If you regularly take part in exercise and are already quite fit, exercising in a fasted state shouldn’t be a problem. As we saw earlier (see pages 95–6), the tried-and-tested method among weight-training enthusiasts is to train before the biggest meal of the day.
If you’re doing a high volume of intense aerobic training, such as running, you may find it easier to mix-and-match your training times, sometimes training before eating and sometimes training after. This is especially important if you notice that you’re feeling very tired when training in a fasted state, or find that you’re more susceptible to illnesses such as colds.
WOMEN
As there’s very little research on training while fasted in women specifically, other than the study (see page 94) which found that women’s fat metabolizing enzymes increased when training after eating, it’s more difficult to make firm recommendations on when to exercise.
If you’re very active, start by timing your workouts between meals. If you’re following the 16/8 fast and skipping breakfast, this means that you should exercise during the early evening, before dinner. If you’re skipping dinner, a post-breakfast or pre-lunch workout is probably best.
If you only participate in light exercise such as walking, Pilates or yoga, you should be able to do this in a fasted state. You may also wish to experiment with more intense exercise when fasted – only you can know how your body responds. But if you notice symptoms such as fatigue or increased susceptibility to common bugs, this is a sign that training in a fasted state isn’t for you.
Whichever method you choose, I recommend that during the first week of the fast you limit high-intensity exercise until you see how you respond to fasting. As they say of eating elephants, it’s easy one bite at a time.
EXERCISE AND THE 5/2 FAST
If you’re going to do the 5/2 fast, it’s best to avoid prolonged or hard exercise on your 500-calorie days. However, it’s fine to do this sort of exercise a couple of hours after your first meal the following day. And do make sure that if you’re exercising the day before your 500-calorie day, you end the day with a proper meal.
Although you’ll be going for periods of the day without food, the fasting plan (see page 180) covers all your nutritional requirements. To ensure that you’re getting everything your body needs to fuel an active lifestyle, I encourage you to eat more during your eating “windows” if you feel hungry. Keep healthy snacks to hand so that you’re not tempted by junk food if hunger pangs strike.