Challenge
Start moving more
Remember when being ‘sporty’
required you to be good at
football, rugby, cricket, tennis
or hockey? If you didn’t enjoy
any of those, it was easy to lose
interest and stop doing any
kind of exercise at all. Thankfully,
the goalposts have shifted now –
along with the stumps, the net and
the hockey sticks.
Slimming World’s Body Magic activity programme isn’t
like sport in that you don’t have to join a club, buy expensive
equipment or even commit to a particular time – it just encourages
you to find ways of easing some extra activity into your day. So,
it could be a slightly longer walk to the shop, getting the garden
ready for spring, or going to the park with the kids and a Frisbee
(and if you do fancy a game of five-a-side, that’s great, too). ‘If you
haven’t been exercising and you start doing some Body Magic,
you’ll begin to lower the risks associated with being inactive almost
immediately,’ says Jenny Barber. ‘This means you don’t need to jump
into the deep end straight away. Building up gradually, at a pace
and frequency that you’re comfortable with, will start bringing
benefits well before you reach the long-term goal of doing at least
minutes of exercise a day, five times a week.’‘Challenging yourself to try something new each
week builds confidence and positivity that spills
out into other parts of your life’
Challenge
Reorganise your
bedtime routine
From staying up until
the wee small hours for
the big fight, to mindlessly
scrolling through social media
for hours when we’d planned to
get an early night – there are so
many ways we can sabotage our
own efforts to get a good night’s
sleep. And, as a Slimming World
member survey revealed, this
can have an impact on your weight loss. More than a third of the
slimmers who took our survey said they struggled to make healthy
food choices when they were feeling tired and that they were less
likely to cook their meals from scratch.
One of the best ways to ensure that you get the kip you deserve
is to make your bedroom a no-phone zone. Not only will this stop
you from endlessly checking your Twitter feed, you won’t be woken
up later by message and email alerts, either. And watch out for the
weekend lie-in: mornings spent under the duvet can disrupt the
sleep cycle, leaving you with ‘social jet lag’ on Mondays, and making
you more likely to reach for high Syn snacks as a result. To max
your get-up-and-go, stick to a consistent routine, going to bed and
getting up at around the same time – even on Sundays.Challenge
Be more selfish
No, we’re not talking about hogging the remote or using the last
of the toilet paper and not replacing the roll. This is all about the
advantages to be had from making some time for yourself –
whether it’s taking your full lunch break to go for a walk, or
something a bit more involved, like going to a luxury barber shop
for a proper old-school shaving experience.
Men are generally very communal creatures – some might
say tribal! – and our time is often taken up doing things with
our mates or family. Spending some time building a better
relationship with yourself, though, has been shown to be a great
self-esteem booster. It gives you a chance to reconnect with
many of the positive things about yourself and makes you feel
more self-sufficient, so you can be your own force for change.
And the knock-on effect is gaining the confidence to get that
weight loss you’ve always wanted. That’s what we call a win-win!Challenge
Clear out your drawers
If you’re a way along your journey, make the year that
you finally clear out your bedroom and take all those threads
that you’ve worked so hard to slim out
of down to the charity shop. Result?
A feel-good boost from knowing
you’ve done something to help
others and a reminder of just
how far you’ve come... Added
bonus: you’ll be making room
to fill your wardrobe with sharp,
new styles in your smaller size.
‘Treating yourself to a new
T-shirt, shirt or pair of jeans –
wherever you are with your
weight loss – can be great
motivation,’ says Jenny. SLIMMING WORLDmax your motivation
Mens Emot_UPDATED VERSION.indd 94 17/11/2017 11:19