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Day #9 Take the stairs – five times

It’s Day Nine of our January Tweak Diet of small changes that make a big difference. Today, it’s all about the amazing butt-shrinking, metabolism-boosting power of the stair. If you’re just joining us now, scroll down to see how The Tweak Diet works

Today and every day in January try and take the stairs wherever you get an opportunity. Ideally, do this five times in a day and if you can, continuously for two minutes a time. Stair-climbing is an unbelievable fitness booster and calorie burner.

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In fact, research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that women who ran up and down the stairs at work for two minutes at a time, five times a day boosted their fitness and lost weight over an eight week period.

Scientists call this incidental exercise, says Dr Nigel Turner, metabolism researcher at the Garvan Institute. ‘It’s great for boosting metabolism,’ he says.  ‘Most people are time poor but if you get up and move around every two hours and take a five minute walk around the office, or run up a couple of flights of stairs, you’re keeping you’re metabolism more fired up than if you were sitting down for four hours until lunchtime.’

For even more specific information about how much you’re burning, stepjockey.com is a snazzy new site that lets you locate stairs anywhere in the UK and find out how many calories it burns to climb them. Then, you can have a poster printed out saying this to stick on the stairs and remind you and all the other building dwellers of the calorie benefits of taking the stairs. I know!

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It has an app too that you can use to track your climbs using Stepjockey posters in the buildings you visit (start noticing them, they’re kind of everywhere).

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THE HEALTHISTA JANUARY TWEAK DIET – guidelines

What is the Tweak diet?  Designed for anyone who doesn’t want to go on a big starv-y diet during January, we deliver you one new small change to make to your diet or lifestyle on each day in January.  You continue each change throughout the month and come February, be on your way to weight loss and new healthy habits you can keep all year. You in?

1. Start anytime. Some of you will be starting on January 1st, but that’s not compulsory. If you’re joining us after January 1st, simply go back to Day 1 and start from there.

2. Continue with each of your small changes throughout the month and come end January, you will have built up a heap of new healthy habits and will be well on your way to losing weight and feeling better.

3. If you fall off the wagon just get back on asap If you don’t manage to keep up all your small changes every day, don’t worry. Just get back on the next day or even better, at the next meal.

4. Measure once at the start and once at the end. That’s all Take your waist, hip and bust measurements and weigh yourself at the start and end ONLY of your tweak-a-thin journey. I don’t want you getting bogged down in the numbers and would prefer you focus on how much better you’ll feel (the weight loss will happen, don’t worry)

5. Send us selfies of your tweak-a-thin journey Post them to Healthista on TwitterFacebook and in the comments below. At the end of January we’ll publish them and you’ll be in with a chance of winning a Healthista exclusive pamper hamper handpicked by yours truly.

6. Do what you can Obviously you don’t have to do every single tweak we suggest. Even just one will make a difference as we’ve handpicked each change to be small but powerful.  The more you do though, the better your results.

 

More posts in Healthista’s January Daily Tweak Diet

Day #1 Record everything you eat

Day #2 Drink two litres of water daily

Day #3 Your at-a-glance portion guide

Day #4: Have a protein breakfast for weight loss

Day #5 Cut back on sugar with these simple tips

Day #6 Burn an extra 500 calories a day (without the gym)

Day #7 Snack on 40 almonds a day

Day #8 Is it real hunger or a craving?

 

 

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