Inspired by the fact that most give up on their new year’s resolutions on February, Simply Gym has created a guide to keeping to your health and fitness resolutions all year long, including some motivation tips and monthly goals to aim for.
The infographic gives you a little tip for each month of the year – combine them all to keep up your momentum and celebrate reaching your goals in December!
Now I count myself amongst the lucky ones. Being a journalist has always opened me up to a more than average amount of invitations to lunch, dinner and the pub.
So when after hitting mid-40 the inevitable injury curtailed my footballing days and meant that my running was having to be shelved and I could not get away with “burning off” the excess.
Those of you who have read my posts for the past year will know it ended up in a dangerously high blood pressure level and a warning that I had to shed a fair few stones or face the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke.
A spot in the jungle for three weeks on beans and rice via I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here was not really on the agenda so it was a more traditional route of a personal trainer a gym and a modified eating regime – NOT a diet.
Just over a year on and three and half stone lighter I am just about feeling comfortable looking at myself in the mirror. Without a doubt I am now slimmer and trimmer then I have been in almost two decades and the results have spurred me on to keep up the good work.
But this week I was speaking to a personal trainer down at the gym who had approached the reception as I arrived and said to the staff behind the counter “I have a very nervous new client coming in so could you make sure you are really engaging!”
I had to ask what the problem was and the PT said that the female in question was 23-years-old very overweight and as such was extremely nervous of going down the gym as she felt people would stare.
Now I only have to cast my mind back a year when I entered the gym wearing a baggy shirt and expansive shorts thinking exactly the same thing. There I was sweating profusely on a treadmill at a pace I would now view as walking while all around me were these gym goers who look more Venus and Adonis rather than my Billy Bunter.
Now while I do not feel I will ever join the Adonis cadre I feel a lot more comfortable in the gym both on the treadmill and in the weight room.
There are a number of male members of the gym who are larger then I was when I started and some are a lot older but do I look and stare?
No, I like so many of those who go to the gym can understand the journey they are on, the desire to not just lose the weight but also extend longevity, and actually have a huge respect for their decision to do something to change their futures.
Indeed at the age of nearly 50 I have decided I am now ready to join the gym’s boxing club and approached the trainer to ask if it was for experienced pugilists only.
“No we have every level” he said. “We have guys who have been coming for years and they tend to go out of their way to help the beginners and are keen to pair up to offer advice.”
Those, who after the excesses of Christmas, feel they want to get into shape but fear a visit to the gym should think again. So many of us on the bike or treadmill next to you have been on the same road and once heading down it are not keen to return to our starting point. But we certainly remember where it was.
Sheraton Salobre Golf Resort & Spa
Aloe Spa
Urbanizacion Salobre Golf SN
Maspalomas, Gran Canaria
Canary Islands 35100, Spain
T:34 928 943 030
T:34 928 943 000 Spa
www.sheraton.com
15% off spa treatments
Find all the comforts of home and so much more at the Sheraton Salobre Golf Resort & Spa.
Overlooking the breathtaking greens of the 27-hole Salobre Golf Course, fairways, and splendid surrounding mountains, our resort is the perfect place to catch up with the people who matter.
Treat yourself to some well-deserved you-time and discover a new world of well-being in a relaxing oasis at our Aloe Spa. After a busy day of sightseeing or business, let us show you how to find your internal beauty and balance with our soothing treatments.
Spend the day at Maspalomas Beach. Our free shuttle service can drive you directly to our private beach house, offering a bar, changing room, showers, and swimming pool.
Enticing guest rooms, a wealth of recreational facilities, and a range of exceptional dining venues make the Sheraton Salobre Golf Resort & Spa an unforgettable resort experience.
Plus, all-day, everyday sun, with an average annual temperature of 23C (73F). So there’s none of that anxious staring-up-at-the-heavens and saying, “Surely in five minutes that cloud will have blown away, sod it, where’s the beer. . .?”
The spa treatments include Swedish massage and hot-stone therapy and cost from €20 to €120 (£14.40 to £86.50). The aloe vera wrap is the signature dish, but the spa’s age-defying treatment and lymphatic drainage is another productive way to spend your time.
This spa also uses the high quality Espa products and is the place for fashionable Spanish yummy mummies
Hotel Cordial Cordial Mogán Playa
Avda. de los Marrero, 2 – 35138
Playa de Mogán – Gran Canaria – Spain
T: 00 34 928 724 100
F: 00 34 928 724 101
Email: info@cordialcanarias.com
Discount: 15% off spa treatments
The hotel is located in the Puerto de Mogan, a beautiful fishing village also known as Little Venice to its visitors. It is just a few metres away from the beach and from the colourful fishing quay and the marina, all surrounded by the lush and vibrant Mogan Valley.
The hotel is set in a luxurious botanic garden with over 200 species of subtropical plants. There are two stunning adult pools which are heated during the winter months, withartificial beaches and whirlpools and a children’s pool and playground. There are extensive solarium areas with loungers and parasols
The Spa offers an array of treatments including Aromatherapy, Shiatsu, Lymphatic Drainage, Reflexology, and Facials. Body Wrapping (Sea Weeds; Chocolate; Wine; MudÂ…) Peeling (Exfoliates of Aloe Vera; Exfoliates of Sea SaltsÂ…
London: Physical exercise helps to keep your brain healthy by boosting oxygen which is turn increases the number of blood vessels.
And experts say that exercise is the single most important measure you can take to help keep your cognitive abilities as you age.
The reason exercise is so vital is that that the body’s circulatory system begins to shrink as we age – reducing the amount of oxygen and glucose available to brain cells.
But to achieve real results exercise needs to last for at least 30 minutes at each session and to elevate heart rate. Walking is recommended if you don’t want to visit the gym.
10% of hotel suits and 15% of spa treatments Both offers exclude Easter and must be taken by 30 June 2008, subject to availability.
Email us: makeovermailes@elixirnews.com to obtain your promotional code and contact phone number.
The five star Columbia Beach Resort, one of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean is offering Elixir Makeover Miles privilege card holders discounts on direct hotel and spa bookings.
The Columbia Beach Resort is surrounded by lush gardens and is an all-suite hotel. It has one of the best outdoor pools on the island of Cyprus and one of the best spas. It also has a state-of-the-art gym and several choices of restaurant.
The Resort is offering a 10% discount on rooms and 15% on spa treatments – this must be booked directly with the resort.
Cyprus is one of the sunniest and friendlest islands in the Mediterranean. As well as sun, sand and sea there is spectacular mountain scenary and archeological sites. The people of Cyprus are friendly and the cuisine centres around the freshes of home-grown ingredients.
The Resort
This exclusive all suite resort ambles gently upward from the sparkling waters of the bay following the natural incline of the landscape so that most suites have a spectacular sea view and many also look out over the 80m lagoon-style swimming pool, which is the central feature guarded by towering palm trees.
All that is best in Cypriot architecture and local materials has been used. Sloping roofs and graceful arches are predominant, as is the use of natural wood and stone, and the specially reclaimed terracotta roof tiles give the whole project a nicely aged and traditional look. All suites have shuttered windows, heavy wooden doors and large covered balconies.
Paved pathways, shaded by bougainvillaea and olive trees, meander throughout the resort around the traditional taverna and ouzeri, past the quaint little Chapel of All Saints and on down to the beach.
Spa & Well-being
The COLUMBIA SPA offers numerous therapies for relaxation and revitalising – various types of massage, body wraps, detoxification treatments, skin cleansing and toning – all performed by the highly qualified Spa staff with products from Molton Brown and Phytomer.
Treatment rooms surround a central area containing sauna & cold plunge pool, steam bath and Jacuzzi.
To find out more about this resort: www.columbia-hotels.com
London: Nautilus are offering free trials to all those who visit the website www.nautilustreadclimber.co.uk giving the opportunity to try before you buy.
Nautilus have teamed up with a number of health clubs around the country to offer the free trial which lasts a whole day, meaning you can experience all the facilities the health club has to offer, and get the most out of your free day trial.
Nautilus has not only developed the TreadClimber, they have also developed the Selectech dumbbells which are used by celebrities including (?) and numerous top quality treadmills, cross trainers and other fantastic fitness equipment.
The Nautilus TreadClimber is a truly outstanding piece of equipment; it burns calories twice as fast as a treadmill working at the same speed and has minimum impact and stress on the bodyÂ’s joints.
Combining the actions of a treadmill and a stair climber, the TreadClimber is able to produce an extremely intense workout with a smooth, low-impact motion that adapts to your natural stride instead of forcing your feet into an awkward pattern. Expert Dr Beim has worked with the TreadClimber and has discovered that it is so effective at burning calories and working the core muscles that anyone can get an incredible workout in just 30 minutes simply by walking.
All you have to do to take up this fantastic offer is go to www.nautilustreadclimber.co.uk and search for a health club near you, using the club finder facility on the website, and then click on the link to fill out your details. Your FREE DAY voucher will then be posted out to you in the post.
London: Grandmother Donna McClure, pictured right, has a better figure than most women half her age. Her secret is a new exercise product from the US, the Nautilus Bowflex Homegym which the manufacturers claim is guaranteed to change your body in six weeks.
Donna is featured in the company’s promotional material after she wrote to them about how well the exercise regime worked for her. She now has her own web site www.fitgrandmother.com
Whether you want to lose weight, get in shape or just look better, the Bowflex home gym guarantees to change your body in just six weeks – or your money back.
Bowflex gets results because it not only provides an aerobic workout by circuit training, but also helps to build muscle. Regardless of age, muscle is important to everyone – especially people who want to lose weight – because body muscle helps to burn most of the calories we eat.
In a recent US studymen who exercised with the Bowflex home gym by following a ‘Fast Fat Loss’ programme lost an average of 28lbs of fat in just six weeks, while women lost almost 17lbs of fat in the same time-span.
Designed to provide a gym quality workout in the comfort of the home, Bowflex Sport offers over 60 different exercises – the equivalent of almost an entire range of gym equipment in a single, compact unit.
Bowflex’s unique Power RodÒ resistance provides you with a secret fitness weapon. This special Power Rod technology gives you resistance, or weight, that feels as good as, or better than free weights – but without the inertia, danger or joint pain usually associated with free weights.
And, because Power Rods are so strong, they can be flexed repeatedly without wearing out, and even come with a 30 year guarantee.
Two Bowflex home gym models are now available to UK consumers – the Bowflex SportĂ” and the Bowflex XtremeĂ”.
Both models come with a lat tower with angled lat bar to help build back and shoulder muscles quickly, a lower squat station for squats and to build glutes, hamstrings and quads, multiple cable positions to provide custom workouts. Both models also come with a complete step-by-step fitness guide, Dr Ellington Darden’s Fast Fat loss programme and a comprehensive ownerÂ’s manual.
And, for users who want the flexibility to move or store their home gym, the Bowflex Sport is fully portable, so it can be easily folded up and rolled out of the way.
Now the best-selling home gym in the US with over 1.5 million sales, Bowflex provides a better, quicker and more convenient workout system thatÂ’s ideal for anyone with a busy lifestyle and offers real results for real people. Instead of spending up to two hours driving to the gym, waiting for equipment, then exercising and driving home, Bowflex will always be available and ready for use – whatever the time of day or night.
Bowflex is also a great solution for anyone who is ‘turned off’ or intimidated by health and fitness clubs, as it offers a gym standard workout in the comfort of your home.
Alternatively, for real ‘fitness junkies’ the gym-quality workout and constant availability provides great results, and users can upgrade to 310lbs or 410lbs of Power Rod resistance as required.
Available immediately, the Bowflex Sport and Xtreme models retail at ÂŁ799 and ÂŁ999 respectively, or can be financed with affordable low monthly payments. The Bowflex home gym will be sold exclusively through television teleshopping via TV Warehouse, and can be ordered directly from its website, www.bowflex.co.uk”, or by calling Freephon from the UK: 0800 013 1606.
Silky Oaks Lodge & Healing Waters Spa
In the Daintree National Park, in Queensland, Silky Oaks is in a rain forest near the Mossman River. Therapies are inspired by native Aboriginal healing techniques. “Mirryindi” which means rainbow is one of the spa’s signature treatments in which the body is exfoliated with lemon myrtle desert salts and enveloped in mud.There is lots to do outdoors such as visiting the rainforest, white water rafting or the Great Barrier Reef.
Contact:
Finlayvale Road Daintree Rainforest
Australia
T:61 74 098 1666