SIMPLIFYING THINGS... DAUNTING! Daunting is a word most of us think of when we consider dieting and exercising in search of a healthier lifestyle.

There is such a lot of information available in books or on the internet, and conflicting information at that.

So, you end up not really knowing what to do.

What diet to do. What exercise to do.

But what if I told you it was much simpler than that? What if I said you could easily achieve what you wanted to achieve in relation to your body and your health?

Well, here’s the good news. It really is fairly simple. It just takes small steps each and every single day, consistently, to get to where you want to be.

And the key word there: Consistency. This is something most people can’t get to grips with. But if you can be consistent, you will succeed.

So how is it so simple?

Well two major things we need to consider when trying to reach your goals.

1. Look at the amount of calories you consume

2. Keep consistently active

That’s it!

Simple isn’t it?

So, let’s look at the calories we consume.

Firstly, we need to look at your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Your BMR is the amount of calories your body requires to function effectively each day without exercise.

Then we need to look at your goals. To lose weight and burn fat, you need to be consuming less calories that your body requires each day.

This is called a calorie deficit.

To build muscle, you need to be in a calorie surplus, which means you need to be consuming more calories than your body requires. So, in order to achieve either of these, you need to look at your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

Your TDEE is the amount of calories your body burns each day when exercise is taken into account. So, its generally considered that if you stick to your calorie requirement, you will start to build towards your goal.

To make things even simpler, you can multiply your TDEE by seven to give you a week’s allowance of calories, so if you have a bad day one day, you can still make up for it during the rest of the week. This creates balance, and more importantly, sustainability.

So don’t focus on a day’s calories, focus on a week’s worth of calories. And the even better news, if you stay within your calorie requirements, you can still have a snack or treat now and again. Don 't deprive yourself and try and fit your 'treat' into your calorie goal.

Now, let’s look towards keeping active. I’m sure most of you think that to achieve the health and body that you want, you need to exercise for hours each day, every day of the week.

Well, this isn’t the case.

You just need to keep active. Whether you like walking, running, swimming or cycling, or whatever you feel like doing. By keeping active you will be burning calories. Even taking the stairs instead of using the lift counts. It all helps to burn more calories.

Yes, if you go to the gym now and again it will help to speed up your results, but gone are the days where we feel the need to run 10 miles a day to burn fat. Keep active, consistently (remember that word from earlier in the article), and you will succeed.

So, consistency is huge. Be consistent with your calorie counting, and be consistent with your activity levels, and you will be well on your way to achieving your results. It just takes small adjustments to your current lifestyle.

Mark's latest article on the importance of Adaptation is printed in this week's County Times.