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Personal programmes
 By following these tailored diet and fitness programmes, which are based on expert advice, you can improve and protect your physical and mental health
Programme two
Follow a six-week healthy living plan, tailored to your fitness level, and reap the benefits from day two
Getting started
Read an explanation of what to expect in programme two of your healthy living plan. Expert, week-by-week advice will help you become more active, burn calories and tone your body.
Week five
Diet
This week's challenge is to concentrate on what you drink and ensure you're getting enough of the right liquids.
How much?
It's recommended that you have eight to ten glasses of fluids every day, to ensure you remain properly hydrated.
Dehydration is more common than you think. If you feel thirsty, you're already five per cent dehydrated. A lack of fluid, however small, can affect concentration, mood and alertness. So if you need a pick-me-up, a glass of water could be just what you need.
How to get enough
The following can help you reach your daily fluid target:
Fill a big jug of tap water and try to get through it at your desk each day.
If you drink a lot of fizzy drinks, swap them for lower calorie ones. But ensure most of your daily fluid intake is water.
For every alcoholic drink, drink a glass of water or other non-alcoholic drink.
Stick to recommended alcohol limits of two or three units a day for women and three or four units a day for men.
If you're trying to lose weight, have no more than three to four alcohol units a week. To find out how much a unit it, see Alcohol.
What to drink
You can vary your intake of fluid to make it more palatable by including tap water, bottled water, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, fruit juice or concentrate diluted with water.
Keep sweetened soft drinks to two a day because of the calorie content and possible effects on teeth. Even diet fizzy drinks can affect the teeth because of their acidic nature. Try not to have them between meals and always use a straw.
Tea and coffee
Some people claim coffee and tea are addictive and contribute to dehydration, but this isn't true. A moderate intake of two to five cups a day is quite safe, and it can count towards your daily fluid intake.
Black tea, green tea and coffee also contain antioxidant nutrients, which may protect against heart disease.
Alcohol
If you didn't take part in programme one or need a refresher, read more about how alcohol affects weight and try the suggestions for cutting back.
Week five
Exercise
This week's exercise programme is about increasing the length and intensity of your walking sessions and the time you spend active during the day.
Your week
Your aim this week is to increase one of your two remaining 30-minute walks to 45 minutes and replace the other one with a 35-minute interval session.
This means you're now doing three 35-minute interval sessions, each with five cycles of three minutes' fast walking and two minutes' slow walking. Try to ensure you have a day's rest between each one, to make sure you've recovered fully so you can get the most out of the next one.
You should also increase your 60 minutes of meaningful activity to 70 or 80 minutes.
Your week could look like this:
| Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
| 1 x 35-minute interval session |
Rest |
1 x 35-minute interval session |
Rest |
1 x 35-minute interval session |
Rest |
1 x 45-minute walk |
Meaningful activity
Clocking up activity through simple daily tasks is crucial to achieving your exercise and weight-loss goals.
You can do this by:
walking the dog
gardening
cleaning windows
sorting washing
mopping or vacuuming
clearing up the house
playing with the kids
carrying heavy items
walking up and down stairs
running errands by foot or by bike
cleaning the car
shopping
Aim for 70 to 80 active minutes this week. Keep a note of them to make sure you're achieving your goal.
Modified cobra
This modified version of the yoga pose helps to ease stiffness and tension in your back.
Do this every day. Continue to do the Superman and stair push-up exercises every other day, and the hip and thigh stretch after each exercise session.
Lie on the carpet or a mat and raise yourself up on your forearms, with your elbows directly under your shoulders.
Press your hipbones into the floor and draw your spine in between your shoulder blades, allowing your chest to open. Keep your neck in line with your spine and breathe freely.
You can adopt this pose while watching TV, but if you find it too uncomfortable aim to hold it for 30 seconds at a time.
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