One chocolate digestive biscuit has around 85 calories. Eating just one biscuit a day more than your body's daily calorie requirement means 2,585 unused calories per month. That's three quarters of a pound of added fat. In exactly 19 months that means an extra stone in weight. Or two stones heavier in just over three years. Just one biscuit extra.....
And also, an 11 stone person will burn around 85 calories as well walking for about 20 minutes at just 3 miles per hour. So, 85 calories less AND walk an extra 20 minutes per day and that stone will be gone in just over 9 months.
The biggest mistake people make in my view, is trying to lose weight too quickly.
People seem to want an instant fix. That generally just doesn't work, but gradual, sustainable change will bring success. Eat well - and here the do's and dont's make a big difference - exercise regularly with the right activity and be patient. And if your treat is chocolate, or wine, or crisps etc, don't cut it out completely - but be very aware how much exercise will be needed to work off that treat.
A very interesting recent study by Stanford University followed 500 exercisers for nearly twenty years. All of them were in their fifties at the start and they were compared to a similar group of non-exercisers. After nineteen years, 34% of the non-exercisers had died, compared to only 15% of the exercisers. The exercise not only appeared to slow their rate of heart and artery related deaths, but was also associated with fewer early deaths from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes.
And according to Cancer Research UK, half of all cancers could be prevented by lifestyle change. So why take the risk?