More Easter Bunny than Playboy Bunny??

Okay, so you are planning to indulge over the festive period? Do not worry - I will be shoving crème eggs down my throat along with the best of ‘em

There is help at hand to shift those unwanted pounds with my Easter indulgence easy weight-loss plan.

Now this has been put together combining fantastic weight loss tips, you are even allowed a daily treat to keep you going (this isn’t torture!!) There is some logic thrown into the mix also.

Now - to lose or gain 1lb of fat you must reduce or consume 3,500 calories respectively to your daily intake.

Recommended calorie intake is 2000kcals for Women and 2500kcals for men - now this is dependent on many factors including physical activity, daily activities and so on and so forth.

So we are going to make it simple by outlining some basic rules. The key is not to drop weight too quickly as you are only dropping valuable water and muscle weight. A diet which advocates losing more than 1 to 2lbs per week is a fad or crash diet and could be dangerous to your metabolism.

Metabolism sabotage is where you consume too few calories which panics your body into thinking there is going to be a large period of starvation. Result?? It will hang onto every calorie consumed AND to make matters worse, when you start eating normally/properly - that weight will go straight on in case of another ‘famine.’

Exercise is a primary attribute for weight loss - mainly cardiovascular to start with, an absolute winner which will make you feel better and raise those endorphins almost from day one.

To be honest a major motivation to get me down the gym 4x per week (sometimes more) is to know that I can eat healthily and have treats as well as keeping my metabolism running high. Not to mention feeling and er looking great? Mmmnn.

Building muscle through anaerobic exercise also keeps your metabolism more efficient and burns more calories even when resting. We will cover that later on though…

Do not exercise too intensely especially if you are a beginner - for starters you should aim to be participating in aerobic exercise for 20ms minimum without stopping working up to 45mins of pure cardio for maximum fat burning.

Look to consistently exercise in the lower to middle percentage of your training heart rate zone (60%-70%) by reducing the intensity and lowering your pulse.

Subtract your age from 220 - the number you are left with represents your theoretical maximum heart rate.

Multiply that figure by .60, and .85 (60% - 85%) to determine your training heart rate zone.

To determine your heart rate while exercising, you can take your pulse.

Your body will also be recovering for hours after a workout thus burning even more calories.

Look to workout for 45m sessions minimum 3x per week - keep your calorie intake to around 1500 calories per day (Women) and 2000 calories (Men) and you will lose a steady 1lb/1lb per week.

After a workout make sure you replenish the calories you burnt - so if you are aiming to eat around 1500 calories a day - and you worked off 600 calories in the gym - make sure you include that 600kcals in your intake. In fact replace those 600kcals with lean protein and low GI foods.

(So 600kcals of exercise and a 1500kcal ‘budget’ allows you to consume 2,100kcals with the deficit of 600kcals being burnt in exercise = 1500kcals)

On days that you do not exercise - stick to 1500kcals - these should be made up of clean protein, good carbs and a low fat intake.

I will be covering the recommended foods a little later on in the week for you to follow.

Tune in Wednesday morning for more fantastic tips, supplements and the recommended meal plans.