Fiber has many health benefits, from lowering cholesterol levels to keeping you feeling full longer. Find out which high-fiber foods to add to your diet.

If you’re trying to diet and finding it too tough to restrict calories because you’re always starving, fiber may be just what you’re lacking. “It keeps you feeling fuller for longer,” says Sandra Meyerowitz, MPH, RD, a nutritionist and owner of Nutrition Works in Louisville, Ky. “You don’t get as hungry as quickly, so it helps when somebody’s trying to cut back on calories.”

Fiber is a carbohydrate, but unlike other carbohydrates, it doesn’t get broken down by your body, says Meyerowitz.

Simple carbohydrates, continues Meyerowitz, don’t offer the same filling benefits. “With fiber added in, you’re more satisfied. Fiber doesn’t make the blood sugar go up quite as quickly. It allows the sugar to get into your system more slowly,” she explains.

Beyond being a diet aid, there are many health benefits of fiber, including:

• Lowering cholesterol levels
• Improving digestion
• Reducing diabetes risk
• Improving heart health
• Reducing constipation
• Reducing the risk of diverticulitis (inflammation of the intestines)
• Maintaining steady control of blood sugar

Fiber in the Diet: Where to Find Fiber

Fiber is always found in edible plant materials and in the healthiest foods, like whole grains as well as fruits and vegetables. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. “They act differently in your body when they’re being processed,â Meyerowitz explains. âSoluble fiber can be somewhat dissolved by water; insoluble fiber can’t.”

It’s best that you get the fiber you need each day from foods in your diet rather than supplements.

Most people need between 20 and 35 grams of fiber each day. Some good fiber-rich food choices are:

• Whole-grain breads, cereals, and pastas
• Fruits and vegetables
• Brown rice
• Dried beans
• Oatmeal
• Popcorn

Getting fiber is great, but don’t suddenly jump on the fiber bandwagon and ramp up your intake all at once. Take it slowly, and gradually increase your fiber each day to prevent side effects like diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, and gas.

Fiber in the Diet: Smart Choices

Now that you know what foods are fiber-rich and good for you, it’s time to start finding ways to work them into your daily meals and snacks. Try these tips to get more fiber every day:

• Have oatmeal or whole-grain cereal for breakfast; top with some fresh fruit.
• Eat fruits and veggies raw and with skins for more fiber (if appropriate).
• Snack on fruitsâ dried or fresh is fine.
• Have bulgur, barley, or couscous as a side dish.
• Munch on popcorn when you need a snack.
• Switch to brown rice from white rice.
• Replace white pasta with whole-wheat pasta in your favorite dish.
• Add vegetables to pastas and other dishes.
• Get a minimum of 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies every day. Choose those highest in fiber like pears, berries, apples, spinach, sweet potatoes, and peas.
• Have a bran muffin for breakfast or a snack.

Fiber is filling, delicious, and one of the healthiest things you can eat. There are a lot of easy and tasty ways to make fiber a big part of every day, and you’ll quickly reap the health benefits.

It’s a simple way to feel full, be fit, and get your body into a healthy shape.

Last Updated: 09/22/2009

2010 EverydayHealth
By Diana Rodriguez
Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

Tags: lose weight, bran, health, fitness, fiber, barley, weight loss, apples, diet, pears

She wasn’t golfing because her stomach made it awkward, she says. She wasn’t visiting family or old friends because she didn’t want them to see how much she had gained. And she wasn’t wearing the clothing styles she liked.

She knew she had to lose weight soon or “I was going to be a fat person until I died.”

So she started following an eating plan and walking program designed especially for this year’s seventh annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge, which starts today. And since late September, Buckley, who is 5-foot-4, has lost 28 pounds, dropping from 226 to 198. She hopes to lose 50 more on the program.

The challenge was created in 2004 to offer nutrition and fitness guidance. The goal of this year’s plan: Lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks.

One reason it’s hard to trim down more and keep it off is that there’s a cascade of biological responses designed to return dieters to their pre-diet levels. A hunger hormone called ghrelin increases, and a fullness hormone called leptin decreases, research shows.

“Regardless of these hormone shifts, it is still possible to lose some weight and keep it off,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago. “You just need to focus on making realistic diet and exercise changes.”

Blatner created the eating plan. She has helped thousands of people lose weight and has found that dieters are most likely to succeed if they have flexible meal plans that include foods they enjoy. Her meals are designed to help people limit calories while eating a diet high in fiber, moderate in satisfying protein and low in saturated (animal) fat.

To follow this plan, it’s crucial that dieters figure out how many calories they can consume to lose weight.

That’s determined by several factors, but generally, a sedentary woman can lose weight consuming about 1,500 calories a day; a sedentary man can consume about 1,800 calories a day, Blatner says. Use trial and error to figure out how much you can eat and lose weight, she advises.

If you aren’t shedding pounds on 1,800 calories a day, try trimming a couple of hundred more. Some people may need to cut back to 1,200 calories a day.

To lose a pound a week, you have to burn 3,500 calories more than you consume. So you must increase your physical activity and decrease calories to create a deficit of 500 calories a day.

Blatner created mix-and-match menus so that all the breakfasts are about 300 calories, lunches about 400, dinners about 500 and snacks about 150 calories. The plan includes simple recipes you can make at home and meals you can order when you’re dining out at restaurants or fast-food places.

“We are offering lots of choices, but you may want to pick a couple of your favorite breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks and repeat them,” Blatner says. “Many people find that eating less variety is actually helpful when they are trying to lose weight. It makes the program more automatic, and it makes it easier to cook and grocery shop.”

Buckley has adhered closely to the program over the past three months. The way she’s eating now is a far cry from her former habits. She blames her weight gain over the years on “binging, overeating, no portion control and not planning my meals. I am lucky I didn’t weigh more than 226 pounds.”

‘I can do that’

In retrospect, she wonders why she didn’t stop gaining sooner. “Where was I when I got to 160, 170 and then 175? Was I not weighing myself? Was I not looking in the mirror? I just kept buying bigger clothes.”

The weight-loss challenge came at a perfect time for her. She was fed up and wanted to change, and she liked the fact that the plan was simple and that the goal of trying to lose a pound a week for 10 weeks seemed achievable. “I thought: ‘I can do that,’ ” she says.

Buckley read through the menus, cleared her house of junk food and started to plan and prepare her meals.

To keep things simple, she has the same thing daily for breakfast (high-fiber cereal, fruit and skim milk) and lunch (turkey sandwich, small salad), but she varies dinner. Usually she prepares a dinner from one of the recipes in the eating plan, but occasionally she eats out, relying on the dining-out suggestions in the program. Her calories have dropped dramatically from “several thousand a day” to 1,500 to 1,550.

She has learned that she has control over what she eats. “At luncheons and dinners out, when other people have a roll and butter, I don’t. When people eat desserts, I pass.”

But she says she doesn’t feel deprived and rarely feels hungry.

And she has made great strides with exercise. She and her sister, Jonna Convery, 54, walk 3 miles every morning, and Buckley walks another mile in the evening. “The 3-mile walk was taking us 50 minutes, and now it’s taking us 41 minutes. We’re doing a mile in less than 15 minutes. That’s mega,” she says.

Another person who responded to USA TODAY’s request for people to try the program was André Gratton, 43, of Cherryville, N.C. When it comes to losing weight, Gratton has the diet deck stacked against him. He travels frequently for his job, sits almost all day in meetings, airports and airplanes, and has a difficult time fitting exercise into his busy schedule. On top of all that, he’s a gourmet cook, and he adores ice cream and bread pudding.

“I love to cook and eat. For my job, I eat out all the time and eat at the best restaurants all over the country, so it’s tough to stick to a diet plan,” says Gratton, who manages a national staff that installs computer programs for Choice Hotels.

But despite these daily challenges, Gratton has cut calories dramatically and exercised regularly for the past few months and has lost 40 pounds. At 5-foot-9½, he weighs 270, down from a high of 310. “I knew when I committed to the challenge that the weight would come off fast, and so far, it has,” he says. He intends to lose 50 more pounds.

He estimates he was consuming about 6,000 calories a day before he started the program, and now he’s down to 2,000. He has made several changes that contributed to the dramatic cut in calories, including:

•Cutting way back on desserts and ice cream.

•Carefully reviewing restaurant menus and choosing foods that contain a reasonable number of calories.

•Drinking his coffee black instead of with cream. He has two to four cups a day. “I thought it was going to be really hard, but I eliminated cream the first day and haven’t looked back. Just this morning, I thought how good my coffee tastes.”

•Exercising regularly. He alternates weight training one day and working out on the elliptical for 15 minutes the next.

Gratton, a single dad, says he knew he was making progress with his weight loss when his 16-year-old daughter, Katie, told him she was proud of how good he looked. He asked her how she could tell he had lost weight. Her response: “Your stomach no longer touches the steering wheel when you drive.”

As for Buckley, she says now that she has started down the weight-loss path, she doesn’t plan to get off it until she has reached her goal. “I am changing a little bit daily and have given myself a goal to reach a healthy weight within a year.”

It seems like all anyone’s talking about nowadays is trans fats.

What are they?

What makes them so bad for you?

If you ignore them, will they go away?

As far as that last question goes, probably not, but here’s something you can do—test your trans fat IQ by answering “true” or “false” to the following statements.

True or False?

1. False: In the name “trans fats,” the “trans” is short for “transformational.” It’s short for “Trans-isomer fatty acids.” You might know them better as “partially hydrogenated oils.” Or “thick, gicky stuff that can clog your arteries six ways from Sunday.”
2. True: Trans fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Trans fats’ relative ease of use, cheapness to produce, and long shelf life cause many companies to ignore the fact that feeding them to consumers increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, creating a pesky need for replacement consumers.
3. False: Trans fats can be saturated fats. Trans fats include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, but not saturated fats. So if you’re trying to reduce the trans fats in your diet, don’t worry so much about the ribs, egg yolks, or butter, but make darn sure you say no to french fries, potato chips, and pie crust made with traditionally prepared shortening or other hydrogenated fats.
4. True: Twentieth-century developments like hydrogenation and refrigeration contributed to the increased prevalence and popularity of trans fats. Before the 20th century, humans’ dietary fats consisted mainly of butterfat, beef tallow, and lard—not a significant source of trans fat in the bunch. Still not the ideal diet if you were angling to be, say, a svelte 1920s flapper, but relatively speaking, not nearly as hazardous to one’s health as trans fats, which we learn later in 20th century.
5. False: Trans fats are an essential dietary fat. Unlike other fats that are necessary to the human diet, trans fats have no positive nutritional qualities, plus they increase the risk of coronary heart disease and other serious health conditions to boot. So like it or not, you have no medically sanctioned reason to keep eating that donut.

You might think that to lose weight you need to cut the fat out of your meals. After all, fat is higher in calories than protein and carbs, and low-fat diets have been very popular since the Senate Nutrition Committee first recommended them in the late 1970s. But research shows that a moderate-fat diet (with about 35 percent of calories consumed coming from fat) will help you drop pounds permanently, feel full longer, and avoid bingeing. The trick is to eat the right kind of fat to increase satisfaction and boost weight loss. Here’s why it’s important to eat fat—and we offer five of the best fat sources to add to your diet.

How eating fat will help you lose fat

In 2008, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel found that people who followed low-fat diets lost less weight than people who followed low-carb or moderate-fat diets. The low-fat group lost an average of 6.5 pounds over 2 years, but the low-carb and moderate-fat groups lost about 10 pounds. Women did especially well on the moderate-fat diet, losing an average of 13 pounds during the study.

For weight loss, fat is important for several reasons:

• Fat helps your body control blood sugar and insulin spikes after eating carbohydrates. Better sugar metabolism means less fat storage.
• Fat slows down digestion and aids nutrient absorption. You’ll stay fuller longer and get more health benefits from the food you eat.
• Essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s) may boost your metabolic rate and increase fat burning.
• Fat tastes good. It also provides a “mouthfeel” that is satisfying, which can help you be happy with less food.

Eating more fat may also help you stick to your diet longer. In a study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, participants got either 20 percent of their calories from fat or 35 percent of their calories from fat. Both groups lost weight after 6 months. But after 18 months, only 20 percent of the people in the low-fat group were still following the diet, compared with 54 percent of the people in the moderate-fat group. Likewise, the subjects in the moderate-fat group maintained their weight loss, while the low-fat group participants gained most of the weight back.

If you reach for a box of low-fat or fat-free crackers or cookies when you want to lose weight, you may actually be sabotaging your diet. Manufacturers frequently replace fat with sugar in packaged food items to make them taste better. You think you’re making a good decision by eating fat-free products, but the excess sugar and refined flour can lead to fatigue, cravings, mood swings, and weight gain caused by the overproduction of insulin, the fat-storage hormone. As a snack, an apple and peanut butter or a salad with oil and vinegar dressing would be a better weight loss choice. The complex carbs and healthy fats will maintain your blood sugar levels, boost your energy, and keep you satisfied longer.

What kind of fat should you eat?

To get lean, you need to eat the right kind of fat. Avoid saturated and trans fats (which are found in red meat, full-fat dairy products, and many packaged foods), and instead choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Here are some of the best sources of fat to help you reach your weight goal.

1. Fish. Fish such as salmon, albacore tuna, herring, mackerel, and sardines contain beneficial amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Most experts agree that eating two servings of fatty fish per week is safe for people who are worried about mercury or other toxins. (Pregnant women should consult with their doctors about consuming fish.) If you don’t like fish, a quality supplement such as Core Omega-3™ will give you the benefits without the taste.
2. Olive oil. Heart-healthy oils such as olive, canola, and peanut are excellent sources of fat for dieters. They have also been shown to lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Use them sparingly when sautéing, or drizzle them over your favorite salad vegetables with a little vinegar and herbs to maximize the absorption of nutrients. Moderation is important: You really only need about a teaspoon of oil to get all its benefits. Using more will add significant calories.
3. Avocados. Eat a spinach and carrot salad with a little avocado, and you’ll not only get a dose of good fat, but you’ll also absorb more phytonutrients like lutein and beta-carotene. Scientists at Ohio State University in Columbus found that more antioxidants were absorbed when people ate a salad containing avocados than when they ate a salad without this tasty fruit. One-quarter of an avocado will add flavor with about 75 calories.
4. Nuts. Almonds, walnuts, pecans, and peanuts are powerhouses of good nutrition—full of antioxidants, minerals, and monounsaturated fat. The Nurses Health Study, where more than 86,000 nurses were followed for 14 years, found that those who ate nuts regularly (about an ounce per day) tended to weigh less than those who didn’t. The protein, fat, and fiber make nuts more filling, which helps dieters stay on track. There’s an added psychological bonus to eating nuts: Because they’re rich and satisfying, you probably won’t feel like you’re on a diet.
5. Flaxseeds. Packing a wallop of fat, protein, and fiber, flaxseeds are a delicious and healthful addition to any diet. You can grind them up and add them to oatmeal, yogurt, salads, or vegetables, or pretty much anywhere you want a nutty crunch. They’re a plant source of omega-3 fatty acids, making them a good choice for vegetarians or people who don’t like fish. Ground flaxseeds also have 3 grams of fiber per tablespoon that will help slow digestion and keep your blood sugar stable.

Making room for fat

Fat might be considered a health food, but that’s not a cue to overindulge. At 9 calories per gram, fat is a more concentrated energy source than protein and carbohydrates (each has 4 calories per gram). You need to be mindful of your overall caloric intake if you want to eat more fat and lose weight. But you’ll probably find it a bit easier to manage your calories when you feel full and satisfied after eating the right kinds of fat.

The secret is eating the RIGHT foods to help calm the cravings for the wrong ones.   Add these 9 easy-to-find, tasty foods to your meal plan, and rein in your appetite!

1. Oatmeal. This hot cereal is high in fiber and low on the glycemic index, which means it fills you up and takes a long time to digest. Research has shown that diets high in slow-burning carbohydrates like oatmeal suppress the hunger hormone grehlin more effectively than diets high in fat. In fact, when you eat oatmeal for breakfast, you may find that your appetite is lower at lunchtime. Steel-cut or rolled oats are digested more slowly than the “instant” variety, so it’s worth taking a few extra minutes in the morning to prepare your breakfast the old-fashioned way.
2. Apples. Not only are apples nutritious, but what sets them apart from other fruits is pectin, a soluble fiber that helps regulate blood sugar, keeps you full, and sustains your energy. One medium apple with skin contains 4 grams of fiber, which is more than you’d get in an average slice of whole wheat bread. Add an apple and some cinnamon to your morning oatmeal for an appetite-suppressing breakfast.
3. Pine nuts. These edible pine-tree seeds contain more protein than any other nut or seed, and their oil stimulates two appetite-suppressing hormones (cholecystokinin [CKK] and glucagon-like peptide-1) that tell your brain you’re not hungry. Blend pine nuts with basil, garlic, and a little olive oil to make pesto, or sprinkle them on your salad or oatmeal for a delicious, nutty crunch.   Chia nuts are also a good choice.
4. Salad. The fiber in typical salad vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, spinach, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, and peppers is very filling and helps slow the release of glucose into your bloodstream. Studies have shown that when people start a meal with a small salad, they eat significantly fewer calories in the meal itself. Just watch out for the high-fat dressings (or worse, fat-free dressings that are high in sugar). Try having the dressing on the side and dipping your fork into it for easy portion control, or simply add a dash of balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice for a tasty, super-low-calorie option. Bonus tip: Try to eat a vegetable at every meal to keep your appetite at bay all day long.
5. Olive oil and other unsaturated fats. Researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that unsaturated fat causes the intestines to release a compound (oleoylethanolamide) that has been shown to reduce appetite and stimulate weight loss. Some great choices for unsaturated fat include avocados, olives and olive oil, almonds, salmon, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, and sesame seeds. These foods are high in calories, so enjoy them in moderation while regulating your appetite.
6. Flax seeds. Flax is one of the best plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids. The seeds are also very high in protein and fiber, making them excellent for appetite control. Sprinkle ground flax seeds over oatmeal, salads, or yogurt, or add them to smoothies to help stabilize your blood sugar and turn off the hunger hormones.
7. Beans. The fiber in beans increases CCK, a digestive hormone that’s a natural appetite suppressant. A research study at the University of California at Davis found that men who ate a high-fiber meal containing beans had CCK levels that were two times higher than when they ate a low-fiber meal. Beans also keep your blood sugar steady, which helps stave off hunger.
8. Whey protein. New studies suggest that whey protein stimulates the hormones that increase the feeling of being full. In one study, researchers at the University of Surrey in England found that people who consumed whey protein felt fuller and more satisfied with less food. Whey also stabilizes blood sugar, and that can help control food urges. Make a drink with Whey Protein Powder  to calm your appetite any time of the day.
9. Spicy foods. Capsaicin, the ingredient that gives peppers their heat, can also help control your raging appetite. A recent study published in Clinical Nutrition suggests that capsaicin-rich foods may help you eat fewer calories and support weight loss by suppressing your appetite and making you feel fuller. You can add hot pepper sauce to tomato juice, stir-fry peppers with other vegetables, or throw some peppers and salsa in an omelette. Other spicy ingredients may have similar effects, so try adding hot mustard and curry spices to your salads and meats.   Over-doing it on jalapeno peppers could have an adverse affect, however, and create inflammation.  Remember that a little goes a long way.

New for 2009!

WEIGHT LOSS TOP 10

The “Top 10” Absolutely Essential Strategies You Must Know for Successful Weight Loss

FT WORTH / NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS - JULY, 15 2009 - Eat more often, burn more fat. Obviously, this comes with some rules. How many times have you gone on a diet which began by starving? Doesn’t work…nor do fad diets.  Most people make a huge mistake and cut so many calories out of their diet that they put their bodies into a starvation mode, which prevents permanent weight loss.  
 
Local fitness instructor, Certified Sports Nutrition Consultant and Author Anita Stone will be presenting “Weight Loss Top 10: The TOP 10 Absolutely Essential Strategies You Must Know for Permanent and Successful Weight Loss” Saturday, July 18, 2-4 p.m., at the North Richland Hills Recreation Center.  The seminar, new for 2009, outlines the 10 most important aspects of achieving permanent weight loss without starvation or fad diets. 

“You must know these ten strategies,” says Anita, “because diet failure is usually the result of not knowing how all of the strategies work together to formulate success.”

Anita’s “Makeover Story” was featured in the recently released book, “Wake Up Moments of Inspiration,” now available at Barnes and Noble.  The book is the latest to be published as part of the best-selling series, “Wake Up, Live the Life You Love.”  Similar to the popular “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books, Wake Up books are compilations of short stories written by authors from all walks of life.  Anita’s book is co-written by best-selling authors Brian Tracy and Dr. Wayne Dyer.

“At the age of 34, I realized I was so overweight that I had entered the ‘obese’ category, which is 30% or more overweight.  I was at risk for several obesity-related diseases, including Type 2 Diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. I had to draw the line in the sand and do something about it.” 
 
The weight loss presentation is free and open to the public.  Seating is limited to 50, so pre-registration is suggested.  Register online at www.VideoFitnessCoach.com or at the North Richland Hills Recreation Center front desk.  The address for the Recreation Center is 6720 NW Loop 820, and is located on the southeast corner of I-820 and Rufe Snow.

Future presentations will be held on Sept. 12, Oct. 3, and Nov. 7, 2009. 

# # #

BIO AND “BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS” TO ACCOMPANY THIS STORY ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT:  http://www.VideoHealthCoach.com/anitastone.html

YOUR VIDEO FITNESS COACH,
ANITA STONE

NEXT LIVE TRAINING EVENT:
“WEIGHT LOSS TOP 10: The Top 10 Strategies You Must Know for Permanent and Successful Weight Loss”
Saturday, July 18th, 2-4 p.m.
Register here: http://www.videohealthcoach.com/register.html

Muscle Definition Diets by www.eHow.com

Click on the arrow below to scroll through some of my favorites. If you don’t find what you are looking for, click on any product to go to AMAZON GROCERY, then type in the item you are searching for.

Start your exercise plan knowing what you are looking to achieve, how you will achieve it and how much time it will take. Then, whatever the plan, stick to it. It will be difficult at times – that’s why you have had to build up to it. But regardless of how much you may feel one day that you cannot be bothered, if you carry on and do it those feelings will dissipate. It should be mentioned at this point that if you are injured or ill, “sticking to it” goes out the window. Your body will not go through the process as it needs to, you will do yourself more harm than good, and it will make the exercise pointless.

But is it is just a matter of being unmotivated, you need to power through and get on with it. Lack of motivation is what you are fighting against, so don’t let it win. You may be able to think of a hundred things you would rather be doing than training, but be aware that there will be a little voice in your head if you do them instead, and it will be saying “you should be training” – you won’t enjoy it as much as you would if you had gone through with the training first. That is just life’s way of guilt-tripping you into sticking at it – and if you do that, YOU will be the winner.

If you are going to be running, make sure that you have properly cushioned soles. These are the shock absorbers of the sneaker world. Just think about how hard and unmoving that surface is when you are running. It is your body that takes that impact, and the shoes are your buffer. Without proper cushioning the impact will run all the way up into your hip and jar it to a point where the wear and tear can become chronic. It really is not worth putting yourself in that position, whatever the short term benefits. The new sneakers may cost a few dollars more, but they will be worth what you pay.

The clothes that you wear are important too. Time was when we would just wear an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts. But the fact is that when you exert yourself, you will sweat. When you sweat into a t-shirt, it becomes heavy and soaked, and hugely uncomfortable. As stupid as this sounds, it will affect how you run, and your exercise regime will lose efficiency as a result. Again, it is worth the up front cost of buying a running vest in a fabric which draws sweat away from the body and allows it to evaporate on the surface – keeping your body temperature regulated and your performance constant.

After Usain Bolt’s amazing double Olympic gold and world record performances in 2008, he let the world in on his diet secret – he ate Kentucky Fried Chicken. An advertising coup for the fast food chain, no doubt, but the fact of the matter is that he won despite what fast food did for him. He’s just that fast, that good a trainer and that mentally strong. But it should not be a message for children to eat fried chicken before races – back in the days gone past people could eat what they wanted, but they didn’t run 100 meters in a sub 9.7 time, unless what they ate gave them food poisoning and the bathroom was that far away.

Back then it was considered a good idea to drink a fizzy carbonated soda after a race because the sugar was good for energy – and in the short term it is. But it is also highly acidic, and with a combination of nervous energy and physical exertion already doing a lot to heighten stomach acid levels, dropping a carbonated drink into the mix is the equivalent of feeding dynamite to a fire-breathing dragon. It will go off, and the results will be neither pretty nor healthy. No, things are not what they used to be, and for that we should be thankful.

Don’t overdo things. You may feel like going the extra mile on top of what you had planned because you feel like you can. But a regime is a regime, and doing too much will have detrimental effects just as not doing enough will leave you short of the level you were aiming for. Neither situation is welcome

Do prepare with a decent meal. Nothing heavy that will sit on the stomach. Your body will go through a lot of processes as you are training, and attempting to digest heavy food at the same time will lead to complications, and potentially the meal making an unwelcome reappearance at an inopportune time. Not what you want.

Don’t skip lunch before you go training in the afternoon. You need the energy levels that it will bring, and if you go without you will find yourself paying for it by becoming light-headed and weak, and will not be able to train to any real intensity. The effect will be such that you may as well not have bothered training at all.

Do allow yourself a break if you are feeling pain. Some people live by the maxim “no pain, no gain”. But if that pain happens to be a muscle tear or a lack of any one of a number of important bodily nutrients, the gain will be just about non-existent unless you have excellent health insurance. Listen to your body.

Don’t stop running because you are bored and think you can come back and do it the next day. A health regime is designed to be stuck to, and by moving it around to suit your whims you are messing with its efficiency. If you are getting bored, challenge yourself to finish, with the reward being a healthy but tasty meal at a restaurant.

The latest development to allow athletes to optimise their performance is a GPS watch. By using one of these you can track just about every different measure of your performance that has any relevance. Calories burned – so training to get into shape is catered for – but also the technical measures that athletes need to track to know how well they are doing. You can track lap times – so you know how much you are improving and where you still need to improve. You can track your top speed and average speed, so you know how to pace yourself so as not to throw everything away in the early stages of your run.

All of the technological advances that have been brought to bear on the athletics track in recent years are designed to push the level up by another notch. This is high-intensity training that we are talking about. The benefits of which are to make you that little bit more ready to face whatever it is that you need to face. If you just want a better all round level of wellness, there are plenty of machines that affect that too. Whatever your end goal, there will be a machine that gets you there – and beyond. Just remember that all the technology in the world will be useless unless you put the effort in yourself.

By learning a martial art, you learn a lot more than just how to hit someone in a way that really hurts (although if it is required, experts still have that in their locker). It teaches you about breath control, clearing the mind and focusing on the self in such a way that you are always ready to stand and fight. This requires both physical and mental exercise, and when the body and mind work together as martial arts teach, there is a devastating combination. To reach such a level takes discipline, and if you have discipline you are already well on the way to your ideal physical condition. Plus you are versed in self-defence, which is never a bad thing.

You don’t need to have a full understanding of the mystic background to how a martial arts black belt works in order to use it as a keep-fit regimen. As long as you enrol in a class with a good teacher (or sensei) and pay attention to what is taught, you will pick up what you need in order to really up your levels of physical fitness to a point where you can stand and fight someone if needs be – but more importantly you will have upped your levels of physical and mental discipline in a way that can improve every aspect of your life. Look for a class today – karate, judo, tae kwon do or any other – all have valuable lessons to impart.

At its most basic level, Pilates is lying on a big beach ball doing exercises. To its adherents it is a lot more than that. Its inventor, Joseph Pilates designed it with the principle of mind over matter at its core, allowing the body and the mind to fuse, and letting the body move with grace and balance in a way that other exercise regimes did not address. Along with breathing exercises, Pilates encourages the body to flush away waste toxins that are linked with fatigue. The overall effect of the exercise regime that is involved in Pilates is to improve the individual on a number of levels.

It certainly seems to work. Pilates is growing in popularity all the time, and there are few gyms or leisure centers in the world that do not have a Pilates group operating at least once a week. At its best when associated with other exercise regimes, Pilates is something that has really taken off, and with a lot of satisfied customers, it would appear that Joseph Pilates was on to something when he designed it. Born in 1880, and plagued by illness and poor fitness as a child, by the age of 14 Pilates was posing for anatomical charts as an example of what the body could look like with the right exercise regime, and when he died he was 87 years of age. So he was doing something right.

Even if you have not had a major injury – and even if you have been injury free all your life, swimming is an excellent way of getting into shape. If you go for regular runs, you need to make sure that so many factors are right – pace, surface, footwear and running style. If they are not in tune you can pull muscles, damage ligaments or tendons and several other potential nasty injuries. While it is worth getting a running regime going for cardio-vascular exercise, swimming is one way to get fit where all you need is a swimming costume and access to a pool. Once those are in place, you’re away.

In comparison to running, swimming is a very safe way to get in shape. You have the low impact of water rather than hard, concrete surfaces that exist in most towns, or the treadmills in the gym. In the early days of your training regime, swimming is an excellent way to build towards the right shape, strength and fitness levels. You may well find that you really enjoy it too. There is something incredibly soothing about moving about underwater and letting it wash over you. It’s like a giant bath, only you are not going to accidentally pull the plug.