Yes You Can! Nicki & Amanda’s weight-loss advice

TV health gurus Nicki Waterman and Amanda Ursell are here to help you stay in shape with the latest news and advice

I did it!
Name: Charlotte Henry
Age: 28
Before: 17 stone, size 22
After: 9 stone, size 10

Charlotte, a personal assistant from Brixton, south London, says her weight increased steadily from the age of 17. ‘I was always dieting, but it wasn’t working. This time last year I was at my heaviest at 17 stone. I was desperate to lose the weight for good.’

Amanda says: ‘Charlotte was skipping breakfast, then at lunchtime was having a large chicken and mayonnaise baguette and up to 15 packets of crisps through the rest of the day. Dinner was usually a large serving of pasta and tuna with added mayonnaise and a packet of chocolate biscuits, plus she drank a litre of orange or apple juice a day.
‘I estimated that this totalled around 5,600 calories plus. Simply cutting down to a woman’s guideline daily allowance of 2000 calories would give Charlotte quite rapid weight-loss results. But first she went on the Cambridge Diet meal replacement plan to give her a head start.
‘After shedding the majority of her initial weight, she was then able to resume normal eating, switching to an oat-based cereal breakfast with grated apple and a cup of tea; a cappuccino with skimmed milk and a handful of almonds for a mid-morning snack; a large tuna salad with water for lunch; and a mid-afternoon snack of raisins and a herbal tea. For dinner she chose healthy meals like grilled chicken breast, or salmon steak with lots of vegetables and half a baked potato.’
Nicki says: ‘Charlotte told me that she had been a chubby child, never exercising for fear of looking like the “big one in a gym skirt” at school. This terror of being stared at while getting fit had followed her into adulthood.
‘I explained that exercising hard when doing a meal replacement diet is not recommended and that Charlotte should wait until she had lost some weight before contemplating the gym. I did, however, encourage light walking, and made sure that she wore a good pair of trainers.
‘As her weight fell and she got fitter, I felt that Charlotte could start thinking about setting herself goals such as building up to a 5km run. Having something to aim for got her motivated and helped her focus on something other than her own self-consciousness. Charlotte embraced the idea by starting a power-walking/running programme, and is now running continuously for one hour, five days a week.’
Charlotte says: ‘I’m now down to my goal weight, and I feel absolutely amazing.’

I haven’t got time to be healthy
Q I want to get fitter and eat healthily – please tell me how a working mum with two children is supposed to find time to exercise and make healthy meals?
Amanda says: ‘Making healthy meals is not as hard and time-consuming as we are led to believe. Not all the ingredients have to be fresh – frozen and canned vegetables are often more nutritious as the food is preserved by the freezing or canning process, and we often don’t know how long fresh produce has been on the supermarket shelves for.
Accept that when it comes to getting a healthy dinner on the table every night you have to plan. Work out your menu for the following week to ensure everything is to hand for when you get home.
Remember, the simple meals, like baked potato with baked beans and salad, a bowl of pasta with a tomato and vegetable sauce and cheese, grilled salmon with new boiled potatoes and vegetables or a quick tomato omelette with a chunk of wholemeal bread, are often the quickest and most tasty options.’
Nicki says: ‘There are no excuses not to exercise! Finding time to work out can be a challenge for anyone with a busy schedule and children. So, I’ve put together my top tips to help you make exercise a part of your daily routine:
-Swap your office chair for a fitness ball. A firmly inflated fitness ball can make a good chair. You’ll improve your balance and tone your core muscles while sitting at your desk. You can even use the fitness ball for wall squats or other exercises during the day.
-Get social. Organise a lunchtime walking group. Enjoy the camaraderie, and offer encouragement to one another when the going gets tough.
-Conduct meetings on the go. When it’s practical, schedule walking meetings or brainstorming sessions. Do laps inside your building or take your walking meetings outdoors.
-Get the kids involved. Take them to a soft play session or a playground and join in – bouncing around and climbing are great ways to burn off excess pounds.’

Tried and Tested: Gyrotonic
Tester: Richard Brunton
Gyrotonic exercises are based on movements from yoga, qigong, swimming and ballet. The exercises are performed on a ‘gyrotonic tower’, (right) that has various weights and pulleys attached to it and is designed to support and strengthen the body.
I go to Pilates classes regularly as I have a painful lower back, and I’d read that gyrotonic sessions are a good complement to this for strengthening core muscles and easing pain, as well as improving posture and flexibility and toning you up.
My session was at the Light Centre in London, and my practitioner Georgina  Haydon began my session with a consultation, asking questions about my lifestyle and examining my back to pinpoint the tense area. I then lay on my back on the gyrotonic tower and my feet were placed in stirrups while I held on to handles on either side. Georgina instructed me through the first movement where I made a cycling motion with my legs to ease the tightness and tensions in my body. I found it tricky to master the technique at first, but I soon got into it. Because my legs  were supported by the stirrups I felt a sensation of being weightless – it felt like I was treading water and was so relaxing.
Next, I sat up and gripped handles in front of my body. I was instructed to push the handles out to the side, then back out to the front in a circular motion. Georgina told me the movement helps to release tight joints and muscles, allowing more oxygen flow in the blood and a more even flow of energy through the body. Afterwards my body felt freer and more flexible than in a long time.
I’m now a gyrotonic convert and have been for more sessions where Georgina has placed weights on the pulleys to increase resistance and make my body work a bit harder. My back is improving, too.
I would recommend gyrotonic as it doesn’t matter what your age or fitness level is – anyone can do it.  For more, email georgina.haydon@btinternet.com