Lose 5 Pounds A Week

No, not a football but a swiss ball. This is also known as an exercise ball.

The beauty of the exercise ball is that you can use it in your own home, you don't need an expensive gym membership. Most sports retailers sell them for less than forty bucks and all you need is around six foot spare space to get the best out of it.

The exercise ball will enable you to strengthen those core underlying muscles and provide a barrier against fat. When combined with a healthy diet, weight loss is increased and muscle tone improved - the best of both worlds!

Is it difficult to use? Well you can just sit on it. What - lose weight by sitting on a ball? Well when you give it a try, you will see that it is not that easy.

As you steady yourself on the ball, you use numerous muscles through your core to stabilise yourself from falling off of it. By merely sitting on your exercise ball for thirty minutes a day you will notice a change in your core within a few weeks. So those that said you couldn't sit and watch tv whilst losing weight were wrong!

Healthy eating habits are the key to losing weight. Perhaps more importantly, it is these new eating habits which will help us to keep the weight we have lost off. How many times have you lost the extra pounds only to regain more weight than you had originally lost? Try this and see the benefits in days.

Good eating habits help your exercise plan to succeed. But how many of us actually put into practice all the diet tips we hear? Have you eaten your 5 fruit or vegetables today? How much water have you had? What about your salt and saturated fat intake?

Perhaps these tips will help:

1. We need to eat as wide a variety of different types of food as possible. We tend to be creatures of habit so we end up consuming the same fruit and vegetables week in and week out. Why not aim to introduce a new fruit or vegetable to your family at least once a week starting today?

2. We often mistake being thirsty for hunger. Try drinking some water especially if you have eaten and still feel "hungry". Don't try to fill up on water though as that will only lead to you snacking on inappropriate sugary foods.

3. Try to avoid any diets which cut out whole food groups. Remember everything in moderation is the key to successful weight loss. To keep in optimum health, we need nutrients from every food group.

4. Eat food that is as fresh as possible. Don't overcook your meals as they lose vital nutrients. Steaming and grilling is better than frying or boiling.

5. Consume plenty of fibre - not only does it help to fill us up, it also helps our digestive system to function better. If your internal organs are not performing properly, you will suffer unpleasant side effects such as bloating, flatulence, constipation or other diet related illnesses.

6. In our time challenged society, we rush our meals. We don't take time to chew our food properly. When we are rushing we miss the signals that our body is full so tend to consume more calories than required.

If you don't exercise and follow faddy diets which exclude one whole food group, any weight loss you achieve will mean that you have lost muscle tissue - the result will be lack of energy, you will be susceptible to every bug going and your skin will lack lustre. All of this, combined with poor muscle tone should be enough to convince you that this is not the way forward. There is a better and easier way. The celebrities tried to keep it to themselves but you can find out more here!