Experiment with new exercises and activities to keep your body and brain stimulated and avoid reaching a training plateau. For one week at the gym, do not allow yourself to use the machines that you normally use. Using different machines will provide a new challenge and you will feel bits working that you never knew you had.



For one week replace all alcoholic drinks with glasses of sparkling water. Make it as nice a drink as your regular tipple - prepare it as lovingly as you would a gin and tonic with ice and lemon or lime and really enjoy it. A week of no alcohol will give you a guaranteed reduction in your calorie intake.

Addicted to coffee shops? See if you can steer clear of them for a week. Go back to basics with a simple cup of tea or coffee and avoid the volume of milk that coffee shops provide and you will also resist the temptations of all the extras that go with it. You will feel lighter and less sluggish and you will save yourself a small fortune in the process.

Vary your workouts. If you do the same thing every time you go to the gym you will soon reach a plateau in your training and you will get bored. Your body adapts to the workload and soon stops developing so you must always have something in your workout armoury that will keep your body stimulated and continue the great results that you are looking for. Progress leads to more motivation and if you can do your programme easily you are not the master of the gym, you are someone who needs a new workout.

Have a selection of workouts. You might have an hour or you might only have 20 minutes to spare so you need a workout to suit all occasions. Plan different routines and then keep them in your workout bag so they are always handy.

Have some back-up plans. If you do feel like a night out, you will need to have a morning-after-the-night-before workout lined up. Providing you can see straight and balance OK you will be fine for some gentle cardiovascular exercise. Go easy on the weights until you feel steady on your feet. A light workout will do you a lot more good that lounging around in bed all day moaning 'never again'. You will feel better generally and doubly virtuous for the fact that you kept your exercise routine going in the face of adversity.