Spring into Summer winners were today receiving email confirmation of their success on our special promotion in conjunction with Tim Megginson. His Body Shape Fitness programme is a challenging but beneficial regime – and we’ll feature those winners in coming weeks. Here Time talks about lifestyle changes.

Cambs Times: Tim Megginson Creator of Body Shape Fitness Camp.Tim Megginson Creator of Body Shape Fitness Camp. (Image: Archant)

So, in my first two articles I addressed 2 critical components of how to get in shape quickly (healthy nutrition and correct exercise).

Cambs Times: Body Shape Fitness Camp. Picture: Steve Williams.Body Shape Fitness Camp. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

The third critical thing to address in your search for your best looking body is something that is usually over looked; your lifestyle. Many lifestyle factors have a huge influence on how your body looks and operates 2 major ones are your sleep and your stress levels.

People often feel unable to control these 2 and to some extent they can be out of your hands, but the point is you need to do the best you can to manage them as much as possible.

Sleep is when your body recovers, adapts, and regenerates it keeps your body healthy and resilient. It’s during this time of repair that the actual ‘magic’ happens i.e. the loss of fat and repair and improvement of muscles and organs. If your not sleeping - all your hard work can be going to waste.

Things to do: create a sleep ritual 1-2 hours before bed. Look to wind down and avoid all stressors such as work, emails, phone calls. Relax in a room with dimmer lighting, use reading or breathing activities to help you fall asleep. Always sleep in a dark room and have black out curtains so you get optimal deep sleep.

Stress and the stress hormones that come with it are really negative on your body and health and are a physique nightmare. They can cause you to lose healthy muscle and encourage you to store fat (particularly around the stomach area).

While stress is inevitable in everybody’s life, being in a state of stress for prolonged amounts of time is very unhealthy and the trick is to find ways to manage it.

Things to do: take ‘me’ time often. Even if it’s just a 2 minute walk outside the work building at lunch time, take those minutes to get your body out of ‘stress mode’. Learning to meditate, having massages, taking yoga classes, walks, gentle activity, playing with your pets or children, reading and other hobbies can all be used to take you out of a stressed state and into a healthy state. Doing these things daily will be hugely beneficial on your weight loss, healthy and longevity.

So there you have it. Don’t expect perfection, but do everything you can to get good sleep and de stress and the results will show hugely on the outside.

(Tim Megginson, creator of Body Shape Fitness Camp, Ely’s guaranteed results weight loss programme)