Losing just 6 kilos provides a health boost!

So, recent research suggests that losing just 6 kilos is enough to provide your body with a boost to immunity and helps fight against the inflammatory changes that lead to coronary disease and diabetesLose 6 kilos to get a health boost report.

What is the best way to go about losing 6 kilos? Firstly, it's not 'biggest loser' style of 6 hours exercise and 1200 calories per day... sure, this will get your results, but it's hard to maintain long term, and not the healthiest method of changing your habits.

Start by logging everything that you eat on a daily basis for a week - you can log it in a diary or online at calorie king. Be completely honest - after all, the only person you will be cheating if you lie, is yourself. Work out how many calories that equates to.

Nutritionist, Matt O'Neill also has a great program which we promote, the Metabolic Jumpstart program. The reason we promote it, is that I lost 8 kilos over 6 weeks - without really even trying. It has everything laid out for you, which is based on the calories you require to eat, v. calories you expend.

Make small changes - Rome wasn't built in a day, afterall...and be prepared for these to be lifestyle changes. Start to replace refined carbohydrates with wholegrain and foods as close to their natural state as possible. Remove any fatty fried foods and replace these with lean grilled protein sources such as chicken, fish, & red meat. Try and add in as many leafy green vegetables as possible, and increase your water intake - try and aim for 2L a day as a minimum.

Lastly, make exercise a priority. It doesn't have to be pounding out hours and hours on the treadmill. Far from it in fact. The most effective way to burn calories is to do small bursts of high intensity. If you're new to exercise though, start out with just walking, and some gentle bodyweight exercises such as pushups, situps, squats, lunges. Then gradually add in some small bursts of running, and even hills. Just incorporating these small changes will see you reap huge benefits overall.