You do not have to work away at the gym, there are other fitness plans.
There is apparently a way of losing weight which is not about using running machines and lifting weights .
Mowing the lawn, walking the dog or fidgeting could as effective. Research indicates that the lifestyle which rendered us trim in the 1950s was better at burining the calorie, that is regular housework as well as chores.
Exercise like this ought not to be viewied as punsihment.
A Harvard Professor has discovered that long term home work outs are the best way to lose weight and live longer.
Anything that is good for you is fine, from gardening to sex .
The celebrity Sharon Stone recently disclosed that she does not like to go to the gymn; she walks around the house and up and down the stairs instead.
Professor Simon asserts that even moderate exercise, like washing the car or cleaning the floor, can decrease the risk of heart disease by 80%.
And up to an hour of moderate activity most days could also cut mortality rates by 50 per cent, provided a healthy balanced diet is followed.
A recent report by Professor James Levine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, revealed that fidgeting can burn up to 350 calories a day, resulting in a weight loss of 30 to 40lb a year.
Experts blame the popularity of labour-saving devices, such as dishwashers, for rising levels of obesity as convenience has replaced hard graft when it comes to housework.
Dr John Buckley, an exercise physiologist at Keele University, said: "The activity levels of people in the 1950s were equivalent to walking three to five miles a day because they did not have the equipment and devices we have today.
"The number of people participating in vigorous sport has not risen much in 50 years, but what has changed is the lack of short bouts of lower-intensity activity in our daily lives."
Professor Simon's findings, published in a book, The No Sweat Exercise Plan, recommend a routine of moderate or vigorous activities. Under the plan, participants need to complete up to an hour of moderate-intensity activity five days a week, burning 3.5 to seven calories a minute. Alternatively, they can work harder for 20 minutes, three days a week.
So does this spell doom for the gym? Not according to Howard De Souza of the Fitness Industry Association.
"The biggest barrier to getting fit is a lack of time and if the only way people can get fit is to walk to the shops, then we would encourage it," he said.
"But we don't see this approach as a competitor."
