Lose Weight and Grow Your Management Consultancy Business - How?

Despite the diet and lifestyle challenges of being a busy and successful Management Consultant, you can still lose weight fast and permanently. Here is a series of simple tips and techniques I used to lose 50lbs while working as a Management Consultant in 2007.

Surely, I can't be expected to find time to exercise?

Gentle aerobic exercise is an essential element in the life of anyone serious about weight loss. There are plenty of other benefits too, such as better stress tolerance, improved sleep, enhanced love life and more energy throughout the day. Exercise gets rid of that mentally drained feeling for good.

I keep a folding cycle in the car, together with a high visibility jacket, cycle helmet, gloves and cycle lights. That way, whether at home or not, exercise needs are covered.

The best time to exercise is before breakfast. This energises the body for the day ahead, so set the alarm 30 minutes earlier. This way, you're getting more out of the day and through exercise, quality of sleep will improve significantly. When you awake at 6.15am, instead of thinking "it's cold outside" and hitting the snooze button, visualise how great you're going to look and feel for the rest of the day after getting some gentle exercise.

Find a form of aerobic exercise that works for you and aim to work up a gentle sweat, rather than push yourself hard. Over-exercise can actually cause weight to be held around the middle through the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Many people make the mistake of exercising hard once a week or so, rather then gently and sensibly, several times a week.

So go on, take my challenge! Set the alarm half an hour earlier for 3 days this week, get into your favourite form of exercise and work up a gentle sweat, then see what an amazing difference it makes to the day and your productivity! If you've not exercised for some time, it makes sense to consult the Doctor before starting any new programme of exercise.

How can I handle the challenge of a client lunch and all those nights in hotels?

Try ordering two starters and having one as the main course. The different starters will handle your need for variety and leave that satisfied feeling.

Avoid a full cooked breakfast and try poached eggs on brown toast instead. Go for cereals which have a high fibre content and add low fat or soya milk. The body needs 25g of fibre a day and this step alone would enable most people to lose 10lbs in weight during a year.

Make sure that you drink enough water - a minimum of 2 litres each and every day. It's water, not other drinks that your body needs at regular intervals. Don't mistake hunger for thirst; by the time the mouth is dry, your body is already dehydrated. Be sensible though - too much water (over 4 litres a day) and the body has other challenges to deal with. Alcohol and caffeinated drinks are very dehydrating to the body, so for faster weight loss, reduce intake of these.

What about the finger buffet at lunch and all those morning/afternoon snacks?

Go for sandwiches with no mayo and salad items in in your finger buffet diet. Look for, or request some simple salad items (small tomatoes, cucumber pieces and celery are easy to eat with one hand).

Eat a piece of fruit at morning or afternoon breaks, rather than biscuits and cakes. Take your own fruit or some chopped veggies like carrots and celery to work if necessary.

How do I best combat stress?

Acting on the above tips will increase your productivity as a Management Consultant by increasing energy and vitality. Eating a healthy diet is one of the best ways of handling stress at source, before it ever becomes a problem.

Alcohol and caffeine may seem like a short term fix for stress, but they contain toxins and minimising consumption is a far better strategy for effective stress management and rapid weight loss. Reducing consumption of toxins means that the body doesn't have to work hard at eliminating them and can concentrate on the more important task of metabolising away fat instead.

Despite a busy lifestyle, you CAN do these simple things; so make a start today and make 2009 your best year ever!