The exercise plan

Find out what Steven Teasdale's top tips are to get fit and shed a few pounds in time for the festive season

Six weeks ago we kicked off our 'Sexy in Six Week' plan to give three women the chance to lose weight and feel better about themselves in time for Christmas.

Each viewer was given a different technique to shed the pounds; a healthy eating plan, an exercise plan and a salon treatment plan.

Joanna aims to sweat it out
Six weeks ago new mum Joanna wanted to lose two stone and underwent an exercise regime set by personal trainer Steven Teasdale. Find out how she got on, and try out the plan yourself below.

These were Joanna's statistics six weeks ago:
WEIGHT: 13 stone 5 pounds 6 ounces
TOP OF RIGHT ARM: 12.8 inches
TOP OF RIGHT LEG: 24.5 inches
HIPS: 45.4 inches
WAIST:38.6 inches
BUST: 40.6 inches

These are Joanna's measurements six weeks later
WEIGHT: 12 stone 9 pounds 14 ounces
TOP OF RIGHT ARM: 12.8 inches
TOP OF RIGHT LEG: 24 inches
HIPS: 42 inches
WAIST:35.5 inches
BUST: 38.5 inches

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 10 pounds
TOTAL INCH LOSS: 9.1 inches

Why don't you follow Steven's exercise regime and let us know if you can drop a dress size in six weeks?

Steven says:

1) Joanna has two main problems. Lack of time and lack of energy. I'm not too worried about the energy because that will come as she starts exercising. The more you do, the more you want to do.  Time-wise – I'm going to make a programme that suits her lifestyle. Ways she can exercise even when she's at home, with the baby or with hubby.

2) Last year we spent a billion pounds on gym membership. You don't need to. I've got some simple and inexpensive pieces of equipment to help Jo improve her tummy, arms and legs.  Dyno bands – these are brilliant. Take them anywhere. Tie them to door handles. The ones with hooks are great for working the thighs.  Swiss ball – an old favourite. Great for strengthening core muscles. Good for people who like to exercise at home with the telly on.

Make sure she has some boxing gloves and pads so she can do stuff with husband. Really good for him to get involved to help and encourage her. 

Power pramming – cardio IS important. When she wants to be with baby she can jog with the pram. As she gets better, have more weight in it (like shopping, not an extra baby!).

3) We're talking about getting sexy in 6 weeks. Great thing about exercise is that it's got  lots of benefits other than just looking good. You'll actually feel good, and when you feel good you're confident and that in a woman is sexy.  As well as weight loss you'll see improvements to your skin. You won't have to worry about expensive facials because you'll have a lovely glow after exercising. And sweating really helps the body get rid of toxins.

4) People fall into a comfort zone with exercise. They get a programme and stick to it. Over the 6 weeks I'll be constantly adapting Joanna's programme to suit her new fitness levels so she's constantly pushing herself, and that's how we'll see results.

If she sticks to the programme I'm very confident that she'll drop a dress size by Christmas.

Here's a list of exercises that can be done in and around the home to help tone muscle and lose weight.

Power pramming. Instead of walking with the pram you could jog. Great for getting the heart rate up and and helping to tone the legs. You can increase the weight in the pram as you get better by loading it with shopping!

Dyno band exercises. Bicep curls, arm raises, and leg exercises. These bands are very inexpensive, easily stored and great for all round toning. Can be done anywhere.

Boxing (focus pad training). Include a partner (you husband/boyfriend is handy for this!) to hold the pads while you hit them! Great cardiovascular exercise and fantastic for toning the arms. It's also great fun.

Swissball exercises (ab crunches). Can be done in the living room. Five minutes a day doing ab crunches and core strength exercises will really help improve your stomach muscles.

Squats / lunges. These can be done in the garden or in the home and doing a few sets of twelve repetitions on each leg you will soon see a difference in muscle strength and tone.

Skipping. Get outside in the garden and skip its great for weight loss and for toning the legs and you'll get fresh air which will give you a great glow.

Do a circuit of these exercises a three or four times a week over a six week period and you will see results.

Find out more about the other two programmes by following the links below.