hi i'm stephanie
welcome to oxford online english in this
lesson
you can learn to talk about lifestyle
and health in english
are you in good shape do you have a
balanced diet
is your work life balance healthy
you'll learn how to discuss these and
other questions
in this class before we start you should
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our free english lessons there
are you watching on youtube if so
we have free listening lessons including
vocabulary notes and quizzes to practice
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what's in this box it's so heavy i
ordered some
kettlebells kettlebells what for
i've decided to start working out you
i never imagined you being a fitness
enthusiast
i'm not but i realized the other day
that i'm incredibly out of shape
i was running to catch the bus and i was
so out of breath
i didn't even run that far i think my
lifestyle has got more and more
sedentary plus i'm getting a bit flabby
well good for you so what's your workout
routine going to be
i'm not sure i want to do a little bit
of weight training and maybe some
running
and just get a bit fitter generally it's
difficult at the moment though
i tried to run 1k yesterday and i just
couldn't
don't give up doing anything is better
than doing nothing
if you keep trying it'll get easier you
think
sure when i started running it was
really difficult
but after a month i could do 5k not fast
but still i could do it oh 5k
that seems impossible right now i guess
it's something to aim for though go for
it
in the dialogue you heard some words
relating to fitness
and exercise we have a challenge for you
look at definitions of three words
can you remember the words and phrases
which match these definitions
if you want you can go back and review
the dialogue
and try to find them
here are the answers
workout can include many different types
of exercise
but is mostly used for focus training
for example
using weights or doing aerobics
generally when you use the verb work out
you mean
that you follow a routine of different
exercises
nowadays many of us have sedentary
lifestyles
sedentary is in the same word family as
the verb sit
if you're sedentary you spend most of
your time
sitting down
if someone doesn't do much exercise you
can describe them
as unfit out of shape or
in bad shape be careful you can use
these words to describe yourself
but they could be rude if you use them
to describe someone else
all these words have direct opposites
unfit fit
out of shape in shape in bad shape in
good shape
what about you do you work out
what do you do what can you do to avoid
being sedentary if you have an office
job
what's the best exercise for someone
who's out of shape
think about how to answer these
questions pause the video
and try to answer them out loud
ready let's look at our next point
i'm hungry shall we order pizza
no not for me i'm on a diet
really how come i've just been eating
really badly lately i'm not trying to
lose weight
i just want to eat more healthily it's
nothing drastic
i'm just trying to stay off junk food
fried food
get my five a day and so on yeah i
should probably think about that too
i eat a lot of takeaways and packaged
food
and i definitely don't eat enough fruit
and vegetables
i doubt it's good for me i can never
stick to a diet though
i know what you mean i think it's better
to make small changes
that way you don't have to think about
it too much true but
i have such a sweet tooth i find it
really hard to resist
anything sweet cakes chocolate biscuits
if someone offers something like that to
me i can't say no
another tip that someone told me which
works well
is plan your meals in advance it works
for me at least
that's a good idea let's look at some
sentences you heard
can you remember or guess the missing
words
think about it for a moment
could you do it let's check
next what do these key words and phrases
mean
if you're overweight you might try to
lose weight
the opposite is put on weight meaning to
get heavier
or fatter you can also say gain
weight stay off
means something like avoid it's often
used to talk about bad habits that
you're trying to give up
so you might say i'm trying to stay off
sweet food
or i'm trying to stay off cigarettes or
i'm trying to stay off netflix
five a day refers to eating fruit and
vegetables
in many countries health advice is to
eat at least five
portions of fruit and vegetables a day
it's often used with the verb
get as in i don't always get my five a
day
meaning that i don't always eat enough
fruit and vegetables
if you stick to something you continue
doing it
it's often used to talk about good
habits
so if you stick to a diet or an exercise
routine
then you do it regularly and you don't
give up
finally if you have a sweet tooth you
wait
can you guess what do you think this
means
[Music]
it means you like sweet food
very much
there are many other useful words and
phrases in the dialogue
so we recommend watching it again and
finding vocabulary you could use
can you use the language from the
dialogue to talk about your diet and
eating habits
try it
beer ah no thanks i'm trying to cut down
really i didn't think you were a big
drinker i'm not but
i'm trying to quit smoking i've tried
five
times and this time i'm determined to
make it stick
i associate smoking with drinking so i
feel like it's easier not to drink
too that makes sense i've heard a lot of
people say similar things
so how's it going it's been two weeks
which is pretty good
i still get cravings but they're not as
strong as they were
i feel much better already though i
guess i'm lucky that i've never been
tempted by smoking
coffee is my vice i've tried to cut down
but i could never give it up completely
well coffee is not so bad in moderation
yeah does six cups a day count as
moderation
[Music]
in the dialogue we were talking about
bad habits
let's look at some key language which
you heard
imagine you want to explain these words
to someone who doesn't know them
could you do it what would you say
pause the video and try it now explain
these words in english
and give examples
could you do it let's check together
cut down means to do something less than
before
for example if you cut down on sugar
then you try to eat it less
it doesn't mean you give it up
completely
a big drinker means someone who drinks a
lot of alcohol
you can use big in this way with other
things too
for example a big smoker or a big eater
[Music]
a craving is a very strong desire for
something
it's often used to talk about addictions
for example
if you smoke then you stop you'll
probably feel
cravings a strong urge to smoke
a vice is a bad habit if you say coffee
is my vice
you mean that you probably drink too
much coffee
vice literally means something immoral
so it has a strong meaning
but it's often used ironically or in a
slightly joking way
finally if you do something in
moderation you don't do it too much
for example if you drink coffee in
moderation
you may drink one or two cups a day
could you use this language to talk
about your life
do you have any bad habits are you
trying to cut down on anything at the
moment
pause the video and try to make two or
three sentences
or more if you can and say them out loud
when you're making an answer like this
don't forget to repeat
it several times until you can speak
fluently
okay let's look at one more topic
you seem a bit down everything okay uh
i have too much work you always say that
yes but i'm really under a lot of
pressure right now
i feel stressed all the time and i have
no time for myself
that doesn't sound healthy you can't
just
work all day every day you'll burn out
eventually
i know but what can i do every week
there are deadlines
calls meetings problems it never stops
i don't know but i think work-life
balance is really important
since i moved companies two years ago i
make a lot
less money but i'm much happier i don't
regret it
you only get one life you can't spend it
all in the office
you think i need to change jobs i don't
know but
i think you need to have time and energy
for your personal life
otherwise it's difficult to feel good
about life
[Music]
let's start with an important point
which english learners often make
mistakes with
look at one of the first phrases from
the dialogue
now look at another sentence
what's the difference
a lot is just a fact if you have a lot
of work
you have a large quantity of work pretty
simple
too much is different because it also
expresses an opinion if you have too
much work then you have a lot of work
and
you aren't happy about it maybe it's
making you stressed
or you don't have time for anything else
this is true generally whenever you use
the word
to you're expressing a negative opinion
about something remember this although
it might seem like a small difference
it's important so
let's think about some questions
think about how you could answer these
pause the video
if you need some time to think
of course there are many possible
answers
but let's see one example for each
do you have a good work-life balance yes
pretty good in general i work hard but i
make sure to stop at six o'clock at the
latest
and i don't take work home with me or
work on the weekends
if you work too hard you'll feel
stressed and miserable
and you won't have time or energy for
other important parts of your life
i think it's good to have a fixed
routine so you start
and finish and take breaks at the same
time every day
also it's important to say no to other
people sometimes
so that you don't have too much to do
what about you were your answers similar
if you want you can share your answers
to these questions
in the comments that's the end thanks
for watching
see you next time