Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just a few festive nibbles…’

Dr Nancy P

Just a few festive nibbles…’ 🎄

At this time of year there tend to be treats out all over the place – boxes of open chocolates at the office, at home, in shops, mini mince pies out in the tea room, crisps at home etc. It’s certainly a time when we should relax a little enjoy some of these foods we like but so often it becomes mindless snacking just for the sake of it. You grab a lindor ball as you walk through to the kitchen, where you idly shove a few crisps in your mouth, before popping a celebration in as you head back to the living room.. Sound familiar? You probably won’t even remember you’ve had them! And you almost certainly won’t attribute excess calories to these little nibbles here and there.

But as you can see – it’s quite easy to consume more than a substantial meal’s worth of calories in ‘just a few nibbles’ . The meal pictured is a Zizzi dish of Ravioli Di Capra – not a specifically low calorie meal. It comes in at 611 cals. The nibbles – 5 celebrations chocolates (337 cals), 2 lindor balls (146 cals), mini mince pie (114 cals) and some crisps (30g Kettle chips) – are a hefty 751 cals – and you’d probably still go and have dinner as well….

So whilst I definitely wouldn’t suggest you avoid all the festive snacks, it might be worth just being a little bit mindful of them. If you want them – have them and actually enjoy eating them, rather than just popping them in your mouth without a thought. Be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘Just some Xmas shopping fuel…’

Dr Nancy P

‘Just some Xmas shopping fuel…’ 🥤

At this time of year all the coffee shops bring out their range of festive coffees and hot chocolates. You’re out Christmas shopping, or meeting up with friends and family, so you just grab a quick festive drink and a snack to enjoy and get you in the festive spirit and help fuel that shopping. You’ll drink it in minutes, and the snack will disappear without really thinking or noticing. But that’s ok, because it’s just a festive hot choc, and it’s Christmas….

These drinks do vary but are all pretty high calorie. This particular example is a Gingerbread latte (medium, semi-skimmed milk and a marshmallow – cos it’s Christmas!) and comes in at 242 cals, 20.5g sugar and 11g fat. The festive spice muffin is around 399 cals (42g sugar and 17g fat). That’s a grand total of 641 cals (62.5g sugar and 28g fat).

On the other hand that selection box contains 5 chocolate bars, with only 386 calories and 44g sugar and 15g fat. Now whilst I’m sure you could eat a selection box in one sitting (I certainly could) most people probably wouldn’t . You’d probably spread it over a few hours or possibly days, rather than eating it all in one go and certainly wouldn’t have any extra snacks with it (unlike the latte).

Christmas is definitely a time to relax a bit on calories and certainly a time to focus more on sharing memories and happy times with people you care about. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of the calories in some of the treats you are having.

Knowledge is power so being aware of the calorie content of things, and also of our own perceptions of the things we consume is always a good thing.

If you want the festive drink – have it and enjoy it. If you want to eat your way through a selection box in one go then go for it. Just be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

The office Christmas party…

Dr Nancy P

The office Christmas party… 🥂

At this time of year there are bound to be lots of festive social events – whether it’s the office/work party, drinks with neighbours, school parent gathering or a family party etc.

Now whilst it’s obviously only one month of the year and it’s perfectly fine to just indulge as much as you want, for many there’s a desire to maintain some sort of control to stay on track with their goals.

If you do want to stay vaguely on track then you’re going to have to make some compromises. So this may mean choosing which events to ‘splurge’ at and which to be a little more careful at. That doesn’t mean you have to shun all the festive treats, or not go to the event, you could just modify what you have or have smaller portions of the same things.

So rather than having say 3 large glasses of red wine and a glass of champagne, you could instead have 2 double gin and slimline tonics and a glass of champagne. Rather than mindlessly shovelling 150g of crisps and a couple of mini mince pies in your mouth, you could just have one decent sized bag (40g) and one mini mince pie. In doing so you’re saving yourself over 1000 cals and still having fun without being a ‘party pooper’.

You can still enjoy the festive period and enjoy festive treats but you can also choose when to indulge and when to moderate things a bit. You’re in control and knowledge is power so just be aware of what you’re consuming if you want to stay on track!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

You still need to eat… even if….

Dr Nancy P

You still need to eat… even if…. 💜

If the weekend, a holiday or yesterday or whenever didn’t go as planned you don’t need to beat yourself up. You do not need to punish yourself by starving yourself or over exercising. You still need to eat and your body still needs nourishment regardless.

The feelings of guilt, shame, disappointment, anger, frustration etc aren’t going to help. In fact if you do overly restrict your food you’ll probably find that you’ll end up overeating again when the next weekend hits.

Even if you over ate by thousands of calories it’s ok! You haven’t ‘ruined’ everything. The only way to truly ruin it is if you give up or quit. Otherwise, it’s ok – as long as you get back to things, you’re going to keep making progress.

So even if the scale is up, you missed a workout, ate or drank more than you expected to, ate too many desserts or snacks or if you’re feeling fat/bloated – just go back to normal, non restrictive eating.

Remember: no matter what, you are not a failure. It’s a journey and there will be times it doesn’t go to plan but when does life ever? The key is to keep going and keep things sustainable and manageable and you will succeed!

Enjoy

🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘It’s just a drink….’🥤

Dr Nancy P

‘It’s just a drink….’🥤

It’s very common to be feeling like you’ve gained weight but you really don’t think you’ve eaten that much? One of the most common reasons is that we often forget to account for the calories we drink. High street coffees, hot chocolates, smoothies and ‘healthy’ iced teas etc can be surprisingly high in calorie, sometimes higher than a whole meal!

For example, a medium Black Forest Hot Chocolate with whole milk from Costa contains more calories than many of the lunch options including their cheese and ham toastie. The issue is that most of us wouldn’t think twice about grabbing one on a cold morning or as an afternoon pick-me-up. It’s ‘just a drink’… right? And if you do consider the calories you might assume it’s around 200-250 cals not nearly 450.

If your goal is fat loss, the key is being in a calorie deficit, and one hot chocolate wipes out that deficit in one hit. Many people are pretty good at keeping track of the food they eat but the drinks are often underestimated or slip under the radar entirely.

The truth is, liquid calories add up fast because they don’t make us feel full. You can drink hundreds of calories without noticing, and without feeling any more satisfied.

That doesn’t mean you have to give them up.If you enjoy a seasonal hot chocolate, enjoy it. You can even make a few choices that make it easier to accommodate it within your calories e.g. go for a small size, swap for skimmed, oat or coconut milk as they’re lower calorie, go for sugar free syrups and skip the whipped cream.

Remember knowledge it power. It’s not about cutting everyone out, it’s awareness When you know what you’re consuming, you can enjoy the things you love without accidentally derailing your progress.

🤗 xx