“I’m being good and choosing the healthy steamed seafood…” 🥗

Restaurant dining can be a bit of a minefield if you’re trying to watch your calories or lose weight. As I’ve said before, we often have a number of preconceived ideas about which the ‘healthier’ option is and equate that with lower calorie. In reality sometimes things aren’t quite as you’d expect.

Another great example of this is T his particular example is from a Thai restaurant . If you were out for dinner you might assume that something like the steamed seafood is the better choice. It sounds healthy doesn’t it? It’s just steamed squid, sea bass and prawns – no rice or noodles. Tamarind duck noodles – which is a crispy duck leg served on a bed of noodles with a tamarind sauce and the choice is obvious isn’t it?

However that’s not the case. The seafood dish comes in at approx 651 calories, while the noodle dish is approx 520 cals. That’s only 69 cals different – but the seafood dish comes without any accompaniment so chances are you’d want something with it – rice, noodles or some veg or something.

Neither is a large amount of calories for a dinner so both can easily be accommodated within a daily calorie goal. However, this is a great example of how food marketing and naming can shape our assumptions. Dishes that sound fresh, wholesome or fish-based are often automatically labelled as ‘healthy’ and therefore assumed to be lower calorie whereas the natural assumption would be that duck and noodles are high calories (and often they are!).

Now if you want the seafood because you like it then definitely go for it, but if you’re choosing it when you’d prefer the noodles then maybe stick to what you like! That’s why checking the calories can be so important and illuminating! Knowledge is power!

Enjoy 🤗

xxx

Stop exercising to lose weight… 🏃🏼‍♂️

Whenever someone wants to lose weight inevitably they place a huge focus on exercising to burn more calories. Exercise appears to be the holy grail of weight loss behaviours. Exercising to burn calories and lose weight becomes the main goal. And yes, of course it’s important to exercise and yes of course it does increase your energy output but, as I’ve discussed before, you will never ever be able to out-exercise food.

So whilst I wholeheartedly support people exercising more (I’m an instructor so obviously I do!) it’s not with the sole purpose of losing weight. That’s last on my list of reasons for anyone to partake in exercise and it should be last on yours too!

Instead, move your body to improve your mental and physical well being. There are so many reasons to exercise that go beyond burning calories.

• Exercise improves muscle mass, bone and joint health and keeps you functioning independently into old age.
• Whilst excess exercise can down-regulate immune function, regular exercise serves to improve the resiliency and expression/activity of immune cells and mediators so it improves immune function and helps protect against disease.
• It makes you feel stronger and more empowered
• It improves mood, can reduce anxiety and some symptoms of depression and relieves stress.
• It improves cardiovascular health and reduces disease risk
• It increases self confidence

Above all – exercise to celebrate that you can! Not to lose weight!

🤗xx

tip

Things you think cause cellulite… 😏

Cellulite, that dimpled, lumpy appearance of the skin, is something over 90% women (and 10% men) suffer from. There are loads of myths out there about what causes it and usually there’s some ‘solution’ they’re selling which can ‘fix’ the problem. There are loads of products and promises out there that claim to reduce cellulite – but what actually causes it and what actually works?

People will have you believe that cellulite is a result of you being heavier than you should be, of eating the ‘wrong’ foods, or not doing the ‘right’ exercises, or a result of hormones and therefore something that you can address. Well the reality is the main cause of cellulite…. is literally just existing (and particularly being female – though men also have it)!

The most important thing to note is that cellulite is normal, it can affect anyone, at any age, weight and fitness. It’s caused by fibrous connective tissue pulling on the fascia beneath the skin causing a dimpled appearance. It’s more prevalent in women because male connective tissue is more tightly interwoven. Women’s higher oestrogen levels also cause fat cells to respond differently, and as we age cellulite increases. It has a strong genetic component and some people are more prone to it than others.

Now it is true that if your bodyfat is high then you may have more prominent and prevalent cellulite, (so fat loss via a calorie deficit may reduce it) but as it’s about the structure of the fat deposits you can’t completely get rid of it, unless you reduce your bodyfat to dangerous levels. You also can’t exercise it away. A good diet, good sleep, and regular exercise are all great for your health but won’t reduce the appearance of cellulite. There is also zero evidence that any specific foods either increase or reduce cellulite. Though studies have shown that if you smoke then giving up can help as the chemicals reduce blood flow, weaken and disrupt collagen formation meaning fat shows through more.

There is zero evidence that any of the so called ‘cellulite’ reducing creams, gels, laser treatments, detoxes, supplements, funky workouts or foods have any significant effect. Any effects are temporary at best and ‘work’ by tightening the top layer of skin but the effects wear off after a few hours. There are surgical options that claim to reduce it but none give permanent results, most are very expensive and involve cutting the fibrous tissue to reduce the appearance.

We all have cellulite – I have it, I’ve had it since my teens, and I had it at my lowest and highest bodyfat. It’s a fact of life so don’t waste energy or money trying to get rid of it. Focus on eating a healthy, balanced diet and doing exercise you enjoy to keep yourself fit and healthy.

🤗 xx

Foods that make you fat… 🍕

Remember no one food makes you fat, and no one food makes you lose fat. Every day I hear people freaking out because they’ve eaten something that isn’t ‘healthy’. Usually they mean they’ve eaten something that isn’t a whole food (fruit, vegetables, whole
grains) or foods that are perceived as ‘good’
E.g. nuts, avocados, salads, hummus etc.

So yes the majority of your diet should ideally come from ‘healthy’ foods e.g. fruits, vegetables, lean protein, good quality carbohydrates, fibre etc. Ideally around 80% of your diet should be from these food, but that still leaves room for all the other foods you enjoy.

You can and should include foods you perceive as ‘bad’ like cookies, cakes, take aways, alcohol, ‘bad’ carbs etc in your diet in moderation. It doesn’t mean you’ve ‘fallen off the wagon’, or gone off your diet, that you’re a failure, or ‘can’t stick to anything’, or need to ‘start over’. No one can stick to a diet that excludes everything they love all the time – it’s not sustainable. So try to forget this all or nothing attitude, as it’s only setting you up for failure and it’s really not being very nice to yourself!

So don’t freak out if you have some chocolate or a glass of wine. It won’t make you fat, it won’t ‘ruin’ your diet. Quitting because you think you’ve failed will though. So just accommodate the fun foods into your calories. Try to aim for no more than 20 percent ‘fun’ foods (just to ensure you’re getting the right vitamins and minerals etc) but equally don’t over think it – and remember its your diet over time that matters – over months and years, not hours and days. So if you’re over calories today, just be under for the next few days to accommodate it!

Enjoy 🤗
xx

Carbs make you fat…. 🥔 🍞

I actually lose count of the number of times people tell me it’s carbs that are making them fat, or stopping them losing weight, or that they just need to cut carbs and they’ll lose weight….

The rhetoric is usually something along the lines of – to lose fat/weight you need to cut or reduce carbs and focus on more protein and fat based foods (nuts are a prime example). Many new clients I meet have either tried eliminating carbs from their diet or that they intend to, by which they usually mean cutting out potatoes, bread, pasta etc. Many social media ‘experts’ have suggested that carbs are ‘bad’ and to be avoided – but this is based on very little actual evidence. In fact many studies have supported the fact that eliminating carbs has no significant impact when it comes to weight loss – it’s the total calories that have the impact.

No food or macro is inherently fattening. It all comes down to calories. Carbs do not make you fat – as you can see in this example – those high carb foods are actually far lower in calories per 100g than those high fat foods. Now eating fat-heavy foods won’t make you fat either – but this just illustrates the point re carbs quite nicely.
From a fat loss standpoint, fats are more calorie dense than carbs or protein. Fats contain 9 calories per gram, carbs contain 4 calories per gram and so does protein. Therefore, fat as a macronutrient is more than TWICE the amount of calories compared to carbohydrates or protein. This doesn’t mean fat is ‘bad’ it just means foods that are high in fat are also high in calories, so be mindful mindful of your portions! Often it’s what you’re putting on the carbs that make them higher in calorie – like cheese, butter, nut butter etc.

You CAN eat carbs and still lose weight when you are able to achieve a energy deficit. So stop believing that carbs are responsible for your weight gain. They’re not – whether intentional or not you were just eating more calories than you needed.

🤗
Xx