Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘Weight loss’ meals vs ‘normal’ meals….🥘

Once again this highlights a really important issue – marketing! Ready meals can be a really useful thing to have in your freezer/fridge for quick meals when you’re busy. They’re also handy if you’re trying to stick to your calories and want something with pre calculated calories too. Most people would assume that the slimming world or weight watchers (or other weight loss brand foods) are automatically a more virtuous choice of ready meal . Whilst the ‘normal’ supermarket ones may be assumed to be higher calories.

In reality the Slimming world and the weight watchers ones are actually significantly higher in calories at 440 and 424 cals vs 372 and 363 cals for supermarket examples. That’s quite a large difference! The weight loss branded ones are also more expensive – up to £4.40 vs £1.85.

So don’t automatically assume these weight loss branded foods are always the better option. Sometimes they’re the same or worse than other brands. And very often pricier! If you enjoy them then definitely have them, but if you’re only having them because you think they’re better and lower calorie then think again.

Read the labels and look at the calories and then make your choice. If you’re trying to lose weight then go for the lowest calorie option, that you actually want to eat!

🤗xx

A snack or loads of snacks… 🍫

There are lots of strategies you can use when trying to stick to your calorie deficit to lose weight/fat. Being aware of the calories in the foods you choose to consume and swapping to lower calorie foods which you also enjoy is an obvious option. As well as the calories though it’s worth considering the quantity and volume of the food you’re choosing.

Snacking is a common problem and an easy way to extra calories to sneak in. If you were to snack on a banana and chocolate muffin you’re looking at a substantial 377 calories of food. That’s quite a lot for a snack, and it will be gone in a few bites. However for only 259 calories you could have a curly wurly, a light babybel, some raspberries and a packet of popchips. This combination not only has the advantage of fewer calories overall, but also higher protein overall which will help to keep you fuller for longer, and they contain more fibre (mainly from the raspberries) and other micronutrients which will also help. But an often overlooked aspect is that there is also a greater volume of food in the lower calorie option. It will take you longer to eat the 4 snacks than the muffin, which will also increase feelings of satisfaction. You may also even find you don’t even need to eat all 4 snacks.

Obviously if you fancy the muffin and can fit it into your calories then go for it but this is just another strategy to add to your toolkit to help you stick to those calories.

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Why diets work.. 🥗

There are lots of diets out there that claim to be better than any other. But what do ALL these diets have in common? And why do they work?

It’s nothing to do with any special properties of specific diets. For ANY diet to work it has to result in a calorie deficit. For some people certain diets will enable them to achieve this more easily and therefore that diet will work for them. But behind these diets are the simple maths of calories in vs out. However the issue with many diets is that they don’t educate you on the mechanism behind them and are therefore short term fixes.

Keto / low carb : omits or reduces carbs, which may reduce calories.

5:2 : limits calorie intake for 2 days a week, which may create a calorie deficit on average.

Intermittent fasting/ 16:8 : restricts the window of time you can eat in, which MAY reduce calories.

Diet clubs : assign points or values to certain foods and restrict food types, so MAY reduce calories

Shakes / Supplements : replaces meals or promotes excessive bowel movements etc which result in water loss, and a possible calorie deficit from meal replacement.

Juice cleanse/ detox : replaces whole foods with juices, resulting in fewer calories and rapid initial water loss.

Body type/blood type diet : restricts foods based on blood or body type, which may result in a calorie deficit

Spot the similarities? Many involve omitting food groups which will result in a calorie deficit. Calories can’t tell the time so methods involving not eating on certain days/times only work if you don’t overeat on others. Diet clubs help with accountability (regular weigh ins and rewards) but hide calories behind points or labels which lock you in to their method.

All of these diets can result in fat loss, but how many of them are sustainable long term, educate you on managing energy intake or build new habits? Some are actually damaging; laxative supplements and fasting can cause bowel damage, kidney damage and development of silent acid reflux etc, as well as promoting disordered eating.

So it doesn’t matter which ‘diet’ you choose, as long as it works for you – but make sure you understand WHY it works 🙂

xx

‘I’m being good and choosing Slimming world potato wedges….’ 🥔

Most people would assume that the slimming world(or other weight loss brand foods) are automatically a more virtuous choice of potato wedge . Whilst the M&S fresh ones would be considered ‘bad’.

In reality the Slimming world ones are actually considerably higher in calories at 116 cals for 100g vs 85g for 100g. That’s quite a large difference!

So don’t automatically assume these weight loss branded foods are always the better option. Sometimes they’re the same or worse than other brands. And often pricier! If you enjoy them then definitely have them, but if you’re only having them because you think they’re ‘good’ then think again.

Read the labels and look at the calories and then make your choice. If you’re trying to lose weight then go for the lowest calorie option, that you actually want to eat!

🤗xx