Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

How stress makes fat loss harder 😖

In our fast-paced world, stress is a common issue that can significantly affect mental and physical well being. It can also make fat/weight loss harder. Understanding this impact is crucial for effective weight management.

One immediate effect of stress is increased hunger and cravings. Elevated cortisol levels during stress signal the body to seek out food, often leading to cravings for high-calorie comfort foods. This can derail even the most dedicated weight loss efforts, as you’re likely to choose high sugar and fat laden snacks for temporary relief rather than lower calorie options.

Stress also makes it harder to focus on long-term health goals. When overwhelmed, maintaining motivation becomes difficult, creating a cycle of unhealthy eating and inactivity making fat loss feel daunting and unattainable.

Chronic stress can suppress thyroid production, which regulates metabolic rates. A slower metabolism means burning fewer calories at rest, complicating fat loss efforts and frustration.

Additionally, stress can disrupt sleep, leading to insomnia or poor sleep quality. Sleep is crucial for recovery and hormonal balance, and lack of it can result in fatigue and decreased motivation for physical activity. This lethargy increases the likelihood of skipping workouts.

Lastly, the overall drain on energy levels due to stress can reduce activity levels. Regular physical activity is essential for improving mood and reducing stress. Without the energy to walk or workout etc you miss out on these benefits, making fat loss even more challenging.

Managing stress is vital for effective fat and weight loss. Understanding how stress impacts this is important so you can try to adopt healthier coping mechanisms. Techniques like mindfulness, regular exercise, and prioritising sleep can help mitigate stress’s negative effects and support fat loss.

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

Pizza night …. 🍕

If you’re trying to lose fat/weight or just improve your nutrition then it’s really important to find ways to incorporate lall the foods you enjoy but to find ways to do this that still fit within your lifestyle and goals.

Nutrition and fat loss is always a game of trade offs. Rather than being all or nothing about it try to go for a trade off instead. Pizza nights are something many people enjoy and a pizza can be a really handy, quick and tasty meal. Pizzas are tasty but also calorie dense and low in fibre. That means it’s easy to eat a lot, and in doing so, a consume a lot of calories.

No pizza is going to be low calorie per se – they’re usually fairly large, they’re bread based, with cheese, veg and often meat on top so you’re always going to be looking at a fair few hundred cals. However many are well over 1000 cals. If you’re trying to lose weight and tracking calories then it’s hard to accommodate that many calories for one meal. So instead of going for a pizza to yourself have half (save half to cook another evening or share with someone) and add a side salad. You’re still going to be looking at over 600 cals for most standard pizzas – but that’s still a calorie saving, without massively impacting taste or enjoyment! And as a bonus it won’t leave you feeling over stuffed and you get the extra nutrients and fibre from the salad.

By making small swaps and compromises you can easily fit everything you enjoy into your lifestyle long term. I guarantee you’ll feel just as satisfied and you’ll probably feel a lot less guilty the day after (not that I’m suggesting you should ever subject yourself to guilt for what you eat but the reality is most of us do feel that way).

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

What we think makes up calorie expenditure .. 🏃🏼‍♀️

When people think about energy expenditure (calories burnt) most people focus on exercise as being the most significant factor. Exercise obviously contributes to our calorie expenditure but for the majority of people, it is not a large percentage of total expenditure.

In reality exercise actually forms a small percentage of our total calorie burn. The majority of your calorie expenditure is from your basal or resting metabolic rate (BMR)- calories burned at rest for the body’s basic functions. A small portion comes from the thermic effect of food (TEF) – calories burned through the process of eating and digestion (this is 10% max). Exercise forms the smallest contribution – it’s dependant on how many workouts you do but usually less than 15%. The most significant contribution, aside from resting metabolic rate, comes from non-exercise activity thermogenesis – calories burned through movement that isn’t formal exercise. This includes fidgeting, standing, walking, house work, gardening etc) and accounts for 15 – 50% depending on how sedentary you are.

These percentages vary between individuals of course. For somebody who is mostly sedentary, then calorie expenditure from exercise and NEAT are much lower. Someone very active or with an active job will burn a large amount from NEAT.

For most people whilst your calorie expenditure might vary a bit day to day depending on whether you workout it’s not going to make a significant difference overall and is far less than a lot of people think.

What does this mean?
Well for a start it means it’s not the end of the world for your weight loss journey if you miss a workout. It’s also a reminder that exercise isn’t a great way to try to lose fat as it would take a huge amount of exercise to produce a significant calorie deficit (which is why what you eat is more important).
It’s also a good reminder that you don’t need to eat a lot less on days you don’t workout or a lot more on days that you do. You just need to have a sustainable calorie deficit on average. Separate the two – focus on food for weight loss, and exercise for health and well being.

Enjoy 🤗
Xx

Some days vs most days.. 🥓

A reminder today to try to get rid of the guilt around food. I talk about this a lot but losing weight really is all about balance. You really don’t need to demonise or shun your favourite foods to hit your goals. If you use a flexible approach then any food is fine in moderation.

Breakfast doesn’t always need to be a nutritionally balanced meal of yoghurt, muesli and fruit (as delicious as that is). Some days you may fancy a Greggs bacon roll – and that’s absolutely fine. You can fulfil your emotional needs with the bacon roll and fulfil your nutritional needs in the rest of your diet. Calorie wise it’s not even that bad! Plus a bacon roll is also likely to keep you nice and full as it’s a great combo of protein, carbs and fat.

So you can have that bacon roll – just be aware of the calories and account for it. Then make sure you’re getting a range of micro nutrients in your other meals and that you’re still within your calories on average over the week.

Balance occasional indulgences with more nutritious daily decisions: enjoy the bacon roll every once in a while, but not every day

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

A ‘good’ protein snack…? 🍪

There are lots of brands out that that are using the marketing power of “protein” to sell their products. The unspoken idea is that protein = better or healthier etc. The reasoning behind this is the fact that increased protein can help with improved satiety (feelings of fullness) so CAN help to prevent overeating. Also those working out may want to focus on protein to help with muscle building. For most people a balanced diet will contain enough protein so you don’t need to go out of your way to take in extra protein unless you’re a bodybuilder or professional athlete. However you may still wish to focus on higher protein foods and snacks to help keep you feeling full.

So you may well see this protein cookie and think it’s a good option. It does have a reasonable amount of protein – 14g, though that’s not that high for the calories and it’s quite a lot of calories for a snack. In contrast 6 nuggets might be perceived as a ‘bad’ lunch option, definitely not a snack, because it’s junk food isn’t it…? Yet the nuggets contain more protein (15g ) for fewer calories.

In terms of weight loss both will probably do the same basic job -they provide a decent amount of protein for under 300 cals. But don’t be fooled into thinking the protein cookie is a ‘better’ option for weight loss than any other snack. Don’t be swayed by the “protein” label – actually check the nutritional info and then choose the snack you want!

Enjoy

🤗

Xx