Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Eating certain foods doesn’t make you a ‘bad’ or a ‘good’ person… 🍷

I lose count of the number of times I hear clients tell me they’re ‘bad’ because they’ve eaten something they feel they shouldn’t have. How often do you eat something and label it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and by extension consider that you’ve been ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

If you succumb to a bar of chocolate and a glass of wine after a long day you tell yourself you’ve been ‘bad’ and that you’re a ‘bad’ person. Yet if you have a yoghurt, apple and a protein shake (in this example a standard protein powder mixed with 300ml semi skimmed milk as per the instructions) you’d be feeling very virtuous and like you’re a ‘good’ person.

It’s really time we stop labelling foods and good or bad. There are no good or bad foods. There are simply foods which contain a greater or fewer number of nutrients. The foods themselves aren’t bad – the quantities may be though. You are also not a bad person for eating those foods. It’s time we stop attributing some form of morality to snacks etc. What you eat or don’t eat has absolutely no bearing on your worth as a person. You’re not a bad person for snacking on a doughnut. You’re also not a good person for choosing an apple and almonds.

Yes the apple, yoghurt and protein shake will have more fibre, more micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and more protein. The wine and chocolate undoubtedly have fewer vitamins and minerals, but it will provide you with energy and joy! If you were trying to hit a certain number of calories then the wine and chocolate may even be a better choice as they’re fewer calories (and if you swapped to a small glass of wine it would be even fewer!) but neither is inherently good or bad. They both have a place in a balanced diet. The only reason to describe either as good or bad is in terms of how you think they actually taste!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

Banning vs allowing foods 🚫

You might struggle with overeating particular foods when they’re in your environment. Naturally this may make you

frustrated because it’s getting in the way of your health/weight loss goals. An extremely common approach is to instantly ban certain foods which you may struggle not to over consume. But is banning ‘problem’ foods really a good solution? Eliminating these foods may work, but is it really a long-term solution? Is it feasible for you to never encounter these foods ever again? Does that sound like the relationship with food you want to have?

The issue with banning foods e.g. chocolate/biscuits/ cheese etc is that unless you never want to eat that food ever again you will undoubtedly encounter it in future. When you do you’ll be back in the same cycle of eating it to excess and feeling bad about it. Demonising foods and restricting them has been shown to lead to increased stress and poor mental health. It creates a negative relationship with food and can lead to a cycle of restriction and binge eating.

Instead legalise those foods and allow them in your diet. It will allow a more balanced and healthier relationship with food that’s associated and studies have shown that it’s associated with reduced disordered eating, more self-control, less depression, reduced anxiety, better body image and increased self esteem and fewer food obsessions.

Studies have also shown that over time it leads to weaker desires for potentially tempting food. You become habituated to the food and that means you’re less likely to over eat it to excess. This means you need less self-control and less cognitive (brain) power to deal with it. As a result you can focus your attention on things like hunger signals etc and learn to manage your appetite more naturally.

How do you actually do this?

Use tools like calorie tracking/logging food together with things like rating your hunger and fullness. Eat mindfully – avoid distractions and focus on what you’re actually eating. Use repeated exposure – so have that food regularly in your diet.

So don’t ban foods – learn to enjoy them as part of your overall diet. This will promote long term success, satisfaction and enjoyment, rather than guilt.

🤗xx

What you think is slowing weight loss…. 🤔

This is a bit of a tough love post. We all do it and we all want to find reasons to explain why we aren’t losing weight but most of the time the reasons people come up with (often thanks to social media/media ) aren’t likely to be their main issues.

# ‘I have a slow metabolism.”

Whilst a small percentage of the population do have a slow metabolism the reality is that, on average, studies show that obese individuals have similar or faster metabolisms than lean individuals.

# ‘It’s my hormones’

Hormones are often blamed but rarely are we specific which hormones or how they are actually affecting weight loss. Some hormones can affect weight loss by increasing hunger or decreasing energy expenditure e.g. thyroid hormones. However most people haven’t actually had their hormone levels tested – if you really think your hormones are at the wrong levels then you need to go get yourself tested. Forget weight loss, it’s a medical issue and can have serious health implications. If you have a hormonal problem, you need an endocrinologist, not someone on social media trying to sell you a new diet plan or supplement.

# Macro ratios

It must be because I’m not eating enough protein or my carb percentage is wrong…. Meanwhile you’re overeating your calories … but yeah it’s definitely the fact you’re having 40 percent protein instead of 45 percent. It’s not. Calories are king. The finer details of specific percentages of nutrients are really irrelevant for most people – unless you have a medical condition or you’re a professional athlete.

# Specific nutrients

One of the most common things people blame is specific nutrients: sugar, carbs, artificial sweeteners, meat, fat etc . In fact research has shown people lose equal weight regardless of what they eat so long as calories are controlled.

So what’s actually preventing weight loss? We cling to these other reasons because they take the responsibility away from ourselves. Meanwhile people are over eating at the weekends, aren’t aware of the cals in certain ‘healthy’ foods, are inconsistent and only sticking with things for a week or two, drinking lots of alcohol and aren’t really being honest about what they’re doing (perhaps subconsciously). Yes some people have genetic and environmental circumstances which make it harder to lose weight but that’s rare. So before you blame metabolism/hormones/sugar/carbs and throw your money at another fad diet / lifestyle trend just stop and think about what you’re actually consuming and how.

🤗xx

Just a tub of ice cream.. 🍨

I am a big ice cream lover, and even more so now we’re moving towards spring and summer!

If you’re watching a movie or you’ve had a tough day or just fancy some dessert you may be tempted to grab a tub of ice cream

and a spoon and tuck in! And once you start a tub it’s gone before you know it isn’t it? A portion is supposedly two scoops but that can be quite hard to stick to! However if you’re trying to lose or maintain weight it might not be possible to accommodate an entire tub in your calories.

In this example the tub of Häagen-Dazs comes in at around 1265 cals. One option would be to swap to a low calorie alternative (such as Oppo, Halo top, Aldi own brand, etc ) and you’d probably spend around 400 cals max on an entire tub. But sometimes you don’t actually want the lower calorie version or you may prefer the taste of the original Häagen-Dazs. In which case then maybe the better option is to go for the mini tubs instead. One of these is only 262 cals. So technically you could even have 2 or 3 and still be saving some calories!

So if you do want to enjoy some Ice cream but save some cals try going for the mini tubs instead of the full size ones.

🤗xx

Weight loss is rarely linear…. 📉

I’ve had to remind a few clients of this recently so I thought it was worth re-sharing. Most people measure their fat loss progress by stepping on scales. This can create an all or nothing mentality and can impact not only your happiness but your behaviour. If the scales don’t go down when you’ve been ‘good’ then what’s the point? You may as well throw in the towel and enjoy that cake!

Weight loss is rarely linear. It’s normal for your weight to fluctuate on a day-to-day basis. There will be days where your scale weight goes up, just like there will be days where your weight will drop, and there will also be days (maybe even weeks) where your weight will stay exactly the same. Your weight can fluctuate up to 6kg during the day depending on what you eat and drink, and how you exercise. If you drink 2-3 litres of water a day that’s up to 3kg. Then how much do you pee, sweat and breathe out over the day? It’s impossible to measure. Our bodies are mainly water so changes in hydration cause significant weight fluctuations.

In addition a bowel full of food, a big meal the night before, fibrous or salty meals, and menstrual cycle hormone changes can all influence weight and cause greater daily fluctuations so real change can be hidden. Exercise can affect the scale both ways; if, after a workout, you’ve refuelled properly your muscles will be full of glycogen and water. On the other hand if you’ve sweated loads your weight will drop due to dehydration. Alcohol does the same; it’s a diuretic so will dehydrate you initially, but can cause cravings for salty foods leading to water retention.

For many of us, seeing that weight go up, despite ‘being good’, can make us give up. It’s vital to trust the process and think long term. This graph is real client data. Look at how the weight fluctuates and look at the overall trend. By trusting the process and not giving up when the scales went up they’ve continued their weight loss over time.

We’re conditioned to focus on weight but instead try to use other measures e.g. items of clothing and how they fit, or cm measurements etc. If you must step on the scales then look at averages over time rather than daily variations and focus on long term trends.

🤗 xx