Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

TV Snacks… 📺

It’s Sunday afternoon, you’re about to settle down in front of a movie with some snacks. So you grab a few biccies, packet of crisps, bag of chocolate, some sweeties and a drink. You know it’s not exactly low calorie but it doesn’t seem that bad… plus you won’t eat all the chocolate and sweets (except once that bag is open who are you kidding – they’re gone right?). This may sound like a lot but actually it’s pretty easy to stack up this sort of snacking without realising it and the calories really add up.

A few biscuits (3 Jammy dodgers at 78 cals each), a packet of hula hoops (120 cals), bag of haribo (548 cals), grab bag of giant buttons (636 cals) and a Pepsi (120 cals). That’s a whopping 1673 Cals! Of snacks!

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some

snacks with a movie but maybe try a few swaps to reduce the cals without reducing the enjoying. You could have a bag of mini jammy dodgers (88 cals), a packet of hula pufts (72 cals), two mini haribo bags (55 cals each), two treat size bags of buttons (152 cals) and a Pepsi Max… for only 422 cals. Which not only is still quite a lot of cals for a snack but is a lot of food full stop – you’d probably find you were satisfied with all that anyway and not miss the larger bags!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

Protein snack… 🤔

I often talk about the marketing power of “protein” and how snacks (and other products) are often promoted or perceived as “healthy” or better because they contain X amount of protein. 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. Unless you’re a bodybuilder or athlete you probably don’t need to go out of your way to take in extra protein as most balanced diets contain far more protein than the average person needs. However you may still wish to focus on higher protein foods and snacks to help keep you feeling full.

So you may well see these lentil chips/crisps and think it would be a good snack option – it’s something that feels like a treat (crisps) and it’s says it’s 15% protein – win win! It’s 175 cals which is actually not bad for a snack at all and contains 6g protein – also not bad.

Oh but this is awkward… the humble baked bean snack pot is a mere 158 cals and it will actually provide you with even more protein – 9.4g in fact! Aside from the fact it’s lower calorie, and has more protein, it’s also far greater volume – which also helps to keep you full. It will take longer to eat, and has a higher amount of fibre too which will aid with the feelings of fullness. You also get the bonus of added micronutrients. It is also considerably cheaper!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

‘Just a seasonal coffee and snack…’ ☕️ 🎃

At this time of year all the coffee shops bring out their range of seasonal coffees and snacks. The pumpkin spice latte even has somewhat of a cult following. So if you’re out and about you may well decide to grab a quick seasonal drink and a snack to go with it.

This particular example is a large Pumpkin spice latte (with semi skimmed milk) and a pumpkin loaf. You’d probably think this was a reasonable thing to have as a snack and you might realise it’s a few hundred calories but it can’t be that bad. It’s just a coffee right? And the pumpkin loaf is basically a healthy snack right?

On the other hand if you grabbed a large KFC fries you may be berating yourself for ‘being bad’.

In reality that season coffee comes in at around 422 cals, and the pumpkin loaf is 360 cals per slice. That’s a total of 782 cals. In comparison a large KFC portion of fries is a mere 345 cals! Whilst there’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending nearly 800 cals on coffee and a snack you may find that if you’re trying to watch your calories that you can’t accommodate that many cals for a snack. In addition if you don’t realise how many cals they are you are likely to go over calorie budget that day.

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 seasonal drink and snack – have it and enjoy it. If you want to some large fries then go for it. Just be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!

🤗 Xx

What you think measures progress…? 📉

If you’re trying to lose weight (by which we really mean body fat as that is what actually results in body shape change) then it’s important to find ways to measure progress. We are all conditioned to use body weight scales to do this. They can be a great tool to assess whether you’re making progress. However, the number the scale shows is JUST a number. It’s merely your relationship to gravity at that particular moment in time. It’s not actually the best way to measure progress.

If you decide to use the scale, you need to overlook the day to day changes you will inevitably experience. Scale weight is affected by lots of factors – amount of food in your system, hydration levels, glycogen levels, hormones, salt content of your diet, recent exercise, type of food you ate yesterday (diff foods can result in more or less temporary water retention) etc. None of which are a reflection of how much fat you’ve lost/gained or how your shape has changed. Think about it – if you had the body you wanted and felt confident to wear anything you liked, would it matter what that scale number was? No!

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. The reality is your body shape can change without the scale going down – in fact a recent client actually put on weight (muscle and fluid probably) yet has lost body fat and cm’s.

So instead of focusing on weight 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.

And what about all the other measures of progress? Are you you’re getting stronger, is your recovery is faster, has your mood has improved , has your relationship with food improved, is your eating more consistent, are you less stressed and feeling more confident, do you have more muscle definition, more energy, better skin etc…. Try to focus on some of these other, arguably more important, measures of progress.

🤗

Xx

Pizza night…. 🍕

Lots of people enjoy a takeaway Pizza as a ‘treat’ after a long week. With the cost of living going up it might be that instead of a takeaway from a restaurant you grab a nice

fakeaway Pizza from the supermarket.

No pizza is 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 some can be 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. But fear not! There are lots of lower calorie options which are just as tasty!

This is just one example. The standard sainsburys ‘takeaway’ BBQ chicken pizza will cost over 1300 calories! However you can get a stonebaked version for a mere 774 cals! What a bargain! And I guarantee you’ll feel just as satisfied! So if you’re trying to lose weight just consider looking for some of these lower calorie options of your favourites!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx