Category: Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘I’ve had so many naughty snacks’… 😈

With Easter just behind us I’m hearing a lot of people saying how ‘naughty’ they’ve been or how they’ve been having lots of ‘naughty’ snacks. When you’re trying to lose fat it’s natural to try to avoid ‘junk’ food or foods high in sugar and fat. One such ‘naughty’ snack is the hot cross bun. For some reason these are perceived as a bad thing to be eating and are therefore accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame. But eating the fruit and nut snack pot is viewed as healthy and something to feel virtuous about.

In reality in terms of calories, sugar and fat the ‘healthy’ snack is actually worse! Yes the snack pot has a little more protein (which can help you feel fuller for longer), and more micronutrients, so it is a slightly more balanced snack, but that doesn’t mean the hot cross bun (an apple and cinnamon one in this example) is necessarily a bad option.

Overall calories and overall nutrition are what count – and if you’re trying to lose fat you need to be in a calorie deficit – in that scenario the hot cross bun is a better option (even if you added on some butter/spread), especially if you’re eating a balanced diet and getting protein and the other nutrients in your other meals.

Emotional well being is also important and depriving yourself of foods you enjoy and instead choosing the nuts and fruit pot under the misguided impression that it’s a healthier option or isn’t good for long term sustainability or a healthy approach to food.

The fruit and nuts are brilliant and do make a great snack option (as long as you’re aware of the calories) but sometimes if you fancy a hot cross bun then just have it and enjoy it! 🤗

Enjoying a seasonal treat …. 🥚 🍫

I never tell clients cut out any foods/drinks totally from their diet and as a big fan of Easter chocolate I certainly wouldn’t ever be ‘banning’ chocolate eggs, but if you are trying to lose weight/fat then you may just want to be aware of the calories involved.

There’s no reason you can’t have any Easter eggs you want as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit. However, with the size of some of the eggs out there now it’s very easy to rack up over a thousand calories or more, without even noticing!

For example – if you’re a fruit and nut fan and lucky enough to receive the ‘ultimate’ egg you’d be looking at over 2,700 cals for the entire egg and accompanying bar (the egg alone is over 2,200 cals!). That’s more than most people’s daily calorie goal 😬

In contrast you could enjoy a large fruit and nut egg and the bars for around 1500 cals. Now ok, the egg is just a milk choc egg (not full of fruits and nuts like the ultimate one) but it’s still delicious and that’s still almost a whole day’s calories for many people.

So if Easter eggs are your thing (they are definitely mine!) then maybe just be aware of the cals in them if you’re trying to stick to your goals.

Enjoy! 🐣

Xx

Things that make you fat…. 🍟

There are so many myths and there is so much pseudoscience out there around weight and fat loss. Depending on who you follow you may be told that eating carbs is making you fat, or that eating after 8pm is making you fat, or perhaps it’s eating fat that’s making you fat? Or you may have seen people saying that eating too much fruit is the problem, or eating sugar, or perhaps it’s because you snack? Or maybe it’s because you have breakfast… or maybe it’s because you don’t….

This is all rubbish. Eating carbs don’t make you fat, neither does eating fat or sugar – it all comes down to the total calories – you could eat solely carbs and lose fat if you were at a calorie deficit. Eating fruit certainly doesn’t make you fat – yes it’s often ‘full of sugar’ but that’s not a bad thing.. it’s fruit – so it’s full of fructose, and tonnes of other micronutrients that we need to function and of course it all comes down to calories. It’s actually quite hard to be in a calorie surplus just from fruit!

Eating after a certain time, or only eating at certain times also won’t make you fat – as long as you’re within your daily calorie limit.

Eating breakfast (or not eating it) and snacking aren’t issues either – if they help you stick to your daily calorie limits.

Stop focusing on the small stuff and listening to pseudoscience – this is just confusing the issue. Eating too many calories and consuming consistent caloric surplus is what makes you gain weight. Of course that means the reverse is also true – a calorie deficit (however you achieve it) will result in fat loss!

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What you think happens on a super low calorie diets… 🥗

If you’re trying to lose weight/fat it’s very tempting to go in hard and aim for a super low calorie diet – this may be in the form of a ‘juice’ diet/cleanse, or some form of fasting, meal substitutes etc or just a v low calorie diet (under 1200 cals). In doing this you might expect that you’ll lose weight fast, feel super healthy and achieve that dream body! Boom! All your problems solved!

The reality however is that yes you may well lose some weight initially – much of which will be fluid to start with. And you may feel like you’re ‘cleansing’ your system to begin with (of course you’re not – your liver and kidneys do a great job of that every single day anyway!). However with these sorts of low calorie diets you will also find that you’re extremely hungry, tired, lacking in energy, irritable, subject to picking up more infections etc (as the immune system is suppressed ) and less able to do your workouts etc and probably miserable. As these diets inevitably involve cutting out foods you enjoy you’ll also feel deprived, and the chances of not being able to stick to the diet, and binging is extremely high.

All this leads to low adherence and means they’re not sustainable so after a short time you’re likely to return to your normal eating pattern. It doesn’t change any habits and therefore doesn’t result in long term weight loss.

So rather than going for short term fixes and slashing calories instead aim for a small yet sustainable calorie deficit, work on changing your habits and making life long changes so you can lose weight and maintain it!

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Coconut oil is good for weight loss….. 🥥

It’s very common in the media for certain foods to be proclaimed as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for weight loss and health. In reality this is rarely the case – individual foods rarely make a significant impact on weight loss or health – rather it’s the overall balance of these foods within the diet that matter. When it comes to weight loss the calories are actually what matter most.

Coconut oil is one such food that many proclaim as being ‘good’ for weight loss, whereas butter has been vilified as ‘bad’. I often hear clients tell me they’ve swapped to coconut oil and with that comes a presumption that it will aid their weight loss journey. The claims around coconut oil include that it boosts metabolism, regulates blood sugar levels, and increases fat loss. In actual fact there are no reliable studies to support these assertions. Coconut oil is in fact extremely high in saturated fat, and calories. Compared to butter it contains more calories and a higher proportion of saturated fats. Saturated fats aren’t inherently bad and should certainly be included in your diet, but there are multiple studies which demonstrate links to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and high consumption of saturated fats. So if you already have a diet high in saturated fats adding more probably isn’t a great idea!

Coconut oil’s reputation as a ‘super food’ means that many might presume it would be lower calorie than traditional butter and therefore use it without really considering the calories. If goal was to lose weight then blindly using coconut oil in place of butter and other oils/spreads wouldn’t be a good choice. However if you enjoy coconut oil then by all means use it – just be aware of the calories it contains.

As always – knowledge is power! Never assume ‘healthy’ or ‘good’ foods are automatically lower in calories!

🤗