Quick, easy meal… 🥪

In an ideal world I’m sure we’d all have the time to prep a perfectly calorie controlled and balanced meals every day. However in reality we often need to rely on convenience foods or grabbing a lunch or dinner on the go. Whilst it may not be ideal, contrary to belief this doesn’t always have to be ‘bad’ and it’s entirely possible to still have a balanced and calorie controlled lunch. It does however take a few extra seconds in store checking the calories.

Grabbing a pot noodle may seem like an easy, quick meal and it can’t be that bad calorie wise can it? It’s gotta be better than a sandwich and a packet of crisps? Wrong. A large pot noodle is a lot more calories than you may expect – 523 cals! Whereas a chicken salad sandwich and a packet of wotsits is only 478 calories. A small saving, but if you had assumed the pot noodle was a lot lower in calories you may have gone on to eat more than that and therefore upped your calories further. Also the sandwich and crisps option is also likely to keep you fuller as it has more fibre and protein and a greater number of micronutrients.

I’m not saying pot noodles are bad – if you like them then have them! Just be aware of the calories in them. If you are grabbing a quick meal on the go just take a moment to check the cals before you decide what you’re having. Remember, knowledge is power!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

‘I don’t eat much but I can’t lose weight…’ 🤔

A piece of toast for brekkie, bit of fruit for a snack with coffee, healthy snack bar and a sandwich for lunch with a ‘healthy’ drink, and a ‘healthy’ dinner of fish and salad….. that’s not really much for a day?…right…… 🤔

Often we think we’re not eating much and can’t understand why we don’t lose weight. It’s not until you actually add it all up that you realise you’re probably eating a lot more than you realise. The coffees, the couple of biscuits you forget about, the dried fruit snack (it’s fruit – it’s fine right?), a ‘healthy’ dinner of fish and salad … it must be ok?

It is ok and there is nothing wrong with any of that, but when you actually add it all up you’re looking at over 2,700 calories… for a ‘good’ day! Now for most people trying to lose weight or fat that is going to be far too many calories to be in a deficit which would let you lose fat.

So if you feel you aren’t eating much but you’re not losing weight/fat then maybe it’s time to just write down everything you’re eating on those days and see how much you really are consuming 🤗.

Remember – calories count!

Xx

TV Snacks… 📺

It’s Sunday evening , you’re about to settle down in front of a movie with some snacks. So you grab a packet of crisps, a bag of chocolate, 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 (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 packet of crisps (128 cals), sharing bag of minstrels (1079 cals) and a Pepsi (139 cals). That’s a whopping 1346 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 enjoyment . You could have a bag of wotsits (57 cals), a smaller grab bag of minstrels (621 cals) and a Pepsi Max… for only 679 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

Low calorie or “normal” ice cream ?….. 🍦

Here are two ice cream options – one is a low calorie ‘healthy’ one – a Guud raspberry Greek style yoghurt one. The other is an oldie but a goodie and just a “normal” ice cream – the humble strawberry split.

Now anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive fan of the low calorie ice cream options, not just because they’re low calorie but because most taste good. But it’s very easy for people to discount the “normal” strawberry split because it isn’t marketed as low calorie or ‘healthy’. So whilst these are obviously not directly comparable in flavour and texture etc they are very similar and serve a similar purpose – as a dessert or snack. One is marketed as low calorie, one isn’t.

I think it’s safe to assume that many of use would presume the yoghurt ice cream is the “healthier” option as it’s marketed as low calorie. In reality it’s not – the strawberry split is actually considerably fewer calories. So if you were tracking calories and trying to lose weight/bodyfat then the strawberry split would be a better choice. The sugar content of the two is almost identical, not that sugar is bad but many people would assume the yoghurt one was lower in sugar.

Overall the differences are relatlively small. Neither is a “healthier” option – it’s ice cream. Ice cream isn’t consumed to provide us with nutrients – it’s consumed because we enjoy it – so choose the one you enjoy most! However, as always, be aware of those calories – you may find some of your favourite ice creams aren’t actually as bad as you thought they were!

Now go and enjoy an ice cream

🤗

Xx

Should you weigh yourself? 📉

When you’re trying to lose weight (by which we mean body fat, as that’s what actually changes body shape), it’s important to find ways to measure progress. The scale can be a great tool to assess whether you’re making progress. However, the number the scale shows is JUST a number. It’s simply your relationship to gravity at that moment in time. It’s meant to be used as a data point to track progress over time.

If you decide to use the scale, you need to overlook the day-to-day changes you’ll inevitably experience. Scale weight is affected by lots of factors; food in your system, hydration, glycogen levels, hormones, salt intake, recent exercise, type of food you ate yesterday (diff foods can cause more/less water retention), etc. None of these reflect how much fat you’ve lost or how your shape has changed. Think about it, if you had the body you wanted and felt confident wearing anything, would it matter what that scale number was? No!

Data is king, and the more data you have, the better decisions you can make. It’s not good to rely too much on one method of tracking progress since all are subject to daily fluctuations that make it harder to view and interpret trends. Using things like body measurements and how clothes fit are useful ways to see if you’re losing fat. If you do use the scale, it’s better to take regular readings, then average them for the week or month and compare to previous averages to see the overall trend.

Should you weigh at all? First ask yourself, what’s your relationship with the scale like? How much power do you give that number to define how you feel for the rest of the day? Are you thinking about all the factors influencing that number? If you find it hard to overlook fluctuations, dread the scale, or let the number impact you emotionally then no, it’s probably not a good option right now. Use other progress markers like photos, measurements, how clothes fit, performance, mindset shifts, and confidence changes instead. If you like data and know the scale will fluctuate and that doesn’t faze you then go for it!

🤗
xx