Low calorie snack packs… 🍍🧀

With the warmer weather it’s great to see some nice low calorie, picnic style snack packs appearing in the supermarkets. Lots of places do similar things but I’ve chosen Tescos for this example. There are other options too but this gives a nice overview. These packs would be great to grab on the go for a snack, or combine for a picnic lunch or dinner etc.

They’re all pretty low calorie but do be aware that the larger packs display the calories for only half a packet (below are the cals for the entire pack).

This list is by no means exhaustive – but it’s just a range of the options out there.

Apple, grape and cheese – 130 cals

Red Pepper and spicy cheese dip – 140 cals

Pineapple and cheese – 150 cals

Cucumber and soured cream and chive dip – 81 cals

Veggies with soured cream and chive dip – 258 cals

Pineapple and Greek yoghurt dip – 85 cals

Carrots and houmous – 117 cals

Protein gracing pack with garlic and herb yoghurt dip – 252 cals

So you can grab a snack or a picnic on the go without worrying that it’s going to derail your progress!

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Fasted vs non-fasted Exercise… 🏃🏼‍♂️

There’s a fair amount of confusion out there about whether you’re better off exercising fasted (on an empty stomach) or after you’ve eaten something (non-fasted) and whether one is better or worse for fat loss.

The confusion arises because people often talk about how exercising on an empty stomach increases fat oxidation. This then gets conflated with fat loss. Fat oxidation is the process of using fat for energy in the body. When you eat something the body secretes insulin to aid in the processing and metabolism of the food for energy and storage. Insulin reduces fat oxidation, so less fat is used for energy. So the argument is that if you haven’t eaten anything yet that day then you won’t have secreted any insulin and therefore fat will be oxidised and used for energy.

Whilst this is true – you will have more fat oxidation, it doesn’t actually mean more fat loss. Fat loss is dependant on overall calories consumed, on average, over the day/week/month etc. Even if you exercise before eating, you still need to have a calorie deficit for that day otherwise any excess calories will still be stored as fat. So It makes NO difference to fat loss whether you choose to eat before or after exercise.

For some people they prefer to exercise on an empty stomach, but for others they need some food in their system to workout. From a workout perspective if you haven’t eaten yet then you may find you fatigue faster and aren’t able to work as hard, so you may end up burning fewer calories. So it’s very much personal preference!

Enjoy 🤗
xxx

A summer treat.. 🍦

What’s better for a summer dessert than some ice cream. I don’t know about you but once I start on a tub it’s gone before I even realise it!

Whilst there’s no problem with including any ice cream you like in your diet, if you are trying to lose weight/fat you may find that fitting a whole tub into your calories quite tricky. So you have two options – either limit the amount you have, or swap from a calorie dense type of ice cream to something that’s similar tasting, but lower calorie. There are the obvious swaps to the low calorie brands like oppo or halo top etc but another option is to switch to something else entirely.

In this example switching from the Häagen-Dazs mango and raspberry ice cream to twisters makes a massive calorie saving. You could have 4 twisters for almost a third of the calories of the Häagen-Dazs. As an added bonus the chances of you eating 4 twisters in a row is considerably less than working your way through a tub anyway. Psychologically it’s much easier to work your way through an open tub than help yourself to 4 lollies in a row.

So if you do want to enjoy some
Ice cream but save some cals try going for the lower cal, higher volume option if you can.

🤗xx

‘I’m pretty good at estimating my calories….. ‘ 🥑

I’m always telling my clients to try to be as accurate as possible when they’re tracking their food and calories. This means actually weighing things – particularly anything that is calorie dense.

Very often people tell me that they’re “pretty good” at estimating the amounts they’re having, that they have the same thing each day so they know what it looks like now, that they can estimate pretty well etc. I’m sure some can, but I know I can’t. I can at first but then often amounts creep up without you even realising it.

In this example on the left is an amount that was estimated at around 40g avocado by a number of people I asked, (calories excluding the toast), on the right is the actual amount – 120g! Now I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t have thought it was that much but look at what a difference it makes in calories. 40g can look very similar to 120g when layered on toast and you may not even realise how much you’re having. The same goes for nut butters, spreads, cheese etc – anything high calorie. With less calorie dense foods it won’t matter as much but with these calorie dense foods when you get it wrong you’re adding a large number of calories. This is also why measure like “a small avocado” are no good – what’s small? my small may not be your small… etc

So if you are trying to lose fat/watching your calories maybe it’s time to go back and get those scales out and double check those estimates and see if you really are as good as you think you are.
🤗
Xx

Ice creams / Lollies for 100 cals or less … 🍦

The weather has been extremely warm lately so Ice creams and lollies have certainly formed a large part of mine and my client’s diets! There’s a perception that ice creams / lollies are ‘bad’ and something that is a bit ‘naughty’ so if you’re trying to lose weight you might deny yourself these cooling treats believing them to be ‘bad’ (aka high calorie). However, there’s no reason you have to give up ice creams and ice lollies to lose weight as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit.

Obviously there are many frozen desserts out there which are high calorie and some can be 300 cals or more. So if they’re on top of your main meals then you might end up racking up unwanted calories. However in this weather everyone needs a cold snack or dessert right? So if you do fancy an ice cream or lolly, but want to stay within your calories then here are a selection of lower calorie options at 100 cals or less. This list is by no means exhaustive – but it’s just a range of the options out there.

Oppo Salted Caramel balls 22 cals each

Mini milk 32 cals

Rocket lolly 39 cals

Mini twister lolly 39 cals

Fruit pastille lolly 57 cals

Little moons mochi balls 70 cals each

Fab lolly 75 cals

Regular twister lolly 76 cals

Jude mini ice cream tubes 70

Jude mini ice creams 94 cals

Exotic Solero lolly 98 cals

Calipo Lolly 100 cals

So you can fill up on ice lollies to stay cool this summer without worrying it’s going to derail your progress!

Enjoy 🤗

Xx