Category: Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions 🎉

New Year, New start… it’s a cliche isn’t it?Having said that it IS a good opportunity to refocus and think about what you want to achieve over the next few months. I’ve posted this before but I think it’s worth a repost for 2021. Instead of the usual eat healthy/exercise more, here are my favourite resolutions that are doable and a bit more interesting:

# 1 Switch your phone off

Put your phone away a bit more – whether for meals, after dinner, when out – whatever – you and your friends and family will enjoy more real face time than FaceTime.

#2 Read

Ditch the telly and read a book – an actual book – be it on paper or kindle. It could be a classic or something newer.

#3 Grow something to eat

Seeds cost pennies and you don’t need to be green fingered – get some vegetable or fruit seeds, pop them in a pot on your windowsill and grow something yummy.

#4 Cook a new recipe every week

Just one recipe, one meal a week – it doesn’t need to be complicated or lengthy – dust down your cook books, or get online for inspiration.

#5 Walk

Walk somewhere you would usually drive or take public transport to. Get off a stop early or park further away if you can’t replace the whole journey.

#6 Plant bulbs

Buy some bulbs (they’re cheap, and some newspapers give them away free at this time of year too!), dig them in (pot or garden), wait – and enjoy some spring/early summer colour!

#7 Say hello

A simple hello, a please, thank you, or even a smile at someone, in a shop, cafe, passing on the street – wherever – will brighten your day and theirs.

#8 Try something new every week

Anything new, doesn’t need to be big – a new food, a new activity, a new route to work, anything!

#9 Focus on others

Do something nice for someone every day/week – a simple compliment, helping a friend, or something bigger and potentially life changing like donating blood, sponsoring a child in need or volunteering.

#10 Celebrate you

Who says you need to change, anyway?! Perhaps you’re perfect the way you are: even with flaws. Maybe these are to be celebrated as unique aspects of you, so focus more on the things you like about yourself!

Happy New Year everyone 🎉🌟
xxx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: Happy Healthy Christmas

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Happy Healthy Christmas 🎄

Managing the amount of calories we consume can be especially difficult during the festive season. Ideally, we want to find a happy balance between joining in with the fun without going totally overboard and feeling guilty!

This is the advice I give my clients:

#1 Spread the damage – if you have an event coming up try to cut down kcals in the days leading up or after. I’m not suggesting you starve yourself as that will result in overeating later. Instead try to save 100-200 kcals a day for a few days to buffer the social event e.g if you have a Friday party where you may overeat/drink by 800-1000 kcal, reduce your daily intake by 200 kcal from Mon to Thurs. You’ll barely notice 200 kcals a day!

#2 Reduce the Booze – Alcohol is the biggest contributor to weight gain during the holidays. Often we drink socially over several hours so it’s hard to track. You could stick to low calorie drinks – but what if you don’t like them? The best thing is to drink what you want and control the quantity instead. Plan for a set number of drinks (e.g 4/5) of whatever you like. That way you’ll appreciate it but not feel deprived. In addition drink a big glass of water before you start (as you’re bound to be dehydrated from all the festive rushing about) to help prevent you being thirsty and knocking back the first drink too fast. Have a glass of water after every couple of drinks too.

#3 Keep Active – incorporate a little activity in to your Christmas Day. Face it – we’re all going to over eat on Xmas day (an average of 4000 – 5000 kcals). You’re can’t ‘burn’ that off, but it will make you feel good if you get active – maybe an early morning run, or a post lunch family walk, or an evening walk to look at the xmas lights!

#4 Don’t Stress – try not to stress too much about those extra Christmas day kcals. As long as they’re not representative of your normal intake the effects of the overindulgence will be short lived. Get back to your normal eating and training pattern as soon as you can after the festivities and you’ll be back on track in no time!

Enjoy! Happy Tuesday 🎄🤗xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising 🥂

This festive season there’s bound to be lots of socialising and If you’re trying to lose fat/weight it can be a challenge to keep things under control. Here are some tips to help reduce those extra cals.

#1 Be realistic

Saying “I’m not going to have any alcohol / desserts at all” isn’t realistic, but perhaps “I’m not going to drink at every Christmas party” might be more doable?

Decide which events are worth relaxing a bit for. One event a week is a good target,  so choose the special events and then don’t worry about them, just relax and enjoy having whatever you want to have that day/night.

# Make a plan

If you’ve decided which events to relax at that means there are some events where you will want to be more careful. So you need a plan. First thing to remember is the reason you’re there is to share time with people in your life. Focus on the people and the activities rather than the food and drinks. Ensuring you’ve had something to eat before going to drinks events, or have dinner plans in place for afterwards. If it’s a dinner then just try to make the best possible choices, fill up with veggies and get some protein in, and drink lots of water. Stick to lighter beers, prosecco, white wines, clear spirits with low cal mixers etc and avoid sugar-laden cocktails.

# Plan for problems

Try to think about the possible obstacles in advance. Are buffets your weakness? Are canapes / nibbles your weak point? Have some alternative plans in place; for buffets commit yourself to one plate of satisfying food only. Make a decision before you go not to dip in to the nibbles and ensure you’re not too hungry when you arrive so you’re not starving when they come round. Making an active decision before you even get there will help you to resist them more easily.

You have to be realistic about the situations you’re facing. There’s no point planning on just eating carrot sticks all evening, you will fail, no question. So be smart about your strategy and honest about what you can manage. If you have a friend going with you share your plan with them, they might be keen to help you and give you some moral support – it’s a lot easier to say no to those canapes when you’re both refusing them.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Fat burning isn’t Fat loss

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Fat burning isn’t Fat loss 🔥

Many of you will be familiar with fitness trackers that tell you how much of your work out was in ‘fat burning’ mode etc. You’ll also see workouts and supplements marketed as ‘fat burning’. What’s important to remember is fat burning and fat loss are not the same thing.

Fat is a great energy store for the body – a a lean adult man can store around 130,000 cals in fat (enough to survive for 65 days) but of course too much fat is bad for your health. In order to lose fat those fat stores need to be mobilised and used as energy (or burnt). The fat is broken down and released as fatty acids into the blood stream, where it’s transported to the tissues requiring energy and it is oxidised to create ATP to fuel the tissue.

In simple terms fat cells have two receptors – alpha and beta which influence fat loss. Alpha receptors tell the cell to store fat, beta ones tell it to break it down and release it. Essentially the goal is to stimulate the beta receptors to break fat down and inhibit the alpha receptors so they’re less likely to store fat. Exercise (at certain levels) can stimulate the beta receptors through the release of adrenaline and related hormones. Hence the ‘fat burning’ zone during workouts. The alpha receptors are inhibited by diet, exercise and possibly some supplements.

So that’s great – you can do your workout, burn fat… but that won’t necessarily mean you also lose body fat. Because you STILL need to be in a negative energy balance (calorie deficit) to then actually lose body fat because otherwise the food you’re eating will just be stored as fat, replacing what’s been burnt. Using fat as a fuel and losing body fat aren’t the same thing. If you burn fat through exercise or some expensive supplement but are still eating more than your burn you won’t lose body fat. If you eat less than you burn you will definitely lose fat – irrespective of being in a ‘fat burning’ zone/workout or not because you’ll need the fuel.

So don’t focus on that ‘fat burning’ zone or workout – instead exercise for enjoyment and health, and focus on the food side of things for fat loss.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Calorie calculators …

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Calorie calculators … 🧮

I often hear people tell me that they’ve been in a calorie deficit but haven’t lost weight… and then go on to blame something else (bread/ carbs / metabolism / hormones ) etc to explain why their body is ‘hanging on to fat’ despite a deficit. Now assuming they have actually been eating the amount of calories they think they have (and that’s a whole different topic!) and tracking accurately then what’s going on?

Well the simple answer is – they’re not at a calorie deficit. A true calorie deficit will aways lead to fat loss (over time). Usually people have created their calorie goal using an online calculator. The thing is whilst these calculators are useful tools they’re just an estimate and a starting point. You won’t automatically be in a calorie deficit just by typing your details into a calorie calculator.

Being in a calorie deficit doesn’t mean eating an arbitrary number of calories that an online calculator gave you. It means being in negative energy balance. In order to know if you’re actually at that level then you need to test the number of calories you get from these calculators for a good 3-4 weeks – consistently (so that means no big weekend splurges etc – average calories per day need to be at the amount or under the amount you’ve been set). If after 3-4 weeks you’re not losing fat and you really have stuck to it accurately then you know that for you that number is too high. So you tweak it down and test again. If you start to see progress then you know you’re now at a deficit!

That’s why with my clients I will always wait for at least 4 weeks of consistent tracking before we even contemplate changing the calorie goal.

Sadly there’s no magic formula and no quick solution – but also there’s no need to over complicate it. If you’re progressing you’re at the right calorie level, if you’re not… you need to reduce it! Simple!

Happy Tuesday 🤗
Xx