Category: Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Post-workout Munchies

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Post-workout Munchies 🥤🥪

Feeling very hungry after your workout? Regular workouts boost your metabolism and often increase your hunger. Those dreaded post-workout munchies can make you reach for extra snacks and eat more than you want to which could derail your fitness goals.

#1 Reconsider your burn

Did you really burn as much as you’re about to eat? Studies have shown that we usually underestimate the calories consumed through food and overestimate the number of calories burned by exercise. As I’ve said in previous posts those fitness machines almost always over estimate and even fitness trackers aren’t as accurate as we’re led to believe. So be realistic when it comes to choosing post-workout foods. Go for something with protein, carbs and fat – and if it’s not a main meal then aim for only about 150-200 cals. A glass of milk (dairy or soya) or chocolate milk is an excellent post workout refuel.

#2 Are you really hungry?

Ask yourself are you really hungry? Unless it’s a definite yes don’t reach for that protein shake or snack (and remember as I said last week – protein shakes aren’t really necessary for most of us anyway!)
Drink a big glass of water first and then decide. Try not to just get in to the habit of eating after workouts for the sake of it.

#3 Eat regular meals

If you’re starving after your workouts then maybe you haven’t eaten enough earlier in the day. Studies have shown regular meals with a good balance of proteins, carbs and fats results in less desire to eat extra snacks post workout and curb that hunger.

#4 Schedule your workouts

If you always feel hungry after working out, then simply make sure to schedule exercise before one of your main meals.
That way you won’t need to eat any extra snacks, and thus additional calories, between meals.

#5 Don’t try to earn calories to eat later

Try not to workout simply for the reward of eating later. Again something I’ve talked about before – try not to reward yourself with food. Exercise itself should be the reward so find something you enjoy – cycling, running, classes, dancing etc and then enjoy the endorphins!

Happy Tuesday 🤗
Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Fresh vs Frozen

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Fresh vs Frozen 🥦🫐

I am a big fan of frozen veg and fruit – both as a way to help save time for myself and my clients, for convenience, cost and also freshness! But there still seems to be a bit of a stigma around frozen fruit and veg.

The concerns around frozen produce tend to centre on issues of freshness and perceived nutrient loss and a view that it’s ‘lazy’. For most brands, prior to freezing the produce is blanched (boiled / steamed briefly). This stops enzyme activity and ensure the colour and flavour remain intact. There can be a small amount of nutrient loss in this process – although recent improvements mean these are minimised. Fresh produce on the other hand is not quite as fresh as we might think. Unless it’s been grown yourself or locally, it’s spent days/weeks/months being stored and transported to the shop. Studies show that the transportation and storage of fresh fruit and vegetables can often lead to more severe nutrient losses than the blanching and freezing. For most shop bought produce it will be at least 14 days after harvest (and that’s a low estimate) vs frozen produce which is frozen within hours of harvest.

Most importantly frozen produce can be more convenient, and avoid waste. This means you may be more likely to actually eat more fruit and veg. It can also meal prep easier and faster. A recent study of more than 16,000 people found that those who purchase frozen fruit and vegetables consume more servings of them, compared to those who do not.

That’s not to say fresh produce isn’t good – in an ideal world fresh produce would be affordable and delivered the day it was harvested. And the more of this that you can source locally, the better! But frozen fruit and veg are great too!

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Don’t Avoid Carbs

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Don’t Avoid Carbs 🍞

Many people believe that cutting carbs is the answer to weight loss. Whilst cutting out carbs can work for some people, it’s the reduction in calories that may accompany it that provides the benefit, not the avoidance of carbs per se. This is usually because avoiding carbs has resulting in avoiding highly palatable, calorie dense foods which are often high fat too e.g. pizza, chips, pasta dishes etc. So rather than focusing on carbs as a food group, you’re better off focusing on the high calorie, low nutrient quality, easy to over eat, aspects of your diet and work on reducing them rather than focusing on carbs.

But don’t low carb diets and keto diets result in better fat loss? No actually they don’t. A recent review of studies looked at studies where food was controlled – so participants were given specific foods to eat (ie a tightly controlled study). Comparing diets with the same calories, same amount of protein but different proportions of carb, and fats found that there was NO difference in fat loss, weight loss or energy expenditure. These were lab conditions so any confounding factors were reduced. There was a small difference between the low fat diet and low carb diet – showing that low fat was marginally better for fat loss but the difference was so small that it isn’t enough to make a real difference to overall weight loss.

So what does this mean? It means you shouldn’t avoid carbs – they’re good – we need them for energy and brain function. However there are certain types of food we tend to associate with ‘carbs’ that it is worth reducing or having in moderation if you’re trying to lose fat. These include restaurant meals/takeaways, fancy coffees, alcohol, ‘junk’ food snacks etc. These can all be included in your diet but you may wish to reduce the frequency or quantity to help with fat loss.

Keeping carbs in your diet will keep you happy and if you’re happy you’re far more likely to stick to it. If you stick to it it will be sustainable and that’s what we want!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

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Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Artificial Sweeteners

Are artificial sweeteners bad? There is a lot of concern out there over artificial sweeteners/sugar substitutes. The 4 most common sweeteners are saccharine, sucralose, aspartame and stevia (this is a natural sweetener but is used in the same way and subject to similar claims).

Proponents of the “sweeteners are bad” message often claim that they cause are toxic, cause cancer, and cause insulin spikes and weight gain. In fact there is no scientific evidence that any of them cause cancer (or any disease). The studies used to support this view are on rats, and with excessively high doses. In one study rats were given up to 5,000 mg/kg bodyweight of asparatame. A Diet Coke has 187 mg (which equates to approx 2-3 mg/ kg bodyweight for a human adult). If you scale that up to humans (irrespective of the fact there’s no evidence humans respond the same way) then that’s the equivalent of over 2000 cans a day of Diet Coke. Only one study showed a possible link to blood cancer in rats (not humans) and even then it was a correlation (not the same as causation).

The most recent claim is that the sweeteners “trick” your brain into thinking you’ve had sugar and cause an insulin response (which then causes you to eat more sugar). This simply isn’t true – insulin isn’t released unless sugar is present, no calories, no sugar = no insulin response. Others claim that diet drinks cause obesity. Obesity is caused by consuming excess calories, but sweeteners contain no calories so they can’t possibly cause obesity. They can’t work against the laws of thermodynamics!

Some argue that it negatively affects gut health but as the gut doesn’t have much involvement (there is nothing to be absorbed) this isn’t the case. Studies have only shown an impact with extreme consumption (we’re talking over 8 litres of diet drinks per day every day).

Some people are sensitive to some sweeteners (just as some people are sensitive to a range of foods) and obviously if it doesn’t agree with you then clearly don’t have them . But sweeteners can be a really helpful way to replace a calorie dense sugar with something of similar taste but no calories, so can really help aid fat loss.

So consuming them in moderation is perfectly ok!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Feel Fuller

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Feel Fuller 🥗

When you’re trying to lose fat/weight and therefore eating at a calorie deficit it can be hard to feel satisfied. You will naturally be eating less food and whilst it’s normal, and ok to be a little hungry it makes it very hard to stick to the calories if you’re starving all the time.

Now whilst I’m very much a fan of people eating whatever they want within their calories, there are also some smart ways to help you feel more satisfied with the calories you’re on.

One good way to do this is to increase the volume of food you consume. How can you do this when you’re trying to reduce calories? By increasing the amount of things like vegetable and some fruits (berries particularly) primarily. These high fibre, high volume but low calorie foods are brilliant at helping to keep you fuller for longer, without impacting your calories to any great extent. Swapping a proportion of the more calorie dense foods for veggies and fruits will help to do this. You can also use other low calorie foods that are high in protein to help as well – things like 0% greek yoghurt, lean meat/meat substitutes. In addition reducing liquid calories in for form of high calorie coffees, juices, sugary drinks and alcohol will also help.

Swapping snacks for those that are low cal and high volume is also another handy option – so swapping crisps for skinny popcorn or pop chips, or swapping a sweet treat for something like meringue or marshmallow. If you combine these latter options with some berries and a little greek yoghurt you have the perfect hunger busting snack!

Physiologically eating greater food volume will have a positive affect on your digestive system and associated hormones – you will feel fuller and more satisfied. The extra time it takes to both eat and digest the meal will help with this. Psychologically it feels much better to see a large plate of food in front of you so you don’t feel deprived.

And the other added bonus is you will be probably increasing your intake of other micronutrients in the process which can only be a good thing for general health and well being.

So remember eating fewer calories doesn’t mean you have to eat less food per se – the goal is to eat as much as you can volume-wise within those calories.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

xx