Tag: be snack aware

Nutrition and Calorie Tips, Uncategorized

The lower sugar myth…

Dr Nancy P

Sugar is often vilified as the cause of all health issues and as a result many companies have latched on to the idea that people are keen to reduce their sugar consumption. Now whilst sugar in excess amounts is undoubtedly not good (no nutrient in excess is) normal amounts of sugar in the diet are absolutely fine. However if you’re diabetic or trying to reduce your reliance on sugary snacks then it may be sensible to opt for some lower sugar options.

If you’re trying to lose weight (fat) then you may also decide to reduce sugar consumption. Many people equate lower sugar to mean lower calorie and would therefore go for the reduced sugar option in the belief that it would help them lose weight. In this example the actual difference is pretty insignificant.

A bag of normal Colin the Caterpillar sweets contain 499 cals, whilst the reduced sugar version contains 471 cals – a reduction of 28, which is unlikely to result in weight loss. Yes, every little bit counts, but the expectation would probably be that it was much lower and therefore you may eat a larger portion, or expect bigger fat losses from this small change. So at first glance you’d assume it was a lower calorie option. It’s not really! Clever eh?

So if you’re trying to reduce your calories and are going for the reduced sugar versions of things you love just take some time to check the calories and portion sizes and see if there really is a difference. If you enjoy the reduced sugar option and it helps to keep you on track then go for it! But don’t pay more for a marketing ploy when you don’t need to. Enjoy the sweets you like, in moderation, as part of a balanced diet 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips, Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: Strategic Snacking

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Strategic Snacking 🍪

Often clients tell me they ‘just need to stop snacking’ and they’ll lose weight, but that’s rarely the solution. Snacking has a bad rep, but there’s nothing wrong with a snack in itself. Many of us need smaller intakes of food spread across the day rather than 2 or 3 large ‘meals’, it’s mindless snacking that’s the real issue.

Remember whether you call something a meal or a snack is basically meaningless; some snacks are more cals than meals anyway! It’s just a window of time when you eat. So try to view them all as part of your overall daily food intake, they’re just names! The key is planning them in. If you don’t then you will end up feeling guilty every time you have a snack and that can lead to the f*ck it mentality and then overeating.

Identify first of all when you tend to or want to ‘snack’ and then allocate some calories for it; the same way you might for breakfast or lunch etc and adjust your meals to accommodate. By factoring it in not only are you ensuring you’ll be within your calories, you’re also managing your expectations and giving yourself permission to have that snack. It doesn’t matter what it is, choose snacks that work for you; if it’s biscuits fine, if it’s fruit that’s also fine, within the context of a balanced diet you can have anything you want!

If you find the problem is that once you start you can’t stop then try getting your snack item out at the start of the day and having it on show and somwhere easy to grab. That way hopefully you’ll be more likely to stick to it rather than rummaging through the cupboards or heading to a shop to get it at the time you’re most ‘snacky’ and will power is lower.

Everyone is unique and the desire and need to snack are influenced by age, emotions, activity, main ‘meals’ etc so you have to work out what’s best for you. One good approach is strategic snacking at around 3/4pm to help stave off evening hunger, and there is some scientific evidence to suggest a plan of three balanced meals and one snack (4 windows of time where you eat) works well for weight loss.

Happy snacking! 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Enjoying a few drinks…

Dr Nancy P

Enjoying a few drinks …. 🍷

Whilst I never tell clients cut out any foods/drinks totally from their diet If you are trying to lose weight/fat then alcohol is often one of the ‘easier’ things to cut down on to save calories. When I say easier I mean it’s an easily identifiable part of your diet which you can choose to either consume or avoid, not that it’s necessarily an easy habit to change!

There’s no reason you have to give up alcohol to lose weight as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit. However it’s very easy to rack up several hundred calories in alcoholic drinks with little or no nutritional benefit. Meaning you will usually have the booze on top of whatever food you’re eating. In addition alcohol consumption can lead to poorer choices when it comes to food and you’re far more likely to end up eating more calories if you’re drinking or hung over.

So if you do want to still enjoy a drink but stay within your calories then there are 3 main things you can do. You can adjust the type and quantity of booze, and the frequency with which you drink it. So in this example swapping the thursday night work drinks 2 low cal beers and a gin and tonic saves over 300 cals. Cutting those Friday ‘end of the week’ glasses of wine from large to small glasses saves a further 264 cals. Saturday – just relax and enjoy them, then cut Sunday night out and swap the dregs of the bottles for a lime and soda. These simple swaps shouldn’t impact too greatly on your enjoyment but could make a big difference on your calorie intake.

So you can still go out and enjoy yourself and have that drink without worrying it’s going to derail your progress!

Cheers! 🥂

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just a Chinese Takeaway…

Dr Nancy P

Just a Chinese Takeaway… 🥡🥢

Although traditionally an end of week “treat” recent research shows that over 1 in 10 people will order takeaway on a Monday or Tuesday night and 1 in 5 have at least 1 takeaway a week. Chinese is one of the most popular. If you’re trying to lose weight/fat then these takeaways can prove tricky to navigate. You may even feel like it’s not even worth trying to “be good”; what’s a few more prawn crackers when you’re already “ruining” your diet? You don’t need to avoid them and you don’t need to write off the day either.

As you can see the difference between the two Chinese options are massive. For most people that 970 dinner will take up a large chunk of their daily calories BUT it’s a lot more manageable within the context of the week overall. You can easily offset some of those cals with a lighter breakfast and lunch that day, and reducing calories by 100-150 a day for a few days either side.

So what should you choose? Most starters are heavy on the cals; bbq spare ribs are 870 cals, 3 spring rolls are 690 and sesame toast is 610 cals. Prawn crackers are also quite a lot at 570 cals. Instead go for a soup; hot and sour soup is only 100 cals, and crab or chicken and sweetcorn is a reasonable 170 cals. It’s also filling. Steamed dumplings are a good choice too at 70 – 90 cals per dumpling.

Anything “crispy”, “battered”, or “stir-fried”, “sticky” or “sweet” will be higher calorie. Anything named “special” usually has extra ingredients making it higher cal too. Sweet and sour battered pork is 960 cals and egg-fried rice is around 560 cals. Choose main dishes with prawn, beef, or chicken that aren’t battered. Beef with green peppers is around 500 cals. Chicken chow mien is a great option as there’s no need for additional rice etc and only 590 cals. If you do need rice try to go for plain (390 cals). Also use chopsticks as they slow you down meaning you’ll be less likely to overeat.

Sustainable, long term weight management is about working out ways to compromise and manage things like takeaways without them being all or nothing! So you can still have fun, still have delicious food, but still stay on track!

Enjoy 😊



Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just a coffee and a snack vs ruining your diet …

Dr Nancy P

Just a coffee and a snack vs ruining your diet … ☕️

Perception is everything! Many of us would probably have a coffee and a snack without giving it a huge amount of thought. When choosing a snack we may also go for the ‘healthy’ option of banana bread too right? Yet if you’d just eaten a cornetto, packet of crisps and a creme egg wolfed you might be feeling guilty, like you’d over done it and blown your ‘diet’.

Well to be honest neither is an ideal snack; they’re both rather a lot of calories and probably more than most can afford as a daily snack. However, as you can see, the coffee (a semi-skimmed large latte) and banana bread is considerably more calories than the other snacks. They also contain significantly more fat and almost as much sugar. Yes there’s more protein in the coffee option (mostly from the latte) so that may keep you fuller for longer but even so. So whilst you might be beating yourself up over the crisps, chocolate and ice cream, in reality it’s not as bad as the coffee and banana bread.

It’s all about perception – the coffee and banana bread are not only viewed as being an acceptable snack, there is also a positive perception around the banana bread as it. Whereas the other snacks are universally recognised as “junk” food.

Knowledge is power so being aware of the calorie content of things, and also of our own perceptions of the things we consume is always a good thing.

If you want the latte and banana bread, have it and enjoy it. If you want to eat your way through a creme egg, crisps and a cornetto then go for it. Just be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!

🤗

Xx