Tag: calories

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Why you shouldn’t eat back your exercise calories….

Dr Nancy P

Why you shouldn’t eat back your exercise calories…. 🏃🏼‍♀️

Many of us use activity trackers / fitness watches; they’re fab tools to monitor activity and motivate us to get fitter, but they can also cause some issues.

The main issue is the figure they provide for calories burned, particularly when linked to food logging apps. Apps like myfitnesspal give you a daily calorie target or budget to spend, based on your current stats, goals and activity levels. If you have a tracker linked then it automatically adds any calories burned to this figure e.g if your goal is 1700 cals and you burn 500 cals in spin it gives you 2200 cals to ‘spend’ (eat).

Great! So you can eat more right? Wrong! You shouldn’t be eating back those exercise calories. Aside from the fact that you have already accounted for your activity level in the daily calorie goal, the main issue is that the tracker is overestimating calories burned. Recent studies found that, despite being pretty accurate for heart rate readings, devices overestimated calories burned by 27 – 93% ! If we assume a 40% error rate you can see on the graph how much it overestimates (blue is actual burn, red is the tracker reading) e.g. a long walk burns 1500 cals on the tracker, but if you ate those back you’re actually over eating by 300 and 1450 cals!

This is why if you’re eating back those exercise calories you could easily wipe out the calorie deficit. Best-case, it slows progress, worst-case you overeat and put on weight. Also, as you get leaner and fitter the calories burnt in general activity and exercise decreases, so you’re burning even fewer calories than the device is reporting.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t record workouts and steps; it’s a great way to look at your relative effort and fitness. Use them as a way to encourage more activity but not as a reason to eat more. In the paid version of myfitnesspal you can choose not to add those extra calories, or simply un-link your tracker so it no longer gets that info.

So if you workout as a way to increase your calorie expenditure, that’s fine, just don’t eat back those calories, as it defeats the entire point of increasing activity in the first place.

🤗 xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Why Wait?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Why Wait? 🤗

The festive season is rapidly approaching which is fun but also a time when eating and drinking can take priority over getting to the gym and watching calories.

We inevitably start to slack off over the next 4-6 weeks – often because we’ve convinced ourselves that once we get through the festive period and things ‘settle down’ we will refocus on our diet and exercise and lose weight then, usually in January.

But once we’ve got this mindset we often lose all control, eating and drinking as much as possible… because it’s Christmas right?! On average we put on between 2-5 pounds over the festive period. So when the festivities are over we’ve got that extra weight to lose on top of whatever we wanted to lose already.

Once the New Year hits we are all filled with motivation for the first few weeks, but then enthusiasm wanes and by February we’ve not really progressed towards our goals. This false belief that we will start on those weight/fat lose goals once Christmas and the New year are over is part of what leads us to over eat in the run up. It’s almost like we think there’s no point even trying to watch what we’re eating or start a new fitness regime during the holidays.

The thing is, there will always be something that makes it ‘difficult’ – in the New Year there will be other things making our lives busy or stressful, or other reasons to drop those goals. So why give in? Why not make a decision to start now? Just like you don’t need to start on a Monday, you don’t need to wait until the New Year to set some fitness or fat loss goals. Yes of course it could be tough at times but if you’re already committed to starting the process then you’re far less likely to put on excess fat which means instead of moving away from your goals you will be moving towards them!

So what are you waiting for? If you want to lose fat or improve your fitness start today! If you need any help just ask! 🤗

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xxx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Being ‘good’ and having the weight watchers digestive biscuit instead of the ‘bad’ normal version…

Dr Nancy P

Being ‘good’ and having the weight watchers digestive biscuit instead of the ‘bad’ normal version…🍪

Most people would assume that the weight watchers (or other weight loss brand foods) are automatically a more virtuous choice of biscuit. Whilst tucking in to a couple of normal chocolate digestives would be considered ‘bad’. In reality they’re almost the same in terms of overall calories per 100g and have similar sugar levels. The main difference is the price and the actual serving size itself. The weight watcher’s biscuits are much smaller – so you get less calories per biscuit BUT it’s so noticeable that you’re likely to end up having more biscuits to compensate. So it’s just a way to trick you in to thinking they’re better. The other major difference is price – over twice the price for the weight watchers biscuits!

So if you really love a chocolate digestive you’re probably better off getting the real ones, enjoying one or two, within your calories and feeling like you’ve had what you actually want. If you actually like the weight watchers ones then obviously go for it, but don’t automatically assume these weight loss branded foods are always the better option. Sometimes they’re the same or worse than other brands. If you enjoy them then definitely have them, but if you’re only having them because you think they’re ‘good’ then think again.

Read the labels and look at the calories and then make your choice.

No foods are good or bad, enjoy the ones you actually want to eat, and just be aware of the calories! 🤗xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Walk the Walk

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Walk the Walk🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏻‍♂️

Many of my clients know I’m a big fan of walking and getting those steps up – and this is why! Whether you’re new to working out or just looking for something a little less intense then what’s wrong with a good walk? Absolutely nothing!

Walking is an excellent form of exercise that lets you build fitness and can help you lose weight (as long as you are creating a calorie deficit – just like any other exercise). But beyond that walking is so beneficial that it’s worth doing even if you are already a regular exerciser.

Walking is free which means anyone can do it, and you can do it anywhere. It’s also easy on the joints, requires no equipment or special skills or technique so it’s safe and easy. It’s been shown to boost bone strength, improve the immune system and give better sleep quality. A brisk walk is a great way to get the recommended daily amount of exercise in.

It’s a fab way to increase general activity – even if you regularly exercise there’s a good chance that if the rest of your day is spent sat down at a desk that you won’t be getting enough activity in to your day. A recent study showed that even a regular 90 min daily gym workout wasn’t enough to combat the ill effects of sitting at your office desk all day. And many studies have shown that ‘naturally skinny’ people will tend to have higher general daily activity levels than others, irrespective of whether or not they workout. So consider adding some walks in to your day – walk up the stairs, walk to speak to a colleague rather than calling, walk at lunch, walk to work if you can etc.

Walking is a fab way to improve your health and fitness without having to spend more time at the gym working out. It’s a great activity to do with family or friends too; and if you’re the competitive type then get yourself an activity tracker and measure your steps – most now set goals for you and you can even compete with friends (and strangers) to see who can clock up the most steps!

So what are you waiting for? Go for a walk!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Cereal offenders…

Dr Nancy P

Cereal offenders… 🥣

We are often told that higher protein is a better option when it comes to healthy food choice. Recently brands have been capitalising on this by marketing their products and releasing new products as high in protein or as a ‘protein’ version.

There is evidence that higher protein can help with weight management – but only because it helps to make you feel fuller, which therefore makes you less likely to consume more calories later. The end result is hopefully that you stick to your calories and are able to maintain or lose weight. Total calories are however the most important factor.

Cereals are one of the latest foods to fall victim to this. There are several brands out there now producing ‘protein’ cereals – Special K, Weetabix, Shreddies etc. You’d be forgiven for assuming the protein enhanced cereals were better for your health and to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

In reality the ‘normal’ cereal contains only 145 calories and 4.4g of protein. The protein enhanced cereal contains more calories at 182 per portion and 6g protein. So yes you are getting more protein of course, but the marginal gain in protein really isn’t worth the added calories and cost. That 1.4g of protein is not going to make a significant difference. You’d be better off having the cereal you want, and if you’re keen to increase protein levels then either add some Greek yoghurt instead milk, or have a snack of something that’s higher in protein later on (e.g a light mini babybel for 42 cals with 5g protein). The bonus of having the babybel or adding Greek yoghurt is that you’ll also get more fat which helps to keep you fuller for longer when combined with protein.

So if you’re a cereal lover then I wouldn’t waste your money or calories on these protein enhanced cereals (unless you actually enjoy the taste of them more of course). Either way read the labels rather than being swayed by the ‘protein’ label and make an informed choice xx 🤗