Tag: cut calories

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 ruining our healthy eating regime!

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 Cut the Booze – Drink 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 not going to burn that off in one day, 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

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

The office Christmas party…

Dr Nancy P

The office Christmas party… 🥂

At this time of year there are bound to be lots of festive social events – whether it’s the office/work party, drinks with neighbours, school parent gathering or a family party etc.

Now whilst it’s obviously only one month of the year and it’s perfectly fine to just indulge as much as you want, for many there’s a desire to maintain some sort of control to stay on track with their goals.

If you do want to stay vaguely on track then you’re going to have to make some compromises. So this may mean choosing which events to ‘splurge’ at and which to be a little more careful at. That doesn’t mean you have to shun all the festive treats, or not go to the event, you could just modify what you have or have smaller portions of the same things.

So rather than having say 3 large glasses of red wine and a glass of champagne, you could instead have 2 double gin and slimline tonics and a glass of champagne. Rather than mindlessly shovelling 150g of crisps and a couple of mini mince pies in your mouth, you could just have one decent sized bag (40g) and one mini mince pie. In doing so you’re saving yourself over 1000 cals and still having fun without being a ‘party pooper’.

You can still enjoy the festive period and enjoy festive treats but you can also choose when to indulge and when to moderate things a bit. You’re in control and knowledge is power so just be aware of what you’re consuming if you want to stay on track!

Merry Christmas 🎄

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

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just some Xmas shopping fuel…

Dr Nancy P

‘Just some Xmas shopping fuel…’ 🥤

At this time of year all the coffee shops bring out their range of festive coffees and hot chocolates. You’re out Christmas shopping, or meeting up with friends and family, so you just grab a quick festive drink and a snack to enjoy and get you in the festive spirit and help fuel that shopping. You’ll drink it in minutes, and the snack will disappear without really thinking or noticing. But that’s ok, because it’s just a festive hot choc, and it’s Christmas….

These drinks do vary but are all pretty high calorie. This particular example is a Costa Black Forest Hot chocolate (medium, semi-skimmed milk) and comes in at 390 cals cals, 35g sugar and 20g fat. The little Christmas sausage roll (a couple of bites) is around 419 cals (4.3g sugar and 25g fat).

On the other hand that whole chocolate orange comes in at almost the same calories – 822. Now whilst I’m sure you could eat a chocolate orange in one sitting (I certainly could) most people probably wouldn’t . You’d probably spread it over a few hours or possibly days, rather than eating it all in one go and certainly wouldn’t have any extra snacks with it (unlike the hot choc).

Christmas is definitely a time to relax a bit on calories and certainly a time to focus more on sharing memories and happy times with people you care about. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of the calories in some of the treats you are having.

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 festive drink – have it and enjoy it. If you want to eat your way through a chocolate orange in one go then go for it. Just be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Coping with Xmas Stress

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Coping with Xmas Stress 🎄

Stress levels can soar at Xmas, with the pressure of expectations, exchange and excess. Here are some tips to help!

#1 Limit spending

Gift buying and entertainment costs can spiral quickly, so make a budget and limit spending by only taking cash on shopping trips. Make 1 financial decision at a time to avoid losing willpower and overspending. Remember your relationships with friends and family are more important than material objects!

#2 Manage expectations

Wanting things to be perfect can lead to more stress. Dinner being late or a less than perfect xmas tree won’t ruin your day – it may even give you fond memories to laugh about in future! Be realistic with children: they don’t need everything on their list! Xmas is about being together, so plan lots of fun family activities to do.

#3 Take time out

Factor in some time out for yourself – a bath, watching a movie, reading or a walk. You will feel better and be less likely to take your stress out on the rest of the family too.

#4 Don’t fall totally off the wagon

Plan, eat well outside events, stay active – check out my article (link below) for more tips. If you do find yourself overindulging just remember 1 day of indulgence won’t make you fat, just get back on track the next day and don’t make it a month!

#5 Go for a walk

Studies show physical activity reduces the brain’s response to stress, even more so with other people (by 26%). So try to fit a walk in to your day even if it means walking to work, or school pick up, or just around the block.

#6 Have fun

Laughter is a fab stress reliever. It releases endorphins, boosts circulation, helps muscles relax and reduces physical symptoms of stress. Make sure you have some fun; whether it’s your favourite movie, jokes with relatives, or a fun activity with friends or family.

At the end of the day remember, its just one day, it doesn’t define you or your life. Your friends and family are there all year round and if things don’t go as planned you can always get together in January or Feb instead 🙂

Happy Tuesday 🤗

xx

More tips here :

How to Survive the Festive Season