Tag: cut calories

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘Just a seasonal coffee and snack…’

Dr Nancy P

‘Just a seasonal coffee and snack…’ ☕️ 🎃

At this time of year all the coffee shops bring out their range of seasonal coffees and snacks. Costa has a range of Maple Hazelnut coffees so if you’re out and about you may well decide to grab a quick seasonal drink and a snack to go with it.

This particular example is a medium Maple Hazelnut Latte (with semi skimmed milk) and a small iced ginger biscuit. You’d probably think this was a reasonable thing to have as a snack and you might realise it’s a few hundred calories but it can’t be that bad… It’s just a coffee and a biscuit right?

On the other hand if you grabbed a sausage roll from Greggs you may be berating yourself for ‘being bad’.

In reality that seasonal coffee comes in at around 320 cals, and the biscuit is 188 cals. That’s a total of 508 cals. In comparison the sausage roll is a mere 329 cals! Whilst there’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending over 500 cals on coffee and a snack you may find that if you’re trying to watch your calories that you can’t accommodate that many cals for a snack. In addition if you don’t realise how many cals they are you are likely to go over calorie budget that day.

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 seasonal drink and snack – have it and enjoy it. If you wants sausage roll then go for it. Just be aware of the calories so you’re making an educated choice!
🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Ice baths for recovery?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Ice baths for recovery? 🧊

Common post workout recovery options include sports massage, active recovery and cold water immersion, with the latter gaining popularity as ice baths have become a must in “self-improvement/discipline” circles recently. Social media is full of celebrities and fitness personalities sharing their cold water immersion practices, with dedicated tubs/barrels etc.

But are they really any better than other recovery methods and could they even be hindering your recovery and strength gains?

Studies have shown that cold water immersion didn’t provide much benefit for strength related outcomes when compared to just resting or other methods of recovery such as massage. In fact it was less effective. Several studies have also found that ice baths can negatively impact muscle and strength adaptations. A recent overview of studies found that taking an ice bath immediately after a workout leads to less muscle growth than resistance training alone.

While taking an ice bath after your workout won’t completely prevent muscle growth, you might gain less muscle than if you didn’t. This is because the cold reduces muscle protein synthesis – the process the body goes through to build new muscle – by limiting blood flow to the muscles. If you decrease the amount of blood flowing to the muscles, you also reduce the availability of amino acids the body needs for muscle synthesis.

For competitive athletes, it may be a viable recovery option leading up to a competition in conjunction with adequate rest and food, particularly at time where fatigue needs to be quite low. So it may help give that extra push as far as feeling recovered goes and even slightly contribute to some performance increases. If you’re someone looking to increase muscle mass, cold water immersion should be used sparingly (e.g. only after very hard training sessions) as it can interfere with hypertrophy (muscle growth). Daily cold water immersion will not completely negate muscle growth, but may take away from your hard work in the gym, a trade-off that is not really worth the hassle as the recovery benefits don’t seem to be anything revolutionary . So the next time you see your favorite influencer present daily ice baths as a MUST DO for recovery and performance, remember that their claims are not really supported by the current scientific evidence.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

You still need to eat… even if….

Dr Nancy P

You still need to eat… even if…. 💜

If the weekend, a holiday or yesterday or whenever didn’t go as planned you don’t need to beat yourself up. You do not need to punish yourself by starving yourself or over exercising. You still need to eat and your body still needs nourishment regardless.

The feelings of guilt, shame, disappointment, anger, frustration etc aren’t going to help. In fact if you do overly restrict your food you’ll probably find that you’ll end up overeating again when the next weekend hits.

Even if you over ate by thousands of calories it’s ok! You haven’t ‘ruined’ everything. The only way to truly ruin it is if you give up or quit. Otherwise, it’s ok – as long as you get back to things, you’re going to keep making progress.

So even if the scale is up, you missed a workout, ate or drank more than you expected to, ate too many desserts or snacks or if you’re feeling fat/bloated – just go back to normal, non restrictive eating.

Remember: no matter what, you are not a failure. It’s a journey and there will be times

It doesn’t go to plan but when does life ever? The key is to keep going and keep things sustainable and manageable and you will succeed!

Enjoy

🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Over eating at night

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Over eating at night 🍫

Do you find yourself managing to control your eating all day and then once the evening hits you can’t stop eating everything in sight? It’s such a common issue and can really derail your weight loss goals. So here are a few tips that might help break the habit.

# Eat enough earlier

First off, make sure you are eating properly for the rest of the day, regularly across the day. I know you want to ‘save calories’ for later in the day so it may seem counterintuitive but in my experience one of the main reasons clients struggle with over eating in the evening is because they’ve skipped breakfast or lunch or over restricted during the day. Eating more food at the start of the day generally helps solves this problem and it can be a great strategy even if you’re ‘not usually hungry in the morning So make sure you factor in some calories for earlier in the day and distribute them across the day.

# Find a distraction

Part of the evening eating is habit – so try to create a new habit in place of the usual snacking as you get in the door/after dinner. So perhaps go straight for a dog walk, have a shower, spend 15 mins on your hobby etc.

Changing your food environment is also a game-changer e.g. moving the biscuit packets out of sight or putting cut-up fruit & veg in your fridge ready to use, keep the wine and crisps in a different room etc.

# Factor in ‘treats’

Rather than being ‘good’ all day, feeling deprived and miserable and being more likely to end up bingeing or saying ‘f*ck it’ and over eating. Instead incorporate those foods you enjoy into your days in quantities you can accommodate in your calories. This will greatly improve your relationship with food and help you to crave them less over time. It doesn’t need to be all-or-nothing!

If you’re not convinced, try these tips out for a few days and see if it makes a difference for you!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Weekend pattern…

Dr Nancy P

Weekend pattern… 😬

Weekends are often the time when people feel like they ‘fall off the wagon’.

It’s natural – it’s often a time when you’re not at work, your routine is different, you’re relaxing and de-stressing from the week. Often there are lots of social events to navigate and it can become one big ‘cheat’ weekend.

It doesn’t have to be like that though and if you want to make long term, sustainable progress then you need to find a way to make weekends less of a blow out.

It’s common for people to undereat during the day, to starve themselves and save calories for the evening. Whilst it’s definitely a good idea to save a few calories for an evening out you do have to be careful how you do it. If you don’t eat all day you will arrive at the event starving hungry. This leads to overeating and binge type behaviour as you will struggle to maintain control. Instead have smaller, well balanced meals during the day and save some calories over the course of 3-4 days for a night out. Have a small snack before you go so you’re not starving hungry too.

Whilst it’s obviously fine to have a few drinks at the weekend the calories can really add up. Instead of having 4 or more drinks every evening over the weekend (which often stretches to Thursday night too right?) just limit yourself to 2-3 drinks … in total. You will save hundreds of calories and reduce the likelihood of alcohol induced munchies too!

Just because it’s the weekend and you’re relaxing doesn’t mean it has to be an entire ‘cheat’ day or weekend. I hate that term anyway – if you have a sustainable diet you don’t need to ‘cheat’. It just creates a bad relationship with food. Instead – incorporate all the things you enjoy in your diet ALL week in portions you can accommodate in your calories.

Instead of making all your social events focused on food try to find other ways to socialise with friends. Or consider meeting for drinks or dessert rather than whole meals? Try to stick to one meal out or takeaway a weekend rather than one every night.

Most importantly if you do overeat then try not to beat yourself up, feel guilty and then think ‘f*ck it’ and sabotage the rest of your weekend. You don’t need to wait until Monday to start. Just move on, make the next meal/snack a sensible one and get back on track. Take the time to plan for the week too so you have a sensible week ahead, rather than punishing yourself with an overly restrictively Monday just because you overate at the weekend.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Enjoy

🤗

Xx