Tag: every step fitness

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Lemon water

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Lemon water 🍋

There are many claims on social media that lemon water aids digestion, detoxifies, rejuvenates skin, aids weight loss, boosts metabolism, balances pH, reduces inflammation, cures cancer, boosts the immune system.. etc. So is lemon water really an elixir of life? Nope!

# Weight loss

Lemon contains pectin (fibre) which aids the feeling of fullness, but a squeeze of lemon only leaves trace of pectin. It’s more likely that the water is filling you up and stopping you reaching for a snack. No magic from the lemon. 

# Detoxification

The only things in your body that are going to get rid of toxins are your liver and kidneys. They don’t need help, certainly not from lemon water. Nothing you eat or drink can ‘detox’ your body.

# Balancing pH

The idea is that our bodies are too acidic (causing issues from ill health to weight gain), and you must neutralize this with ‘alkaline’ foods. If your blood pH changes it is a physiological problem (which can result in death) and needs urgent medical attention. Nothing you eat or drink alters the body’s pH. Similarly countless studies show that cancer growth has nothing to do with alkalinity. Even if you could alkalise your body enough to kill cancer cells you’d be dead from the alkalinity!

# Boost metabolism

Lemon water has no impact on your metabolism. Most “metabolism boosting” foods actually do very little or create only a temporary effect – certainly a little squeeze of lemon won’t do it.

# Digestion

Staying hydrated is what benefits your digestive system, helping your body absorb nutrients. Adding lemon won’t make a difference. 

# Immune boost

A whole lemon contains 18.6mg of Vit C. The daily recommnded dose is around 80mg! Unless you’re seriously malnourished, it’s unlikely that you need the additional micronutrient benefit that lemon water might give you.

Lemon water can actually do you harm. It causes tooth enamel erosion and digestive issues e.g. gastroesophageal reflux disorder (heartburn, nausea, and vomiting) and recent studies have shown a link to migraines.

So drink it if you like the taste or the ritual of it, but don’t expect any health benefits from it!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Fitness and Exercise

My Top Five Sundried Products

Dr Nancy P

I was recently asked to write about my five favourite Sundried products – so here’s my top 5! These products are brill – ethically made both in terms of how they’re produced and the materials they’re made from. So they’re eco friendly (made from recycled plastic bottles, used coffee grounds and some of the products are compostable themselves!) and they’re respectful of human labour rights so not exploitative like so many clothing brands.

If you fancy getting kitted out you can get 50 percent off anything on their site (www.sundried.com) with the code ‘NANCY’ 🌏🐒🐝🦈🐘🐋🦍🌴

Here’s the article : My Top Five Sundried Products

#ethicalfashion #savetheplanet #recycledplastic #getfitandsavetheplanet #everystepfitness #sundriedambassador

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Alcoholic drinks under 200 cals

Dr Nancy P

Alcoholic drinks under 200 cals! 🍸

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 necessary 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 here are a selection of lower calorie options. This list is by no means exhaustive – there are loads of other options out there but it’s a good overview of a range of different types of drink.

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

Cheers! 🥂

Xx

(Nb the gin and tonic is a standard double bar serving – a single is around 60-90 cals)

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Why Weight Loss Plateaus

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Why weight loss plateaus 📈

Usually a few months into a new diet (or eating regime) we start to see plateaus – this is despite people claiming they are still eating the same amount (at a calorie deficit) and exercising the same. Why?

It could be that you’ve lost so much that your caloric requirements have dropped slightly and therefore you need to adjust your calorie goals, but there’s another more common reason.

A couple of recent studies found that as weight (fat) loss dropped participants subconsciously increased their calorie intake. For every 1kg of fat lost, they were consuming an extra 100 calories per day, without realising they were doing it. This is due to increased hunger in response to weight loss, and as the kgs drop, the extra calories sneak back in. So after losing 3-4kg that’s an extra 300-400 cals a day which puts you back at maintenance calories, stalling weight loss.

Another study also fund that for every 1kg lost participants expended 20 – 30 cals less energy per day. This is a subconscious reduction in NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) such as standing less, walking less etc and a decrease in bodily functions e.g. blinking less, breathing slower etc

Over the course of several months, with a fat loss of say 4kg you could be unknowingly consuming an extra 400 cals, and burning 120 cals less, that means a extra 520 cals a day which wipes out your deficit, can stall any fat loss and even cause weight regain.

So what can you do?

Usually a few months in, with fat loss going well, people go back to eyeballing portion sizes and that’s where those extra calories will sneak in from slightly larger portions, an extra 5g here and there etc so I encourage my clients to go back to basics and measure portions. Also be mindful of extra mouthfuls of things you’re not tracking (grabbing the odd handful of cereal, crisp, etc).

Focus on more filling foods to help combat the hunger too – foods high in fibre, protein and good fats.

In terms of energy expenditure – try to be as active as possible – add a few more steps to your day for example, be mindful of standing more than sitting etc.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Lower Calorie Ice Cream Option

Dr Nancy P

Saturday night – movie, sofa and some ice cream – perfect right? We all feel the need to work our way through an entire tub of ice cream now and then – it’s natural, it’s human and it’s also damn tasty! But how about making a simple swap. Rather than working your way through 1,200 calories of Ben and Jerry’s (or other standard ice cream equivalent) , you could instead have 320 calories of Halo top (or one of the any other equivalent low cal ice cream brands available). But isn’t low calorie stuff loaded with sugar? No – it’s not actually! And it tastes amazing! 🍦

We don’t need to deny ourselves treats and nice tasting stuff just because we’re watching our calories – try making some swaps instead. If you’re an ice cream fan check out the Halo Top range of tubs and sticks (there are also supermarket own brand versions and other companies doing the same – in fact even Ben and Jerry’s do their own low cal flavours now!).

So you really can have your cake (*ice cream) and eat it! 🤗 xx