Tag: everystepfitness

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Tuesday Tip: Always hungry?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Always hungry? 🍖

Appetite is complicated! It’s controlled by the hypothalamus, in the brain, which processes neural, metabolic and endocrine signals that indicate whether we need to eat more or less to maintain our energy balance. Physical activity, dietary composition and eating behaviours all affect these signals and are important factors we can use to regulate appetite.

Short term appetite regulation relates to hormone levels – orexigenic (appetite stimulating) and anorectic (appetite inhibiting) hormones from the gut influence satiation (i.e. the signal to stop eating) and post meal suppression or generation of hunger (satiety). There are also long-term

impacts on appetite regulation. Both leptin (related to bodyfat levels) and insulin act directly to reduce appetite and energy intake. However, increased bodyfat is linked to disruption of the action of leptin and insulin on appetite making over eating easier.

Non-homeostatic mechanisms that control appetite include food hedonics (desires), activity and behaviour. The availability of highly palatable energy-dense foods impacts the control of food intake. The signals we get when eating these foods can override our hormone-related satiety signals leading to over-consumption. Alcohol consumption and social pressure can alter decision making and an increased desire for energy dense foods. Physical activity helps enhance appetite control and improves insulin and leptin sensitivity, metabolism, and body composition, which help appetite regulation.

So whilst some things are out of your control, what can you do to help manage appetite?

⁃ Get active – exercise (even if only walking).

⁃ Aim for structure to eating, and having a more regular meal schedule

⁃ Be present when eating! Avoid technology and chew your food very well. Take your time.

⁃ Protein helps to keep you full so can help – especially with snacks.

⁃ Don’t restrict carbs

⁃ Limit alcohol consumption

⁃ Increase fibre content (lots of veggies – broccoli, peppers, mushrooms etc. This will also increase food volume.

⁃ If you like them include foods that rank high on the satiety index such as poultry, meats, eggs, potatoes, fruits and legumes.

⁃ Whilst there’s nothing wrong with including high sugar/fat ‘junk’ food in your diet as they’re not inherently bad, they are easy to overeat so be mindful.

⁃ Be careful not to over restrict cals in the week as this can lead to overeating at the weekend.

Remember , if trying to lose weight, a little hunger is good (and needed at times) but you don’t want to be starving!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

‘I’m being good and having a weight watchers cake bar….’

Dr Nancy P

‘I’m being good and having a weight watchers cake bar….’ 🍰

Most people would assume that the weight watchers cake bars (or other weight loss brand foods) are automatically a more virtuous choice of snack. Whilst the Mr Kipling chocolate cake slice would be considered the less healthy choice.

In reality they’re almost the same in terms of overall calories and fat. And in fact the My Kipling slices are actually lower in calories per 100g. So in reality you could have either and it would make little difference to your overall calories. The weight watchers slices are also over double the price per gram too!

So don’t automatically assume these weight loss branded foods are always the better option. Sometimes they’re the same or worse than other brands. And usually pricier! 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 sure choice. If you’re trying to lose weight then go for the lowest calorie option, that you actually want to eat!

🤗xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Fresh vs Frozen

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Fresh vs Frozen 🥦🫐

I am a big fan of frozen veg and fruit – both as a way to help save time for myself and my clients, for convenience, cost and also freshness! But there still seems to be a bit of a stigma around frozen fruit and veg.

The concerns around frozen produce tend to centre on issues of freshness and perceived nutrient loss and a view that it’s ‘lazy’. For most brands, prior to freezing the produce is blanched (boiled / steamed briefly). This stops enzyme activity and ensure the colour and flavour remain intact. There can be a small amount of nutrient loss in this process – although recent improvements mean these are minimised. Fresh produce on the other hand is not quite as fresh as we might think. Unless it’s been grown yourself or locally, it’s spent days/weeks/months being stored and transported to the shop. Studies show that the transportation and storage of fresh fruit and vegetables can often lead to more severe nutrient losses than the blanching and freezing. For most shop bought produce it will be at least 14 days after harvest (and that’s a low estimate) vs frozen produce which is frozen within hours of harvest.

Most importantly frozen produce can be more convenient, and avoid waste. This means you may be more likely to actually eat more fruit and veg. It can also meal prep easier and faster. A recent study of more than 16,000 people found that those who purchase frozen fruit and vegetables consume more servings of them, compared to those who do not.

That’s not to say fresh produce isn’t good – in an ideal world fresh produce would be affordable and delivered the day it was harvested. And the more of this that you can source locally, the better! But frozen fruit and veg are great too!

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Healthy vs unhealthy option?

Dr Nancy P

Healthy vs unhealthy option? 🥗

Restaurant dining can be a bit of a minefield if you’re trying to watch your calories or lose weight. As I’ve said before, we often have a number of preconceived ideas about which the ‘healthier’ option is and equate that with lower calorie. In reality sometimes things aren’t quite as you’d expect.

Another great example of this is pizza express option. The Nicoise Salad with dough sticks is certainly a healthy option – full of fibre, lean protein and micronutrients.

You may order it assuming it’s one of the best options to go for – and it is a great choice! But you may also assume it was a lower calorie option, and therefore probably not think twice about having the dough sticks with it etc. You may even avoid what you really wanted, a lasagne or pizza, because you assume the salad is lower.

However that’s not actually the case. In reality the lasagne is actually lower calorie and fat than the full salad with dough sticks. The difference isn’t that large but it is there nonetheless. Now if you want the salad because you like it then definitely go for it, but if you’re choosing it when you’d prefer the lasagna maybe stick to what you like! If you do want to reduce the calories then the Nicoise without the dough sticks or dressing is the best option.

Enjoy 🤗

xxx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Don’t Avoid Carbs

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Don’t Avoid Carbs 🍞

Many people believe that cutting carbs is the answer to weight loss. Whilst cutting out carbs can work for some people, it’s the reduction in calories that may accompany it that provides the benefit, not the avoidance of carbs per se. This is usually because avoiding carbs has resulting in avoiding highly palatable, calorie dense foods which are often high fat too e.g. pizza, chips, pasta dishes etc. So rather than focusing on carbs as a food group, you’re better off focusing on the high calorie, low nutrient quality, easy to over eat, aspects of your diet and work on reducing them rather than focusing on carbs.

But don’t low carb diets and keto diets result in better fat loss? No actually they don’t. A recent review of studies looked at studies where food was controlled – so participants were given specific foods to eat (ie a tightly controlled study). Comparing diets with the same calories, same amount of protein but different proportions of carb, and fats found that there was NO difference in fat loss, weight loss or energy expenditure. These were lab conditions so any confounding factors were reduced. There was a small difference between the low fat diet and low carb diet – showing that low fat was marginally better for fat loss but the difference was so small that it isn’t enough to make a real difference to overall weight loss.

So what does this mean? It means you shouldn’t avoid carbs – they’re good – we need them for energy and brain function. However there are certain types of food we tend to associate with ‘carbs’ that it is worth reducing or having in moderation if you’re trying to lose fat. These include restaurant meals/takeaways, fancy coffees, alcohol, ‘junk’ food snacks etc. These can all be included in your diet but you may wish to reduce the frequency or quantity to help with fat loss.

Keeping carbs in your diet will keep you happy and if you’re happy you’re far more likely to stick to it. If you stick to it it will be sustainable and that’s what we want!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx