Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Things that don’t matter

Tuesday Tip: Things that don’t matter 👀

Worrying about the things that don’t matter can make a big difference to your progress when trying to lose weight. Here are a few of those things.

# Scale weight

Worry less about your weight on the scales. Focus more on your energy levels, Strength, muscle mass, sleep quality, nutritional quality, exercise performance.

# Social media

Worry less about the complex and extreme nutrition messaging you see on social media. Instead focus more on the basics. The boring nutrition messages are often the most useful – calories are king, don’t complicate things.

# The end goal

Worry less about the gap between now and the end goal. Instead focus on the next best thing you can do right now to get there. Just focus on one step at a time.

# Daily weight fluctuations

Worry less about daily weight fluctuations. If you do use weight as a measure then focus on longer term trends in weight over weeks. Use an average weight change over days and weeks.

# Failing

Worry less about the little slip ups, bad days, ‘failures’ and instead focus on what you do for the majority of the time. That’s what counts. You don’t need to be 100 percent on it all the time to succeed.

# Other people

Worry less about what other people are doing. Focus on your own journey because everyone is different and will progress at different rates.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Some days vs most days..

Some days vs most days.. 🥓

A reminder today to try to get rid of the guilt around food. I talk about this a lot but losing weight really is all about balance. You really don’t need to demonise or shun your favourite foods to hit your goals. If you use a flexible approach then any food is fine in moderation.

Breakfast doesn’t always need to be a nutritionally balanced meal of yoghurt, muesli and fruit (as delicious as that is). Some days you may fancy a Greggs bacon roll – and that’s absolutely fine. You can fulfil your emotional needs with the bacon roll and fulfil your nutritional needs in the rest of your diet. Calorie wise it’s not even that bad! Plus a bacon roll is also likely to keep you nice and full as it’s a great combo of protein, carbs and fat.

So you can have that bacon roll – just be aware of the calories and account for it. Then make sure you’re getting a range of micro nutrients in your other meals and that you’re still within your calories on average over the week.

Balance occasional indulgences with more nutritious daily decisions: enjoy the bacon roll every once in a while, but not every day

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Beat the Autumn Blues

Tuesday Tip: Beat the Autumn Blues 🍂

So Autumn is certainly in the air; cooler, darker evenings and mornings. For me, and many of my clients and class members this is a tough transition. It’s hard to find motivation to continue regular exercise, and we crave warming, comfort foods. I’ve posted this before but it’s always a useful reminder at this time of year.

Low energy, low mood and low motivation makes us want to hibernate rather than work out. So how can you keep that summer mojo going? Focus on shorter workouts if you’re struggling to find motivation for long sessions. In an ideal world you’d aim for 30-45 mins of high intensity exercise 3 x week: a class, a home hiit workout, or a cycle or run. But anything is better than nothing so if you can only do 10-15 mins then that’s fine! Don’t forget all the other ways you can exercise too like gardening, walking, swimming etc

Find a gym buddy; it’s harder to skip that workout when you’re doing it with someone else. Join a colleague for a lunchtime run, or meet up with a friend at the gym or at a class. The social side of fitness plays a massive role in keeping you on track.

Try to sneak exercise in whenever you can: park further away, take the stairs, walk over to speak to colleagues in the office rather than phoning or try a walking meeting with colleagues. If you’re watching the kids play sport then walk the sideline instead of standing still.

Exercise isn’t about losing weight, it’s great for stress relief and at this time of year when things can be a bit manic it’s a great release. The endorphins will lift your mood and help energise you. Make the most of those bright autumnal days and go for a walk outside.

Focus on warming, filling foods like soups and casseroles. I also like to stew up a load of fruit (apples, pears, plums, berries – whatever!) and use it as a snack or pud. Warm it up, sprinkle some oats or a little cereal on it and a dollop of Greek yoghurt – a great comforting dish!

Oh and just because it’s not hot you still need to be drinking plenty of water. It’s even more important to ensure you’re properly hydrated at this time of year as it’s when most of us forget – so get sipping while you workout!

Don’t let the changing seasons get you down – embrace it – enjoy it and have some fun this Autumn 🍁

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

A ‘good’ protein snack…?

A ‘good’ protein snack…? 🍪

There are lots of brands out that that are using the marketing power of “protein” to sell their products. The unspoken idea is that protein = better or healthier etc. The reasoning behind this is the fact that increased protein can help with improved satiety (feelings of fullness) so CAN help to prevent overeating. Also those working out may want to focus on protein to help with muscle building. For most people a balanced diet will contain enough protein so you don’t need to go out of your way to take in extra protein unless you’re a bodybuilder or professional athlete. However you may still wish to focus on higher protein foods and snacks to help keep you feeling full.

So you may well see this protein cookie and think it’s a good option. It does have a reasonable amount of protein – 14g, though that’s not that high for the calories and it’s quite a lot of calories for a snack. In contrast 6 nuggets might be perceived as a ‘bad’ lunch option, definitely not a snack, because it’s junk food isn’t it…? Yet the nuggets contain more protein (15g ) for fewer calories.

In terms of weight loss both will probably do the same basic job -they provide a decent amount of protein for under 300 cals. But don’t be fooled into thinking the protein cookie is a ‘better’ option for weight loss than any other snack. Don’t be swayed by the “protein” label – actually check the nutritional info and then choose the snack you want!

Enjoy

🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Key weight loss tips

Tuesday Tip: Key weight loss tips 📝

If you’re trying to lose weight here are a few prices of key information which should help.

# ANY diet that causes you to lose weight over an extended time frame does so by decreasing calorie intake. Whether it does it under the guise of some other mechanism or not it all ultimately comes down to a calorie deficit. Keto, intermittent fasting, weight loss clubs, etc – they all only work if they result in a calorie deficit.

# Despite what you see online calories in vs calories out is not a myth. It has the largest influence over what we weigh and our bodyfat. Thousands of studies support this.

# While calories matter, food quality still matters. Eating fewer calories will undoubtedly cause you to lose weight but if you also want to feel good and be healthy then it’s worth ensuring you’re still including nutrient dense foods too.

# 1kg of body fat is made up of approx 7,700kcal. Of your weight changes quickly within a day or so then it’s simply not possible that it’s all body fat.

Large changes in weight in short time frames (whether up or down) are mostly due to changes in weight from water, glycogen and food rather than actual body fat.

# Eating more protein doesn’t directly help weight loss. However it does increase feelings of fullness and satiety, can help ensure muscle mass is preserved when you do lose weight (assuming you’re also working out too) and does very marginally increase calorie burn.

# Consistency is key. Trying to eat

“perfectly” 100% of the time is unlikely to work. Having some degree of flexibility can help improve consistency over the longer term.

# You need to find what works for YOU.

Energy balance applies for everybody – it’s always about a calorie deficit. But how you achieve that calorie deficit and what works best for you and feels good long term varies from person to person.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx