Tag: fitnessmotivation

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Some days vs most days..

Dr Nancy P

Some days vs most days.. 🍟🍗

I talk about this a lot but losing weight really is all about balance. You 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. Yes even a take away McDonalds. Obviously that’s not healthy food in terms of nutritient content but it doesn’t exist in isolation. You’re not ONLY eating that McDonald’s. You can fulfil your emotional needs with the take away and fulfil your nutritional needs in the rest of your diet. Calorie wise it’s not even that bad!

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

So balance occasional indulgences with more nutritious daily decisions: enjoy McDonald’s every once in a while, but make your mainstay chicken breast and oven roasted potatoes.

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Maintain to lose

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Maintain to lose 🤔

Believe it or not weight loss isn’t actually about dieting – it’s about maintenance. People wrongly assume that maintenance is something you do once you’ve reached your goal weight, when in reality maintenance begins on day one of your ‘diet’

Quick fixes and fad diets are really appealing and everyone wants to feel better about themselves as quickly as possible – I get that. But what then? You start a new ‘diet’ and do it religiously for weeks or months, then the diet ends and you go right back to ‘normal’ eating again and your old behaviours and you gain the weight back.

Think about it – your ‘normal’ behaviour and eating hasn’t helped so far has it? Otherwise you wouldn’t be wanting to diet to lose weight. So a quick fix fad diet and then returning to it isn’t the answer to life long weight loss. That’s the issue with these diet clubs / shakes/ cleanses / trendy diets – none of them actually address the root cause of why you’re overweight or the behaviours and habits that have got you there.

The reality is the habits and behaviours that help you lose weight are the ones that will help you maintain it as well. You can’t expect to keep the weight off if nothing has changed. I often tell my clients they need to behave like the ‘slimmer’ / ‘fitter’ / ‘stronger’ (whatever THEIR goal is) version of themselves . What would that person do? That person probably can’t get away with 3 takeaways a week, or boozy lunches at the weekend etc. It’s about finding things you enjoy (both food and exercise) that fit into your goal lifestyle. Swapping behaviours and habits for new ones. For example – not restricting foods you enjoy, but learning to include them as part of your eating plan, trying to be as physically active as possible for you generally and doing exercise you enjoy etc

Don’t waste your money on fads and quick fixes. Instead look at how you’re approaching your fitness and diet goals and ask yourself – is this something I can maintain for the long term? Because if it isn’t, you’re going to struggle to make (and later maintain) progress.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Shift your mindset…

Dr Nancy P

Shift your mindset … 🍩

The nutrition and fitness industry has excelled at categorizing foods as either ‘good’ or ‘bad!’ and we buy into it so easily. But what does it even mean? In what context is a food ‘bad’ or ‘good’?

If your goal is eating fewer calories then maybe a higher calorie food might be perceived as bad? But if your goal was gaining weighing then that same food is ‘good’. Yes some foods may contain more nutrients than others but that doesn’t mean they’re inherently good or bad – just different. Food not only provides energy and nutrients, it also has an emotional component and we choose foods for a myriad of reasons – none of which are bad.

It’s time to shift your mindset when it comes to food. You can reach your goals, whilst still enjoying all the foods you love, you just need to account for them. Rather than labelling foods and good or bad, instead just focus on a more flexible approach that encourages a positive relationship with food. This will help to create sustainable long-term results and leave you feeling considerably happier than demonising and avoiding delicious foods you love forever!

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Simple food for busy days

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Simple food for busy days 🥫

When you’re busy and stressed trying to decide what to eat can be a bit much, on top of that if you’re trying to lose weight/fat then trying to find something that’s lower calorie or fits your calories can be even harder. That’s when it’s easy to just grab a take away or a high calorie snack/meal – which then doesn’t align with your weight loss goals.

Many people are under the impression that you MUST plan and prep your meals ahead and they MUST all be home cooked masterpieces if you want to lose weight. The reality is they don’t need to be.

Make your life easier and take the pressure off. There are loads of super simple, convenient options you can keep in your cupboards/freezer for days like that. You don’t need complicated, organic, home made meals for weight loss. What you do need are things you can easily put together into a meal when you’re busy and tired. If having these things means you can stick to your calories and get nutrients in then that’s perfect!

There’s lots of options but some of the basics include:

⁃ frozen veggies

⁃ Pre-Cooked meat

⁃ Eggs

⁃ Jacket potatoes

⁃ Tinned fish (tuna, mackerel etc)

⁃ Bread (beans on toast or eggs on toast – perfect quick meal)

⁃ Canned veg (baked beans, sweetcorn etc etc)

⁃ Microwave rice

⁃ Tinned fruit

⁃ Tinned soup

⁃ Frozen veggie protein products

So stock up on some of these essentials and then next time you’re too tired to cook you’ve got some easy options on hand

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Raw vs cooked calories….

Dr Nancy P

Raw vs cooked calories…. 🍝

A question I’m often asked is whether you should track your calories as raw or cooked weights? To be honest it doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent and know which you’re tracking so you can record the correct calories, but it can be a little confusing!

Unless otherwise stated nutrition labels are usually raw weights. However, you’ll find sometimes some grains, pasta and pulses might be listed as cooked or ‘as prepared’ weights – which is when you need to be careful, as you will underestimate cals if you weigh them raw.

Different foods absorb different amounts of water as they’re cooked. This makes them swell and weigh more. So for things like rice, pasta, cereals etc it’s probably best to track them as raw weights. As you can see there are small differences between white and brown varieties but only after cooking really, which is down to the differing amounts of water they absorb. You’ll also find different shapes and types of pasta will vary too for the same reason. Oats are the same and in fact over 80 percent of the weight in cooked oats is actually water.

Protein sources, like chicken, tend to lose weight when cooked. This is because the water and liquids in the meat evaporate during cooking. They loose 20-25 percent of their weight during cooking. Again it’s best to track raw weights. It’s also worth noting that the cooking method has an impact on meat too. The calories for 100g cooked chicken are based on a grilled skinless chicken breast, the same amount of roast chicken (skinless) is 220 cals – due to the fats in the meat thanks to the roasting. So that’s also worth remembering if you’re a roast fan or are oven baking chicken with the skin on.

Whichever you chose to track is up to you but be sure to choose the right option in your tracking app.

Enjoy 🤗
Xx