Tag: fitnessmotivation

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions 🎉

New Year, New start! it’s a cliche isn’t it?Having said that it IS a good opportunity to refocus and think about what you want to achieve over the next few months. I’ve posted this before but I think it’s worth a repost for 2024. Instead of the usual eat healthy/exercise more, here are my favourite resolutions that are doable and a bit more interesting:

#1 Switch your phone off

Put your phone away a bit more – whether for meals, after dinner, when out – whatever – you and your friends and family will enjoy more real face time than FaceTime.

#2 Read

Ditch the telly and read a book – an actual book – be it on paper or kindle. It could be a classic or something newer.

#3 Grow something to eat

Seeds cost pennies and you don’t need to be green fingered – get some vegetable or fruit seeds, pop them in a pot on your windowsill and grow something yummy.

#4 Cook a new recipe every week

Just one recipe, one meal a week – it doesn’t need to be complicated or lengthy – dust down your cook books, or get online for inspiration.

#5 Walk

Walk somewhere you would usually drive or take public transport to. Get off a stop early or park further away if you can’t replace the whole journey.

#6 Plant bulbs

Buy some bulbs (they’re cheap, and some newspapers give them away free at this time of year too!), dig them in (pot or garden), wait – and enjoy some spring/early summer colour!

#7 Say hello

A simple hello, a please, thank you, or even a smile at someone, in a shop, cafe, passing on the street – wherever – will brighten your day and theirs.

#8 Try something new every week

Anything new, doesn’t need to be big – a new food, a new activity, a new route to work, anything!

#9 Focus on others

Do something nice for someone every day/week – a simple compliment, helping a friend, or something bigger and potentially life changing like donating blood, sponsoring a child in need or volunteering.

#10 Celebrate you

Who says you need to change, anyway?! Perhaps you’re perfect the way you are: even with flaws. Maybe these are to be celebrated as unique aspects of you, so focus more on the things you like about yourself!

Happy New Year! Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: Relax!

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Relax! 🎄

Happy Boxing Day! A super simple tip today – just try to relax! If you have the luxury of not working today then have a lie in, spend time with friends, family, (or animals) that you love, maybe take a gentle walk, enjoy yummy leftovers and Christmas tv etc.

If you’re working then take some time out this evening to do something that you enjoy. Don’t stress about what you’ve eaten, or how little exercise you’ve done, just enjoy the tastes and yummy food, two days won’t kill you! Get back to your normal eating and training pattern tomorrow and you’ll be back on track in no time.

Hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas 🤗🎄xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: Happy Healthy Christmas

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Happy Healthy Christmas 🎄

Managing the amount of calories we consume can be especially difficult during the festive season. Ideally, we want to find a happy balance between joining in with the fun without going totally overboard and ruining our healthy eating regime!

This is the advice I give my clients:

#1 Spread the damage – if you have an event coming up try to cut down kcals in the days leading up or after. I’m not suggesting you starve yourself as that will result in overeating later. Instead try to save 100-200 kcals a day for a few days to buffer the social event e.g if you have a Friday party where you may overeat/drink by 800-1000 kcal, reduce your daily intake by 200 kcal from Mon to Thurs. You’ll barely notice 200 kcals a day!

#2 Cut the Booze – Drink is the biggest contributor to weight gain during the holidays. Often we drink socially over several hours so it’s hard to track. You could stick to low calorie drinks – but what if you don’t like them? The best thing is to drink what you want and control the quantity instead. Plan for a set number of drinks (e.g 4/5) of whatever you like. That way you’ll appreciate it but not feel deprived. In addition drink a big glass of water before you start (as you’re bound to be dehydrated from all the festive rushing about) to help prevent you being thirsty and knocking back the first drink too fast. Have a glass of water after every couple of drinks too.

#3 Keep Active – incorporate a little activity in to your Christmas Day. Face it – we’re all going to over eat on Xmas day (an average of 4000 – 5000 kcals). You’re not going to burn that off in one day, but it will make you feel good if you get active – maybe an early morning run, or a post lunch family walk, or an evening walk to look at the xmas lights!

#4 Don’t Stress – try not to stress too much about those extra Christmas day kcals. As long as they’re not representative of your normal intake the effects of the overindulgence will be short lived. Get back to your normal eating and training pattern as soon as you can after the festivities and you’ll be back on track in no time!

Enjoy! Happy Tuesday 🎄🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

The office Christmas party…

Dr Nancy P

The office Christmas party… 🥂

At this time of year there are bound to be lots of festive social events – whether it’s the office/work party, drinks with neighbours, school parent gathering or a family party etc.

Now whilst it’s obviously only one month of the year and it’s perfectly fine to just indulge as much as you want, for many there’s a desire to maintain some sort of control to stay on track with their goals.

If you do want to stay vaguely on track then you’re going to have to make some compromises. So this may mean choosing which events to ‘splurge’ at and which to be a little more careful at. That doesn’t mean you have to shun all the festive treats, or not go to the event, you could just modify what you have or have smaller portions of the same things.

So rather than having say 3 large glasses of red wine and a glass of champagne, you could instead have 2 double gin and slimline tonics and a glass of champagne. Rather than mindlessly shovelling 150g of crisps and a couple of mini mince pies in your mouth, you could just have one decent sized bag (40g) and one mini mince pie. In doing so you’re saving yourself over 1000 cals and still having fun without being a ‘party pooper’.

You can still enjoy the festive period and enjoy festive treats but you can also choose when to indulge and when to moderate things a bit. You’re in control and knowledge is power so just be aware of what you’re consuming if you want to stay on track!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising 🥂

This festive season there’s bound to be lots of socialising and If you’re trying to lose fat/weight it can be a challenge to keep things under control. Here are some tips to help reduce those extra cals.

#1 Be realistic

Saying “I’m not going to have any alcohol / desserts at all” isn’t realistic, but perhaps “I’m not going to drink at every Christmas party” might be more doable?

Decide which events are worth relaxing a bit for. One event a week is a good target, so choose the special events and then don’t worry about them, just relax and enjoy having whatever you want to have that day/night.

# Make a plan

If you’ve decided which events to relax at that means there are some events where you will want to be more careful. So you need a plan. First thing to remember is the reason you’re there is to share time with people in your life. Focus on the people and the activities rather than the food and drinks. Ensuring you’ve had something to eat before going to drinks events, or have dinner plans in place for afterwards. If it’s a dinner then just try to make the best possible choices, fill up with veggies and get some protein in, and drink lots of water. Stick to lighter beers, prosecco, white wines, clear spirits with low cal mixers etc and avoid sugar-laden cocktails.

# Plan for problems

Try to think about the possible obstacles in advance. Are buffets your weakness? Are canapes / nibbles your weak point? Have some alternative plans in place; for buffets commit yourself to one plate of satisfying food only. Make a decision before you go not to dip in to the nibbles and ensure you’re not too hungry when you arrive so you’re not starving when they come round. Making an active decision before you even get there will help you to resist them more easily.

You have to be realistic about the situations you’re facing. There’s no point planning on just eating carrot sticks all evening, you will fail, no question. So be smart about your strategy and honest about what you can manage. If you have a friend going with you share your plan with them, they might be keen to help you and give you some moral support – it’s a lot easier to say no to those canapes when you’re both refusing them.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx