Tag: healthy eating

Tuesday tip: Alcohol and weight loss 🍸

I never tell clients to give up booze, life would be miserable without that if it’s one of your go to ‘treats’ – I do however suggest it could be one way to ‘easily’ cut calories by reducing the amount they consume. Mainly because it’s a discreet, easily identifiable thing to reduce, but also because alcohol can affect weight loss in other ways.

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (vs 4 cals for carbs and protein,and 9 for fat). More alcohol means more calories. Unlike food, alcohol contains little to no nutritional value. Alcohol calories don’t fill you up like food calories do, or provide many micronutrients. This isn’t an issue in a balanced diet but just worth remembering when prioritising what you choose to consume.

Alcohol calories are processed differently too. Alcohol is a toxin so the cals are used immediately to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to detoxify it. This detoxification is a labour intensive process so the liver ‘shuts down’ and stops processing fat, carbohydrates and protein because it needs to deal with alcohol. Hence why you get the munchies, because the detoxification of alcohol inhibits gluconeogensis (breaking down of our internal food stores). So not only does alcohol inhibit fat burning it also encourages over eating. The lack of inhibitions associated with alcohol also make it more likely you’ll ‘stuff the diet’ and eat more than you intended; so it’s a triple whammy!

So if you’re going to drink then just consider:

⁃ Plan ahead -do I have the calories in my budget? Can I bank cals for the night out?

⁃ How will consuming this affect my goals?

⁃ Is there a lower cal alternative that will allow me to stay on track?

⁃ Can I stay in control and only have 1 or 2 (or is it a trigger for binge behaviours?

⁃ Am I prepared for the consequences (hangover, munchies, loss of control, potential feelings of guilt etc)?

Alcohol is something you should enjoy in a

controlled manner. Learning how to work things into your calories teaches you how to be in control.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Tuesday Tip: Not quitting is success! 🙌🏼

I’ve noticed recently that many of my clients are beating themselves up about lack of progress or not being able to stick to their workouts or calories over the summer holidays: the overriding theme is that they feel like they’ve failed, that they’re not getting anywhere and that the only solution is to quit.

I think it’s worth reminding everyone that not quitting is in itself progress and success! Even if everything is proving difficult, if life is busy, if you’ve had too many social events to stay on track, etc that just doing anything, not matter how small, and not quitting is better than nothing! Give yourself a break. If you’re tired, lacking motivation, low in energy, fed up of feeling like you’re not getting anywhere – instead of giving up and quitting learn to rest.

Progress in anything in life is rarely linear. If you give up every time you don’t see what you view as progress then you’ll always be starting over again and again. Time will pass anyway and you’ll see even less progress. Recognise that resistance to quitting is progress in itself! Don’t give up! Just rest, regroup and keep going!

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx

Tuesday Tip: Do I have to ditch carbs? 🥖

Possibly the most pervasive myth in fitness and nutrition if that if you want to lose weight you need to cut out carbs. Even people who, in one breath tell me they know it’s all about creating a calorie deficit, will in the next breath tell me they’re going to cut carbs. So first off, yes if you suddenly cut carbs (which people usually take to mean bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes, biscuits etc) you may lose weight ‘fast’ initially. This is because you’re losing glycogen and water. If your diet is high in those carbs then depending on what you replace them with it may also result in a calorie deficit. But after the initial few weeks it’s only a calorie deficit that will keep you losing weight – whether you include carbs in that or not is irrelevant.

You can definitely lose weight and eat carbs, there is nothing inherently fattening in carbs. In fact carbs are actually really important, especially if you’re active, as they boost performance and fuel your workouts. Your body stores carbs as glycogen in the liver and muscles which is a vital fuel source. If you cut carbs you’ll find your ability to exercise effectively drops and your energy levels decrease. Various carb sources are rich in micronutrients (vitamins & minerals) which are essential for optimal health, energy metabolism and performance. By removing carbs from your

diet, your micronutrient intake might not be sufficient. Importantly many carbs are pleasure foods – foods you enjoy and that make you happy. By cutting them out you’re reducing your own enjoyment when you really don’t need to.

Fat loss ultimately comes down to energy balance. If you’re in a calorie deficit you will burn fat. Many studies support this and show what when calories are controlled how you obtain these calories (be it from carbs or not) has no impact on fat loss. You can lose fat with either a low-carb or high-carb diet.

So carbs aren’t bad, they have loads of benefits. However, if you prefer a low-carb diet, go for it. If your main goal is fat loss, though remember it’s the overall calories that count and if you’re looking to optimize your performance or build muscle, carbs

will definitely help.

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx