Tag: healthy foods

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Enjoying a seasonal treat ….

Dr Nancy P

Enjoying a seasonal treat …. 🥚 🍫

I never tell clients cut out any foods/drinks totally from their diet and as a big fan of Easter chocolate I certainly wouldn’t ever be ‘banning’ chocolate eggs, but if you are trying to lose weight/fat then you may just want to be aware of the calories involved.

There’s no reason you can’t have any Easter eggs you want as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit. However, with the size of some of the eggs out there now it’s very easy to rack up over a thousand calories or more, without even noticing!

For example – if you’re a Crunchie fan and lucky enough to receive the Giant egg you’d be looking at over 2,750 cals for the entire egg and accompanying bar (the egg alone is over 2,200 cals!). That’s more than most people’s daily calorie goal 😬

In contrast you could enjoy a large Crunchie egg and the bars for around 1176 cals. Now ok, the egg is just a milk choc egg (not full of crunchie bits like the ultimate one) but it’s still delicious and that’s still almost a whole day’s calories for many people.

So if Easter eggs are your thing (they are definitely mine!) then maybe just be aware of the cals in them if you’re trying to stick to your goals.

Enjoy! 🐣

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips, Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Eat your veg

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Eat your veg 🥕

Finding ways to help sustain a calorie deficit to enable initial weight loss and then to maintain that loss is critical for long term success. One fairly easy habit that can help is focusing on having fruit or veg with every meal.

Aiming for a fist sized portion of fruit or veg with every main meal is a great way to help calorie control which is conducive to weight loss.

Why? Well fruit and vegetables are typically very nutrient-dense, relatively low calorie per portion and high in fibre. This means you’ll consume fewer calories overall for the same or larger volume compared to other foods. The extra volume and fibre also means you’ll feel fuller and stay fuller for longer. This helps you to stick to your calorie goals and can therefore help with weight loss/ maintenance. With the exception of a few higher calorie fruits/veg like avocados, bananas, starchy veg like potatoes you can pretty much have a free reign on the amount of fruit and veg you have without worrying too much about tracking. I promise you won’t get fat from eating too many raspberries or carrots!

In addition ensuring you have fruit or veg with every meal also drastically increases the chances that your diet will provide the required vitamins and minerals you need to promote healthy functioning of the body and reduce the risk of poor health. So it’s a win win!

Obviously it won’t work for every single meal but even if it’s only 70-80% of your meals it will still help. It’s also something you can apply to snacking and meals out. Adding berries/grapes/apple to your snack to increase volume is a great way to help you stay on track e.g. instead of 4 digestive biscuits for a snack, go for 2 and a handful of raspberries. Equally when eating out try to add some veg to the meal e.g. instead of eating an entire pizza go for half and a salad, or if you’re out for Chinese go for the garlic broccoli as well as the fried rice/cashew chicken etc.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Habit prompts

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Habit prompts ✅

Part of losing weight is about creating new habits around food and activity. Building new habits is hard though! So how can you make it easier?

Environmental cues play an important role in building habits and your environment is extremely influential in decision making. So setting up your environment in a way which reminds you of the habits/behaviours you want to start incorporating will help.

The main idea is having something visible which reminds you to do that specific habit or which makes that the easiest choice. Do this by putting a cue in a spot where you can’t miss it and won’t forget. Conversely you make the habits you want to ditch harder by making things associated with them less visible.

For example for habits you want to encourage you could;

⁃ Place hand weights next to the sofa to remind you to do 5-10 mins of exercises each evening in the advert breaks,

⁃ Have a snack box on the kitchen side containing lower calorie snack options and fruit for the day.

⁃ Have a bottle of water on your desk to encourage you to stay hydrated.

⁃ Pop a post it note on the bathroom mirror reminding you to stretch your calves while you brush your teeth.

⁃ Ensure when you open the fridge the first thing you see are easy lower calorie snacks – vegetables sticks, mini light babybel, yoghurts, berries and other fruit etc .

⁃ Move the calorie tracking app on your phone to the home page next to WhatsApp or a frequently used app to remind you to track.

For habits you want to break make it harder to do them;

⁃ Store chocolate in a sealed tub at then back of the cupboard.

⁃ Keep the bottle opener upstairs so it’s more of an effort to ‘just open a bottle’ after a stressful day.

⁃ Leave your phone in another room/place when working so you’re forced to get up to get it regularly to avoid sitting for long periods.

Try setting up your environment for success today!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Things you think will boost your metabolism…..

Dr Nancy P

Things you think will boost your metabolism….. 💊

You often hear people claiming various foods/diets/workouts etc will ‘boost your metabolism’ but sadly there’s actually very little scientific evidence many do.

Despite many claims that intermittent fasting, or 24 hour (and longer) fasts will boost your metabolism the reality is they don’t. Research suggests that fasting has the same or negative effects on metabolism compared to a calorie deficit from other ‘diets’. When you severely limit calories, your body slows down basic functions to conserve energy. Instead of boosting your metabolism, you may experience a reeducation of to 20% your BMR.

Supplements don’t boost your metabolism – some containing stimulants may temporarily increase metabolism (3-4%) but this diminishes with time and use. Avoiding carbs, eating multiple small meals, drinking lemon water/coconut oil or a detox/juice cleanse have little to no impact and no studies support their claims to increase metabolism. I’ve discussed fasted cardio/exercise before as it’s often touted to burn more fat/boost metabolism. It does neither – but from a workout perspective if you haven’t eaten then you may fatigue faster and be unable to work as hard, therefore burning fewer calories.

Things that are scientifically proven to increase your metabolism include regular exercise and building lean muscle. Eating enough protein, which has a thermic effect when digested (though only accounts for 10% of total energy expenditure). Eating a high fibre diet which requires energy to digest and can help regulate blood sugar. Staying hydrated – being dehydrated reduces BMR. Getting enough sleep to avoid a drop in metabolism and managing stress. Increasing NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity

Thermogenesis) which accounts for 15% – 50% of total energy expenditure through everyday activities such as, standing, walking, cleaning, moving around etc.

Most of these have only a minimal impact (as discussed before), so really the most significant impact on metabolism is to avoid being sedentary and to move more throughout the day. So avoid those expensive supplements and fad diets/exercise trends and stick to the basics!

Enjoy 🤗

xxx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Plan B toolkit

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Plan B toolkit 🔨

Life will always get in the way of our weight loss/fitness plans and aspirations – that’s just life! That doesn’t mean you need to abandon your goals every time life gets tricky, busy or stressful. An all-or-nothing mindset where you’re constantly

‘writing your diet off’, and consequently overindulging after every small deviation or always waiting for life not to get in the way, is not conducive to long-term, sustainable, healthy weight management.

A common trait amongst those that maintain their weight loss habits long term is that they have a plan B. Being able to limit damage and enact the next best option rather than writing everything off entirely is the key to success. To do this it helps to have a toolkit of plan B’s. There is always an option that still aligns with your overall goal, even if it isn’t a perfect option. Doing something is always better than doing nothing!

So think about situations you have or may encounter where you would find it hard or where it isn’t possible to stick to your calories, then think of the next best option.

⁃ Identify situations where your ideal nutrition plans become difficult/ not viable.

⁃ Whats the best possible option in that situation?

⁃ Repeat this process and you’ll have a toolkit of options to always draw upon when required.

For example: It might be a work trip, a holiday, or just a normal day where you forgot to pack your lunch – what’s the best option you can manage? So on holiday / work trip maybe it’s avoiding the buffet breakfast and going for eggs on toast and fruit? Forgot your lunch – maybe it’s options that aren’t huge calories from local cafes? Out with the children at McDonald’s – what’s the best option calorie wise that you can have? Dinner at friends – what can you control? Portions? Amount of booze? Busy and stressed with no time to track calories – stick to some known calorie options that you’ve had before / use ready prepared meals . Missed lunch and starving – grab a small snack to tide you over until you get home rather than going for a takeaway on the way back etc

Over time, you’ll end up with a whole host of plan B’s you can use for any situation life might throw at you and you can move away from the all or nothing mindset.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx