Tag: healthy foods

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you think measures progress…?

Dr Nancy P

What you think measures progress…? 📉

If you’re trying to lose weight (by which we really mean body fat as that is what actually results in body shape change) then it’s important to find ways to measure progress. We are all conditioned to use body weight scales to do this. They can be a great tool to assess whether you’re making progress. However, the number the scale shows is JUST a number. It’s merely your relationship to gravity at that particular moment in time. It’s not actually the best way to measure progress.

If you decide to use the scale, you need to overlook the day to day changes you will inevitably experience. Scale weight is affected by lots of factors – amount of food in your system, hydration levels, glycogen levels, hormones, salt content of your diet, recent exercise, type of food you ate yesterday (diff foods can result in more or less temporary water retention) etc. None of which are a reflection of how much fat you’ve lost/gained or how your shape has changed. Think about it – if you had the body you wanted and felt confident to wear anything you liked, would it matter what that scale number was? No!

For many of us, seeing that weight go up, despite ‘being good’, can make us give up. It’s vital to trust the process and think long term. The reality is your body shape can change without the scale going down – in fact a recent client actually put on weight (muscle and fluid probably) yet has lost body fat and cm’s.

So instead of focusing on weight try to use other measures e.g. items of clothing and how they fit, or cm measurements etc. If you must step on the scales then look at averages over time rather than daily variations and focus on long term trends.

And what about all the other measures of progress? Are you you’re getting stronger, is your recovery is faster, has your mood has improved , has your relationship with food improved, is your eating more consistent, are you less stressed and feeling more confident, do you have more muscle definition, more energy, better skin etc…. Try to focus on some of these other, arguably more important, measures of progress.

🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: More Exercise ≠ more calories

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: More Exercise ≠ more calories 🏃🏼‍♂️

Most people view exercise as ‘more is always better’ when it comes to burning calories. However, more exercise doesn’t always equal more calories burnt. Studies show that whilst energy expenditure does increase with increased activity it’s only up to a point E.g if you go from being sedentary to active, you’ll see an increase in energy expenditure. But if you’re already active and increase physical activity levels further, you aren’t likely to see energy expenditure increase linearly because the body adjusts other processes to maintain total energy expenditure within a narrow range. A recent study found weight loss was only half of what might be expected when burning an extra 2500 cals per week, because of behavioural adaptations that reduced 24-hour energy expenditure.

This explains why people don’t always lose the expected amount of weight despite doing more physical activity. It is also why I ALWAYS tell clients not to view exercise as a way to burn calories and why you can’t ‘eat back’ the calories you think you’ve burnt.

Studies have found that as energy expenditure is increased the body compensates by approx 30 percent. E.g if you increased physical activity by 500 kcals, rather than total energy expenditure increasing by 500 kcals it only increases 350 cals.

Also those with more body fat actually compensate more than lean individuals, compensating by up to 50 %. This means that those predisposed to increased body fat may be that way because they’re ‘energy compensators’ which is another reason why using exercise as a weight loss strategy isn’t always successful.

So essentially this reinforces the fact that you can’t out-exercise diet – not only is it unsustainable but also the number of calories you think you’ve burnt is far less due to energy compensation (and the added inaccuracy of activity monitors!).This isn’t to say you shouldn’t exercise or be active; of course you should for a whole host of health benefits. And of course it will increase your energy expenditure, just not as much as you’d want it to and the extent to which it does will decrease, and eventually plateau, as you reach high activity levels. Focus on the diet for weight loss and exercise for health and enjoyment! Any increase in energy expenditure should be seen as a bonus, not the sole reason for exercising

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Pizza night….

Dr Nancy P

Pizza night…. 🍕

Lots of people enjoy a takeaway Pizza as a ‘treat’ after a long week. With the cost of living going up it might be that instead of a takeaway from a restaurant you grab a nice

fakeaway Pizza from the supermarket.

No pizza is low calorie per se – they’re usually fairly large, they’re bread based, with cheese, veg and often meat on top so you’re always going to be looking at a fair few hundred cals. However some can be well over 1000 cals. If you’re trying to lose weight and tracking calories then it’s hard to accommodate that many calories for one meal. But fear not! There are lots of lower calorie options which are just as tasty!

This is just one example. The standard sainsburys ‘takeaway’ BBQ chicken pizza will cost over 1300 calories! However you can get a stonebaked version for a mere 774 cals! What a bargain! And I guarantee you’ll feel just as satisfied! So if you’re trying to lose weight just consider looking for some of these lower calorie options of your favourites!

Enjoy!

🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips, Tuesday Tip, Uncategorized

Tuesday tip: All or nothing?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: All or nothing? 🤔

The all or nothing mindset is one of the biggest issues which keeps people from making meaningful progress towards their weight loss and fitness goals. I’m sure we’ve all struggled with this; I know I have and I know many of my clients do too. You start introducing some changes to your diet or exercise regime, you’re diligent and follow it to the letter, and maybe start to see some results but then life happens and you miss a few workouts, or overeat or eat something you don’t deem as ‘healthy’ and suddenly

everything seems to go to pot. Your motivation disappears and you feel defeated, frustrated and discouraged. Somehow one meal or day overrides weeks of progress. You’re hard on yourself and start to fall back to old habits and progress stalls. You think ‘f*ck it’ and don’t even bother trying to be ‘good’. Then after a while, you are unhappy with your weight and the whole process starts again.

This type mentality is very black and white, or off and on – like a light switch. You’re either committed to your goals and the switch is on, or you’re not and the switch is firmly off. It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not a very healthy mindset to have for long-term, sustainable progress. Think about why you want to improve your fitness or lose weight. Ultimately it’s to live a healthier and happier future, so you can enjoy life. That means you’ll have to learn to manage life and all it entails, and incorporate some of that enjoyment into your new habits and weight loss journey. This means you’ll need to accept that sometimes you’ll do things that don’t fit perfectly into your fitness/weight loss goals, and that’s ok! It’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency.

Rather than being either ‘on’ or ‘off’ instead think about more of a dimmer switch. You can dial the intensity of your effort up or down depending on what’s going on in your life. Recognise that sometimes it’s ok to indulge or to not exercise, and dial down your expectations during that time. Practice a little self compassion and understand that progress isn’t linear and that being able to incorporate these times is actually progress itself. If you are making things too restrictive then it won’t be a long-term sustainable plan for you. Focus on consistency not perfection and with a little patience you will reach those goals. So remember if life gets in the way- dim the lights, don’t turn them off completely, so you can still see your goals!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just a Coffee on the way to work …

Dr Nancy P

Just a Coffee on the way to work … ☕️

Perception is everything! Grabbing a coffee on the way to work, or in a break, is something many of us do without giving it a huge amount of thought. Yet if you’d grabbed a doughnut as a ‘naughty’ breakfast you might be feeling guilty, like you’d over done it and blown your ‘diet’.

Well to be honest neither is an ideal breakfast; the coffee is a mocha and is 300 calories, whilst the jam doughnut is 245 cals. Neither is a huge amount of calories for breakfast but neither will keep you full for long. The coffee, however, is more likely to be ‘forgotten’ about when it comes keeping track of your calories. You’ll probably feel like it’s just a coffee so not worth tracking. The doughnut however is often perceived as an awful thing to have eaten and more likely to derail you from your fitness goals. We often forget liquid calories – and if you were having one every day on the way to work that’s 1500 extra calories you might forget about.

It’s all about perception – the coffee is viewed as an acceptable thing to have in the morning on the way to work, whereas the other doughnut is universally recognised as “junk” food and labelled as “naughty”, despite it being fewer calories and you being less likely to have it every day.

Knowledge is power so being aware of the calorie content of things, and also of our own perceptions of the things we consume is always a good thing.

If you want the coffee then have it and enjoy it. If you want to have a doughnut for breakfast then go for it. Just be aware of the calories in both so you’re making an educated choice and remember to be mindful of those liquid calories

🤗

Xx