Tag: healthy foods

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: What happens when fat is lost?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: What happens when fat is lost? 😅

There are widespread misconceptions about what happens when we lose fat. It’s important to understand the process of how fat is actually lost to be able to set realistic goals and expectations.

So what we think of as body fat is actually adipose tissue, which is essentially excess energy that is stored for future use. Fat is lost when we create a calorie deficit – usually via reducing the number of calories you consume. When you’re in a calorie deficit the body utilises the stored fat. Triglycerides contained within the fat cells are ‘burnt’ or oxidised to release energy. This involves many enzymes and biochemical processes but the end products are water, carbon dioxide, with energy being released at the same time .

84 percent of the fat becomes Carbon dioxide which is then excreted by the lungs

as we exhale. The remaining 16 percent becomes water and is excreted from sweating, urinating, breathing, Bowel movements, tears etc.

Before you get too excited – breathing faster, or sweating more isn’t going to result in more fat loss! Fat loss happens as a result of a long term, consistent change in your dietary habits abs lifestyle. So sadly, as always, the answer for fat loss isn’t flashy or sexy, but rather dull and rooted in science – a long term calorie deficit achieved mainly via eating less and moving more!

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Things that make you fat….

Dr Nancy P

Things that make you fat…. 🍟

There are so many myths and there is so much pseudoscience out there around weight and fat loss. Depending on who you follow you may be told that eating carbs is making you fat, or that eating after 8pm is making you fat, or perhaps it’s eating fat that’s making you fat? Or you may have seen people saying that eating too much fruit is the problem, or eating sugar, or perhaps it’s because you snack? Or maybe it’s because you have breakfast… or maybe it’s because you don’t….

This is all rubbish. Eating carbs don’t make you fat, neither does eating fat or sugar – it all comes down to the total calories – you could eat solely carbs and lose fat if you were at a calorie deficit. Eating fruit certainly doesn’t make you fat – yes it’s often ‘full of sugar’ but that’s not a bad thing.. it’s fruit – so it’s full of fructose, and tonnes of other micronutrients that we need to function and of course it all comes down to calories. It’s actually quite hard to be in a calorie surplus just from fruit!

Eating after a certain time, or only eating at certain times also won’t make you fat – as long as you’re within your daily calorie limit.

Eating breakfast (or not eating it) and snacking aren’t issues either – if they help you stick to your daily calorie limits.

Stop focusing on the small stuff and listening to pseudoscience – this is just confusing the issue. Eating too many calories and consuming consistent caloric surplus is what makes you gain weight. Of course that means the reverse is also true – a calorie deficit (however you achieve it) will result in fat loss!

🤗

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Weights won’t make you bulky

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Weights won’t make you bulky 💪🏼

Many female clients often tell me they don’t want to lift weights because they’re afraid of getting too big or bulky. What they mean when they say this is that they don’t want to put on too much muscle mass – they have visions of chunky thighs, thick necks, huge biceps, heavy set shoulders etc.

The reality is that it’s actually extremely hard to put on significant muscle mass. To get to a bulky or body-builder level of muscularity, you’d not only have to train and diet in an extreme fashion, but you’d have to keep at it for years. I’ve got clients actively trying to ‘bulk’ and it’s a slow process that requires dedication to weight training and to eating … a lot! Body builders and those types of athletes work extremely hard to look the way they do; you won’t end up there by accident, I promise. If you want to gain significant amounts of muscle mass, you’re looking at five to six days of heavy lifting a week, every week for months and months. Doing a few weights workouts a week, or a few pump classes will not make you bulky.

As I always, say you don’t lose weight/fat from exercise – it’s from a calorie deficit. In the same way you can’t put on significant muscle mass without eating a calorie surplus – and a large one at that! Gaining muscle mass comes from a combination of heavy weight training and an excess in calories.

So if you are aiming to lose fat and are at a calorie deficit (or even maintenance/ slight surplus ) then doing weights workouts 3-4 times a week won’t result in large amounts of muscle growth. What it will do though is increase your lean body mass. This has two benefits – it increases your metabolic rate which means you’ll burn more calories at rest. It will also help provide the ‘sculpted’ or ‘toned’ look many people want. By working those muscles you’ll create a solid muscular base so that as you lose fat you’ll start to see the shape you’re looking for. It will also make you feel strong – and that’s a great feeling!

So don’t be afraid of lifting weights – they’re an important component of any fitness program. They’re also vital – especially for women as we age – as a way to help protect against osteoporosis.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you think happens on a super low calorie diets…

Dr Nancy P

What you think happens on a super low calorie diets… 🥗

If you’re trying to lose weight/fat it’s very tempting to go in hard and aim for a super low calorie diet – this may be in the form of a ‘juice’ diet/cleanse, or some form of fasting, meal substitutes etc or just a v low calorie diet (under 1200 cals). In doing this you might expect that you’ll lose weight fast, feel super healthy and achieve that dream body! Boom! All your problems solved!

The reality however is that yes you may well lose some weight initially – much of which will be fluid to start with. And you may feel like you’re ‘cleansing’ your system to begin with (of course you’re not – your liver and kidneys do a great job of that every single day anyway!). However with these sorts of low calorie diets you will also find that you’re extremely hungry, tired, lacking in energy, irritable, subject to picking up more infections etc (as the immune system is suppressed ) and less able to do your workouts etc and probably miserable. As these diets inevitably involve cutting out foods you enjoy you’ll also feel deprived, and the chances of not being able to stick to the diet, and binging is extremely high.

All this leads to low adherence and means they’re not sustainable so after a short time you’re likely to return to your normal eating pattern. It doesn’t change any habits and therefore doesn’t result in long term weight loss.

So rather than going for short term fixes and slashing calories instead aim for a small yet sustainable calorie deficit, work on changing your habits and making life long changes so you can lose weight and maintain it!

🤗

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Just do it!

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Just do it! 💪🏼

It’s a pretty simple Tuesday tip today – whatever it is you’re hoping to achieve or progress – just do it! We spend a lot of time looking for motivation or wondering how others are so motivated. When it comes to weight loss particularly there is a misconception that people who achieve their goals are super motivated. There’s an idea that you need to wait for motivation to hit before you can even begin to hope to achieve those goals.

The reality is that people who achieve their goals do so through consistency- consistently just showing up and doing what needs to be done. So in terms of weight loss they ‘show up’ by consistently tracking their calories, or they consistently show up to whatever their chosen exercise is etc. They don’t wait until Monday to start again if they’ve fallen off the wagon, they don’t wait until after that social event to start getting on track etc – they just do it! What you see is the end result of that!

I guarantee the people you think are the most motivated probably aren’t all the time – but they are consistent and they show up and do what they can each day. That’s how

progress is made!

So stop looking for motivation as something that powers your routines when times get

hard. Motivation comes and goes – it’s consistency that brings results. So don’t wait, start today – just do it! And keep doing it!

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx